Ranking the best Power Five openings (#1. wisconsin)

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Ranking the best Power Five openings


1team logo

Wisconsin
Outside of Ohio State, no program in the Big Ten has won more consistently over the past 30 years than Wisconsin. Between 1998 and 2019, Wisconsin produced 16 AP Top 25 finishes, 12 double-digit win seasons and seven top 10 rankings. Gary Andersen left of his own accord after two years, but each of the last four coaches served at least seven years in Madison, Wisconsin. It's rare to find a combination of historic success, strong administrative buy-in and patience, and a massive payday coming in the form of the Big Ten's new television contract should only make the job more attractive. One complication heading forward could be whether the Badgers' sweetheart division setup will go away with the introduction of UCLA and USC, but Wisconsin is a strong enough program to withstand the changes. Wisconsin isn't a Tier 1 job, but it's right at the top of Tier 2.
2team logo

Nebraska
There are only eight consensus blue blood programs in college football, and the 'Huskers are on the list. Unfortunately, Nebraska hasn't played much like it since Frank Solich was fired in 2003. Bo Pelini finished No. 24 and 25 in the first two years in the Big Ten, but the post-Pelini years have featured a combined 36-51 record with zero bowl appearances since 2017. The good news is that Nebraska has all the money and investment a program could ever want, along with one of the most committed fanbases in the nation. The bad news is that a new coach has to completely rediscover a pathway to success at Nebraska in the modern era.
3team logo

Arizona St.
Arizona State is Rorscach Job. Some see a party school in a sunny city that should be able to recruit with ease. Others see a program without an outright conference championship since 1996 that has only strung together back-to-back bowl wins once since 1987. The difference in perspective makes the Arizona State job one of the most intriguing on the board. Two factors complicate the situation: Athletic director Ray Anderson was tied deeply with fired coach Herm Edwards, so it's unclear whether Anderson will be the one making the next hire. Additionally, the somewhat tenuous position of the Pac-12 makes the future look murky. Still, the resources and upside are high enough to make this an intriguing job.
4team logo

Georgia Tech
If the Geoff Collins era was any indication, sitting in the middle of downtown Atlanta and throwing Waffle House logos on merchandise isn't enough to get recruits to campus. Georgia Tech compares more favorably to Stanford and Duke due to the academic prestige and requirements in order to get recruits into the school than the SEC and ACC programs in the Southeast it has to recruit against. The most successful period in recent memory came while running the triple-option under Paul Johnson and opting not to compete in the rough-and-tumble SEC recruiting footprint. Whomever takes over this job has their hands full trying to choose a long-term identity.
5team logo

Colorado
Colorado boasts a great campus right in one of the most beautiful areas in the country. Unfortunately, all the great attractions around Boulder manifest in tenuous, at best, football investment. Colorado ranked last among public schools in the Pac-12 in athletic spending during the 2020-21 school year. Just three years ago, the Buffaloes lost a coach to Michigan State after one season. There's no proven recruiting grounds or pathway to success at Colorado, and that has been firmly reflected in the ability to acquire and retain coaching talent.

www.cbssports.com

College football coaching carousel: Ranking best Power Five jobs available after Purdue opens

Scott Satterfield abruptly left the Cardinals program on Monday to fill the vacancy in Cincinnati
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com

Go Gophers!!
 

Weird to publish a list less than half way through the season.
 


Big ten west representing in this list
 

Much pressure on these guys to produce results. For some teams it's not about making a good bowl game anymore, but rather making the playoffs. Of course, the stands need to be filled up. Good recruiting gimmicks, facilities. I know I couldn't handle the pressure in some of these places.
 


Nebraska’s search got a lot more difficult when the wisconsin job opened up.
 

MirandaB said:
Nebraska’s search got a lot more difficult when the wisconsin job opened up.
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Nebraska would be the easier of the two for a new coach. If you have reasonable success over the first five years (like Kill/Claeys success) you would look pretty good compared to your recent predecessors. Wisconsin would be harder. Wisconsin is where Nebraska was 8 years ago after they fired Pelini.
 





Nebraska has more NIL money, better facilities, and easier to get players into school there from an academic standpoint which is why I would put them above Wisconsin. That’s one of the reasons Gary Anderson left was because it was to hard to get players in there especially JUCO’s
 

1. Nebraska. Can be a national powerhouse.
2. Wisconsin. Easy rebuild. They were waiting for an excuse to fire Chryst.
3. Colorado. Should be in the Big Ten. Can be competitive.
4. Winning coaches are hard to come buy.
 

From what I have read from"people in the know" at WI, Leonhard is going to be the HC at WI for a number of years, barring unforeseen circumstances.
The university will make the AD jump through all of the hoops of posting the job opening, advertising, etc but everyone applying will know the job has already been filled.
 

Despite the rankings of WI recruiting classes, I have to think recruiting there could be a bit tougher with Illinois and MN on the upswing in past couple years.
 



FLgopherfan said:
To call Nebraska a true blue blood program is living in the past.
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I agree. Yes, they might have money, facilities, etc, but have you been to Nebraska? Nothing there at all.

They have also never adjusted to the Big Ten. You have to play defense to win here. This is not Big 12, 42-49 type football.
Granted they are the only show in town, but I just can't call a program that has been as bad as they have for so long a blue-blood anymore.

Blue bloods are able to pay their players and will get away with it as the NCAA turns a blind eye also. Not sure Nebraska is in this company anymore.
 

If I were an in demand HC candidate, I'd think twice before going to Wisconsin or Nebraska. They both have a recent example of firing someone who was putting together pretty good results. Wouldn't want to take a job where winning wasn't enough to keep my seat from getting warm.
 

Go Gophs said:
I agree. Yes, they might have money, facilities, etc, but have you been to Nebraska? Nothing there at all.

They have also never adjusted to the Big Ten. You have to play defense to win here. This is not Big 12, 42-49 type football.
Granted they are the only show in town, but I just can't call a program that has been as bad as they have for so long a blue-blood anymore.

Blue bloods are able to pay their players and will get away with it as the NCAA turns a blind eye also. Not sure Nebraska is in this company anymore.
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The PAC-8,10,12 have produced some sketchy defenses over the years. Will SC and CLA be able to play defense in the rust conference?
 


bleedsmaroonandgold said:
If I were an in demand HC candidate, I'd think twice before going to Wisconsin or Nebraska. They both have a recent example of firing someone who was putting together pretty good results. Wouldn't want to take a job where winning wasn't enough to keep my seat from getting warm.
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Depends.

I do think there is a tier of candidate this is true for. Like Aranda at Baylor…why would you leave for Wisconsin or Nebraska.
You have it fine at Baylor. So might as well wait for Bama or Texas or something
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
If I were an in demand HC candidate, I'd think twice before going to Wisconsin or Nebraska. They both have a recent example of firing someone who was putting together pretty good results. Wouldn't want to take a job where winning wasn't enough to keep my seat from getting warm.
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I wouldn't say they're equivalent in terms of expectations at this point. I've worked with a number of Nebraska fans in recent years. They're not delusional. They know they don't have a very good program these days. When you read their fan boards, they know that the program is very down.

Nebraska fired Pelini 8 years ago. Under two coaches since, Nebraska has had losing seasons in six of the last seven years and likely will have another one this season. Fans of programs with a long period of futility have lower confidence levels and adjust their expectations. I expect that someone with Chryst's level of success would look pretty good to them right now.

Wisconsin is where Nebraska was 8 years ago. They had a coach who was pretty successful but they believed that they deserved better and probably were reasonably confident that they would do better with a new coach.
 

Pelini’s sideline behavior to the kids was untenable. Embarrassing and had to go.
 

Go Gophs said:
I agree. Yes, they might have money, facilities, etc, but have you been to Nebraska? Nothing there at all.

They have also never adjusted to the Big Ten. You have to play defense to win here. This is not Big 12, 42-49 type football.
Granted they are the only show in town, but I just can't call a program that has been as bad as they have for so long a blue-blood anymore.

Blue bloods are able to pay their players and will get away with it as the NCAA turns a blind eye also. Not sure Nebraska is in this company anymore.
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Top recruits go to school to play, get noticed on a good team, and get a shot at the pros. Football is a full-time year around job. They don't care if there are operas or museums nearby.

Most Minnesota recruits never see the leaves change on the North Shore and don't care.
 

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