Ranking the top 100 college football head coaches of the past 50 years
From top-10 finishes to national championships, we find out the best 100 coaches of the past 50 seasons.
Ranking the Top 100 college football coaches of the past 50 years
by Bill Connelly, ESPN.com
Editor's note: Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer was accidentally left off the original version of this list. He has been added, at No. 27, so now it's a top 101 list.
Nick Saban won his sixth national title in 12 years at Alabama, and his seventh overall, this past January. He had already put together maybe the greatest run of sustained dominance the sport has seen -- only Bobby Bowden's 14 straight top-five finishes could compete -- and it's jarring to realize that last year's team was quite possibly his best ever.
Saban brought high-level success to Michigan State in the late 1990s (and pulled one of the sport's most memorable upsets with the Spartans' 1998 defeat of No. 1 Ohio State), then immediately awakened a sleeping giant at LSU and won his first national title in 2003. After a short dalliance in the pros, he was lured back to the college ranks, where he built the contemporary recruiting machine that so many others have attempted to emulate. He fielded some of the best defenses of the 21st century, and after realizing he needed to update his offensive attack, he fielded maybe the best offense of the century in 2020.
As a new season approaches, let's take a moment to compare Saban's accomplishments -- and those of other active coaches -- to the best of college football's modern times. Let's rank the top 100 coaches of the past 50 years.
Why 50 years? It's primarily because the sport approached full integration 50 years ago, just as offensive innovation was taking place in a couple of different ways -- the Wishbone took hold in a major way among powerful schools, while the forward pass was making innovative and exciting headway behind the scenes. It felt like a natural dividing line for defining modern college football.
(That, and I just didn't want to figure out how to compare Walter Camp's accomplishments to, say, Urban Meyer's.)
One final note before we get started: This list is completely and totally about on-field accomplishments. You'll see plenty of coaches on this list who ran into trouble with the NCAA or potentially had roles in far more devastating off-the-field scandals. It felt pithy to casually mention said scandals in short blurbs about achievements, so I decided to forego that and focus on only on-field exploits.
I wrote about 50 men in particular, but I wanted to take the time to mention as many awesome coaches as possible. Here are No. 100-51:
101. Bruce Snyder (Utah State 1976-82 / California 1987-91 / Arizona State 1992-00)
100. Bronco Mendenhall (BYU 2005-15 / Virginia 2016-present)
99. James Franklin (Vanderbilt 2011-13 / Penn State 2014-present)
98. Rich Rodriguez (Salem 1988 / Glenville State 1990-96 / West Virginia 2001-07 / Michigan 2008-10 / Arizona 2012-17)
97. Bobby Wallace (North Alabama 1988-97 / Temple 1998-05 / West Alabama 2006-10 / North Alabama 2012-16)
96. Bobby Ross (The Citadel 1973-77 / Maryland 1982-86 / Georgia Tech 1987-91 / Army 2004-06)
95. Kevin Donley (Anderson 1978-81 / Georgetown (KY) 1982-92 / California (PA) 1993-96 / St. Francis (IN) 1998-present)
94. Charles McClendon (LSU 1962-79)
93. Kirby Smart (Georgia 2016-present)
92. David Shaw (Stanford 2011-present)
91. Dan Mullen (Mississippi State 2009-17 / Florida 2018-present)
90. Mel Tjeerdsma (Austin College 1984-93 / Northwest Missouri State 1994-2010)
89. Larry Coker (Miami 2001-06 / Texas-San Antonio 2011-15)
88. Ken Sparks (Carson-Newman 1980-2016)
87. Mike Bellotti (Chico State 1984-88 / Oregon 1995-2008)
86. Claude Gilbert (San Diego State 1973-80 / San Jose State 1984-89)
85. Mike Van Diest (Carroll 1999-2018)
84. Gene Stallings (Texas A&M 1965-71 / Alabama 1990-96)
83. Kyle Whittingham (Utah 2005-present)
82. Darryl Rogers (Cal State-Hayward 1965 / Fresno State 1966-72 / San Jose State 1973-75 / Michigan State 1976-79 / Arizona State 1980-84)
81. Rich Brooks (Oregon 1977-94 / Kentucky 2003-09)
80. Dick MacPherson (Massachusetts 1971-77 / Syracuse 1981-90)
79. Erk Russell (Georgia Southern 1982-89)
78. Frank Solich (Nebraska 1998-03 / Ohio 2005-20)
77. Bobby Petrino (Louisville 2003-06 / Arkansas 2008-11 / Western Kentucky 2013 / Louisville 2014-18 / Missouri State 2020-present)
76. Sonny Lubick (Montana State 1978-81 / Colorado State 1993-2007)
75. Butch Davis (Miami 1995-2000 / North Carolina 2007-10 / Florida International 2017-20)
74. Jerry Claiborne (Virginia Tech 1961-70 / Maryland 1972-81 / Kentucky 1982-89)
73. Jim Butterfield (Ithaca 1967-93)
72. Wayne Hardin (Navy 1959-64 / Temple 1970-82)
71. Kirk Ferentz (Maine 1990-92 / Iowa 1999-present)
70. Jeff Tedford (California 2002-12 / Fresno State 2017-19)
69. Don Nehlen (Bowling Green 1968-76 / West Virginia 1980-2000)
68. Joe Tiller (Wyoming 1996-96 / Purdue 1997-2008)
67. Bob Reade (Augustana 1979-94)
66. Fisher DeBerry (Air Force 1984-2006)
65. Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State 2005-present)
64. Gary Pinkel (Toledo 1991-2000 / Missouri 2001-15)
63. George Welsh (Navy 1973-81 / Virginia 1982-2000)
62. Craig Bohl (North Dakota State 2003-13 / Wyoming 2014-present)
61. Hayden Fry (Southern Methodist 1962-72 / North Texas 1973-78 / Iowa 1979-98)
60. Earle Bruce (Tampa 1972 / Iowa State 1973-78 / Ohio State 1979-87 / Northern Iowa 1988 / Colorado State 1989-92)
59. Jerry Moore (North Texas 1979-80 / Texas Tech 1981-85 / Appalachian State 1989-2012)
58. Chip Kelly (Oregon 2009-12 / UCLA 2018-present)
57. Bill Yeoman (Houston 1962-86)
56. R.C. Slocum (Texas A&M 1989-2002)
55. Terry Donahue (UCLA 1976-95)
54. John Robinson (USC 1976-82, 1993-97 / UNLV 1999-2004)
53. Billy Joe (USC 1972-78 / Central State 1981-93 / Florida A&M 1994-2004 / Miles 2008-10)
52. John Cooper (Tulsa 1977-84 / Arizona State 1985-87 / Ohio State 1988-2000)
51. Chris Ault (Nevada 1976-92, 1994-95, 2004-12)
50. Johnny Majors (Iowa State 1968-72 / Pittsburgh 1973-76 / Tennessee 1977-92)
49. Phil Fulmer (Tennessee 1992-2008)
48. Mark Dantonio (Cincinnati 2004-06 / Michigan State 2007-19)
47. Les Miles (Oklahoma State 2001-04 / LSU 2005-16 / Kansas 2019-20)
46. Lance Leipold (Wisconsin-Whitewater 2007-14 / Buffalo 2015-20 / Kansas 2021-present)
45. Shug Jordan (Auburn 1951-75)
44. Vince Dooley (Georgia 1964-88)
43. John Merritt (Jackson State 1952-62 / Tennessee State 1963-83)
42. Lloyd Carr (Michigan 1995-2007)
41. Mike Leach (Texas Tech 2000-09 / Washington State 2012-19 / Mississippi State 2020-present)
40. Bill McCartney (Colorado 1982-94)
39. Danny Ford (Clemson 1978-89 / Arkansas 1993-97)
38. Dennis Erickson (Idaho 1982-85 / Wyoming 1986 / Washington State 1987-88 / Miami 1989-94 / Oregon State 1999-02 / Idaho 2006 / Arizona State 2007-11)
37. Frank Kush (Arizona State 1958-79)
36. Brian Kelly (Grand Valley State 1991-2003 / Central Michigan 2004-06 / Cincinnati 2007-09 / Notre Dame 2010-present)
35. Mark Richt (Georgia 2001-15 / Miami 2016-18)
34. Jimbo Fisher (Florida State 2010-17 / Texas A&M 2018-present)
33. Howard Schnellenberger (Miami 1979-83 / Louisville 1985-94 / Oklahoma 1995 / Florida Atlantic 2001-11)
32. Barry Alvarez (Wisconsin 1990-2005)
31. Pat Dye (East Carolina 1974-79 / Wyoming 1980 / Auburn 1981-92)
30. Frank Broyles (Missouri 1957 / Arkansas 1958-76)
29. Bo Schembechler (Miami (OH) 1963-68 / Michigan 1969-89)
28. Gary Patterson (TCU 2001-present)
27. Frank Beamer (Murray State 1981-86 / Virginia Tech 1987-2015)
26. Bob Stoops (Oklahoma 1999-2016)
25. Jimmy Johnson (Oklahoma State 1979-83 / Miami 1984-88)
24. Dan Devine (Arizona State 1955-57 / Missouri 1958-70 / Notre Dame 1975-80)
23. John Gagliardi (Carroll 1949-52 / St. John's 1953-2012)
22. Don James (Kent State 1971-74 / Washington 1975-92)
21. Mack Brown (Appalachian State 1983 / Tulane 1985-87 / North Carolina 1988-97 / Texas 1998-2013 / North Carolina 2019-present)
20. Chris Petersen (Boise State 2006-13 / Washington 2014-19)
19. Lou Holtz (William & Mary 1969-71 / North Carolina State 1972-75 / Arkansas 1977-83 / Minnesota 1984-85 / Notre Dame 1986-96 / South Carolina 1999-2004)
18. Darrell K. Royal (Mississippi State 1954-55 / Washington 1956 / Texas 1957-76)
17. Larry Kehres (Mount Union 1986-2012)
16. Woody Hayes (Denison 1946-48 / Miami (OH) 1949-50 / Ohio State 1951-78)
15. Jim Tressel (Youngstown State 1986-2000 / Ohio State 2001-10)
14. Pete Carroll (USC 2001-09)
13. Steve Spurrier (Duke 1987-89 / Florida 1990-2001 / South Carolina 2005-15)
12. Eddie Robinson (Grambling 1941-1997)
11. Joe Paterno (Penn State 1966-2011)
10. LaVell Edwards (BYU 1972-2000)
9. Barry Switzer (Oklahoma 1973-88)
8. Bill Snyder (Kansas State 1989-2005, 2009-18)
7. Dabo Swinney (Clemson 2009-present)
6. John McKay (USC 1960-75)
5. Urban Meyer (Bowling Green 2001-02 / Utah 2003-04 / Florida 2005-10 / Ohio State 2012-18)
4. Tom Osborne (Nebraska 1973-97)
3. Bobby Bowden (Samford 1959-62 / West Virginia 1970-75 / Florida State 1976-2009)
2. Bear Bryant (Maryland 1945 / Kentucky 1946-53 / Texas A&M 1954-57 / Alabama 1958-82)
1. Nick Saban (Toledo 1990 / Michigan State 1995-99 / LSU 2000-04 / Alabama 2007-present)
4. Tom Osborne
Team: Nebraska (1973-97)
Record: 255-49-3
National Titles: 1994, 1995, 1997
Conference Titles: 1975, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 (Big 8) / 1997 (Big 12)
Field an awesome team every year, and eventually you'll get the breaks and win titles. It's the Osborne rule. His Huskers were ridiculously consistent in the 1970s and 1980s -- only one team finished outside the Top 15 -- and finally broke through with three national titles in his last four seasons.
