B1G Coaches

[MililaniBuckeye]

I won't argue with that but I will simply explain why I ranked him second. I took into account his stint at Stanford. He notched a BCS win which already ties him for second among all current B1G coaches. Add that to what he did in San Francisco (2 CCG appearances and 1 Super Bowl appearance) and it's hard to put many ahead of him just based off the lack of success from the rest of the current B1G coaches.

Current B1G coaches BCS wins

Urban - 4 (2 national championships)
Dantonio - 1 (2013)
Ferentz - 1 (2010)
Harbaugh - 1 (2010)
The other 10 coaches - 0

Honestly, my ranking Harbaugh second isn't me saying as much about him as much as it is saying how lackluster the rest of the B1G coaches' resumes are.

The only reason why he got that BCS bowl win and a 12-1 season in 2010 is because Andrew Luck fell in his lap. His four-year coaching record at The Tree was 4-8, 5-7, 8-5, and 12-1 (29-21 overall). The B1G is a different animal from I-AA, and this is coming from a guy who supported the Tressel hire from YSU from day one. Don't get me wrong, I think Hairball will turn their program around, but I'm not going to rank him ahead of every other B1G coach not named Meyer--yet.

 

[CFPBuckeye]

The only reason why he got that BCS bowl win and a 12-1 season in 2010 is because Andrew Luck fell in his lap. His four-year coaching record at The Tree was 4-8, 5-7, 8-5, and 12-1 (29-21 overall). The B1G is a different animal from I-AA, and this is coming from a guy who supported the Tressel hire from YSU from day one. Don't get me wrong, I think Hairball will turn their program around, but I'm not going to rank him ahead of every other B1G coach not named Meyer--yet.

I have no problem with that. I was going to quote his Stanford record in my post, and add that I'm not as impressed with it overall as some may be. However, he did improve each year. Add to that what he accomplished in San Francisco and that at least makes me more comfortable putting him at #2 than some of the others just because not a lot of other coaches have accomplished much that I would call impressive either. These lists are all subjective but the one thing I think everyone can agree on is that Urban is the #1 coach. That isn't because this is a Buckeye board either. I would expect Urban to be ranked #1 on other B1G school fan sites as well other than them voting their own coach #1. After #1, it's hard to argue why any coach should or shouldn't be ranked wherever they may be.

 

[Jake]

The good thing about Harbaugh is it raises the national perception of the B1G, fairly or not. As long as humans are making decisions in the sport, elevating the perception of the conference in which you play can only help. Beating Brady Hoke isn't the same as beating Jim Harbaugh. The latter will be more fun and impress more people outside of Ohio.

 

[UpNorth_Buckeye]

The only reason why he got that BCS bowl win and a 12-1 season in 2010 is because Andrew Luck fell in his lap. His four-year coaching record at The Tree was 4-8, 5-7, 8-5, and 12-1 (29-21 overall). The B1G is a different animal from I-AA, and this is coming from a guy who supported the Tressel hire from YSU from day one. Don't get me wrong, I think Hairball will turn their program around, but I'm not going to rank him ahead of every other B1G coach not named Meyer--yet.

It's a little unfair to say what his coaching record was at Stanford while also leaving out the fact that they had 1 win the season prior to his arrival. I don't think it's crazy to rank him ahead of every B1G coach not named Meyer, but I don't think it's Urban, Harbaugh...............................Dantonio. I'd say all 3 are pretty close.

 

[kujirakira]

The only reason why he got that BCS bowl win and a 12-1 season in 2010 is because Andrew Luck fell in his lap. His four-year coaching record at The Tree was 4-8, 5-7, 8-5, and 12-1 (29-21 overall). The B1G is a different animal from I-AA, and this is coming from a guy who supported the Tressel hire from YSU from day one. Don't get me wrong, I think Hairball will turn their program around, but I'm not going to rank him ahead of every other B1G coach not named Meyer--yet.

Fair enough on the whole, but when considering who to rank above him... Dantonio is obvious. And the only other challenger I could take seriously is Kill.
Franklin hasn't proved anything yet. Ferentz is finished. Fitz is hot garbage. Riley is a less successful version of Ferentz. Chryst doesn't even have an 8-5 type season to compare with Harbaugh. Edsall has a losing record at Maryland.

After Urban and Dantonio it's slim pickings... even if you regard his 12-1 year as a fluke, nobody else can touch it. The way I see it, it's a battle between Kill and Flood for 4th place.

 

[bigdog3300]

I'll never understand the love for Fitz. No, NW is not an easy job. But what has he done to elevate it? He's never finished higher than 4th in the conference, and he has them trending seriously downward. What's his signature win? The 2012 Gator Bowl against a mediocre Miss State? He's never beat Ohio State or scUM (he even lost to dickrod's 3-9 2008 team with Nick fricking Sheridan at QB). He hasn't done anything there that Gary Barnett or Randy Walker didn't do before him. Hell, both of those guys won at least a share of the conference title when the B1G wasn't regarded as a cesspool.

Fitz has done a better job than Walker - I think that's pretty easy to argue. He also was rushed into the HC spot and handled it wonderfully....HC at 32, wowza.

The only coach comparable to him at NW in recent history is Barnett. Pat has recruited at a level no one else has before him. Now the last 2 years have hurt him, no doubt about that, but he had a string of 5 straight bowls for them.

And to be fair, Barnett had a far worse record than Fitz....he's above .500 and never had his program as down as Gary's had been. Gary left them after going 3-9 and 0-8 in conference with only 2 winning seasons out of 7. Now the program he inherited was completely different but he was able to write his ticket pretty much anywhere with the limited success at NW. As far as winning, no one has done what Fitz has.

 

[NFBuck]

Still don't get it. Has he made them somewhat better than they historically have been? Probably. But he's done it in a really bad conference. And he still is yet to beat Ohio State or m*ch*g*n. In fact, he's lost to some really bad m*ch*g*n teams in ridiculous fashion. He seems prone to some pretty bad coaching blunders in almost every game I've watched of their's. I'm not saying he's a bad coach, necessarily; I just think he's incredibly overrated.

 

[BayBuck]

Still don't get it. Has he made them somewhat better than they historically have been? Probably. But he's done it in a really bad conference. And he still is yet to beat Ohio State or m*ch*g*n. In fact, he's lost to some really bad m*ch*g*n teams in ridiculous fashion. He seems prone to some pretty bad coaching blunders in almost every game I've watched of their's. I'm not saying he's a bad coach, necessarily; I just think he's incredibly overrated.

I'd say he's a solid coach, having a winning record and going to 5 bowls in 9 years at NW is definitely respectable, but when it was time to take that next step... he didn't.

October 5, 2013, was a really, really bad day (night) for Coach Fitzgerald.

 

[heisman]

Still don't get it. Has he made them somewhat better than they historically have been? Probably. But he's done it in a really bad conference. And he still is yet to beat Ohio State or m*ch*g*n. In fact, he's lost to some really bad m*ch*g*n teams in ridiculous fashion. He seems prone to some pretty bad coaching blunders in almost every game I've watched of their's. I'm not saying he's a bad coach, necessarily; I just think he's incredibly overrated.

Fits beat tsun at the outhouse in 2008.

 

[NFBuck]

Fits beat tsun at the outhouse in 2008.

You're right, he did beat 3-9 scum. I had them confused with Minny, who got blown out by scum and Nick fricken' Sheridan in 2008.

Looking at their seasons, he did have a couple of nice wins over ranked B1G opponents-- #8 Iowa and #17 Bucky in 2009, #13 Iowa in 2010, #9 Corn in 2011. It just seems like every time I'm counting on the Nerds to win a game (save the pedtards this year), they've come up short.

Like I said, I don't think he's a bad coach, I just don't think he's as good as a lot of people seem to. His participation in the M0-0N game this year is reason enough for me. God, that was awful.

 

[BayBuck]

the M0-0N game this year .

That was Tom Cullen's favorite game

 

[bigdog3300]

Still don't get it. Has he made them somewhat better than they historically have been? Probably. But he's done it in a really bad conference. And he still is yet to beat Ohio State or m*ch*g*n. In fact, he's lost to some really bad m*ch*g*n teams in ridiculous fashion. He seems prone to some pretty bad coaching blunders in almost every game I've watched of their's. I'm not saying he's a bad coach, necessarily; I just think he's incredibly overrated.

He hasn't upset OSU but how many chances has he had? Once since 2009? Seems like we hardly ever play them. Holding them to the same standards as some other schools with their admission standards is pretty rough so keep that in mind. Now I won't argue against someone thinking he's farther below based on his last 2 seasons, but the 5 straight bowls is fresh enough in my mind but we will hopefully have a clearer picture after next year!

 

[NFBuck]

I guess my point is, I think he's a great fit for the nerds. He has typically had them reasonably successful (for them). I just don't view him as being all that great of a coach. My God, some of the games of theirs I've watched have had some brutal coaching gaffes. But, keep winning 7-8 games a year at NW, and they'll build him a statue. I just don't get his name coming up so often when better jobs open up. I think he's in the niche now that he needs to be successful.

 

[scarletngray]

I think it is fair to consider what Hairball did in the NFL. He turned SF around and made them a team that was contending for the Super Bowl and winning championships. As well as how he turned Stanford around. He also did well at San Diego. He should turn scUM around. I would rank the top five:
1) Meyer
2) Hairball
3) Dantonio
4) Kill
5) Pick em between about 5 coaches

 

[RB07OSU]

I'll never understand the love for Fitz. No, NW is not an easy job. But what has he done to elevate it? He's never finished higher than 4th in the conference, and he has them trending seriously downward. What's his signature win? The 2012 Gator Bowl against a mediocre Miss State? He's never beat Ohio State or scUM (he even lost to dickrod's 3-9 2008 team with Nick fricking Sheridan at QB). He hasn't done anything there that Gary Barnett or Randy Walker didn't do before him. Hell, both of those guys won at least a share of the conference title when the B1G wasn't regarded as a cesspool.

I used to go to bat for him but after the last two seasons, he should be packing. I think Franklin will be fantastic with time/scholarships and Harbaugh will be big. I think the top 5 are very good, the rest can use work. My list:

1) UFM: No explanation needed.
2) Harbaugh: Had a very impressive NFL career and would still be at any NFL team not in SF. Then at Stanford, he took an anemic team and turned them around in a positive direction in 4 years. Sure, Luck was there but he turned a bunch of no-names on defense into an elite unit and elevated recruiting...look at the longevity past him at Stanford. Hard to argue he did not hand off the keys to a Cadillac to Shaw. If anyone truly inherited, it was Shaw. Granted the body of college football work is smaller than others on the list, it is nonetheless impressive and his overall resume is especially impressive throwing in his NFL work.
3) Dantonio: Close call here with Harbaugh but the recruiting is too lackluster for the "hot" brand name right now to sustain success imo.
4) Franklin: Really worked some miracles considering the complete lack of scholarships and talent on the roster. Would have been very easy to go with only 3-4 wins (maybe even 2 really). Gutted out some big wins, came close in some big matchups (see our game), and recruits like a maniac. Plus he had a ton of success at Vanderbilt considering the cards dealt there.
5) Kill: Fantastic coach that maximizes talent. Just needs to step up his recruiting.
6) Ferentz: Would be lower if any coach was worth a darn beyond the top 5...fading fast and his recruiting has been anemic.
7) Riley: OSU of the West was not exactly flourishing under him. I don't think he was much of a step up from his predecessors, if any.
8) Edsall: Seems to be a coach and the player love him, but he has struggled keeping talent in Maryland. If that continues, he will not last long.
9) Flood: Interchangeable with what I said on Edsall.
10) Fitzgerald: Slightly overachieved until he got talent and did even worse with it. I really like Fitz but he should have been booted after this season.
11) Chryst: Could be up to 8, idk...just not impressed with what he did after Wisky.
12) Hazell: Purdue is not a powerhouse but damn, they are better than what he has got out of them. Pretty bad recruiting and underperforming. Next year may be his last.
13) Beckman: Not really much good to say about the Illini since Beckman took over.
14) Wilson: I guess I should have put him at 11 or so but I am too lazy to change it and he has not really done anything to distinguish himself despite a pretty decent amount of talent on the roster.