I was gonna post this last week, but just didn’t have the energy to put it together.
But after all the crap post PSU loss, I feel like I have to. I’ll do my best to be objective and try to keep my personal opinion out of it. For the record, I believe I can make an argument that he is top 3 and MAYBEEE even #1, but that would probably require more personal opinion.
A couple ground rules...you gotta have 50 FBS wins to qualify. And for the sake of argument, lets rate Harbaugh somewhere between #5 and #10 (because you can’t say somebody is overrated if he’s not rated, right?).
Here are some stats and information about the top 10 qualifying D1 coaches plus a few B1G rivals. National Championships count, so we’ll start with the 4 active coaches that have won a title. After that, we’ll go in order of winning percentage (current team and overall). *some winning percentages may be a few games off due to the website not updating...Harbaugh’s are accurate.
1. Nick Saban is the top dog and might be the greatest college coach of all time. He has 5 natty’s with 2 different teams. He is 125-19 with Bama (good for #2 current) and 216-61 overall (#5 current). He also spent some time in the NFL, where he was 15-17 (when his team’s payroll was the same as his opponent’s). He wins on the field, on the recruiting trail, and has a huge coaching tree.
2. Urban Meyer is a close second. He might be the second greatest college coach of all time. He has 3 natty’s with two different teams and won at Bowling Green and Utah before then. He is batting .904 at Ohio State (#1 current), and .850 overall (#1 current). He wins on the field and on the recruiting trail.
3. JImbo Fisher has a natty and that gets him third place on this list. He is 79-20 at FSU (his only stop). His .798 win rate is good for #3 with his current team and #3 overall. BTW, he won his natty with a Heisman Trophy winning #1 overall draft choice. Oh yeah, he’s 2-4 in year 9 in the richest recruiting area of the country.
4. Dabo Swinney has a natty (with a near-Heisman QB, btw). His 95-28 (.772) record is good for #6 overall and #6 current. He won his NC partially because an NC St kicker missed an NFL extra point length FG to force OT.
5. Chris Petersen is 125-26 (.828) at Boise St and Washington. He led Boise to two undefeated seasons. He is now 33-15 at Washington and come in #2 overall and #10 current. He made the playoffs last year with Browning at QB
6. David Shaw is 68-19 (.782) at Stanford. That’s good for #4 overall and #5 current. He inherited an 11-1 program from Jim Harbaugh and has done an excellent job of sustaining it. But he hasn’t made a playoff, and he’s not gonna make it this year.
7. Mark Richt is 160-55 (.744) overall and 15-4 (.789) at Miami. That’s good for #7 overall and #4 current. With no national championships and no conference titles in 10 years he was fired by Georgia two years ago, quickly landing on his feet at the U.
8. Gary Patterson is 156-54 (.743) at TCU, where he has played in 4 different conferences. In the Big 12 he is 47-24 (.662). His overall # is 8, but he’s only top 40 for TCU in the Big 12. Still, he has a very impressive resume.
9. Bobby Petrino is 113-45 (.715) overall (#9), 71-24 (.747) (#9) at Louisville. He’s also not a very good man....
10. Jim Harbaugh is 83-35 (.703) (#10) and 25-8 (.758 #8) at Michigan after the PSU loss. He is 1-4 vs. rivals. HOWEVER, one of the losses was the flukiest play of all time (with several uncalled penalties on MSU on that play) and one was the bad spot vs. OSU. Take those plays into account and he is 27-6 at Michigan, which would put him at #3 on the current list.
Some other notes....
Mark D’Antonio is .651 overall and .690 at MSU. Take away the 3-9 season, which I think we can all agree was an anomaly (like Bo’s 1984 season) and he is .727 while at MSU. He is a great coach whether you hate Sparty or not.
James Franklin is very young. He is 56-30 overall, 32-15 at PSU. In his young career, he has made many mistakes. But he is confident, gets better every year with two challenging programs and deserves a lot of credit for the team he has assembled in his 4th year at Penn St, whether you hate the Nittany Lions or not.
Paul Chryst is 47-25 (.652) overall and 28-6 (.823) at Wisconsin. Impressive.
So you guys can draw your own conclusions, but I don’t think there’s any way in hell that one can objectively call Harbaugh “overrated”. And you can’t say that about D’Antonio, Franklin or Chryst either. I’m not sure why everybody thinks that you should be ready to win a natty in year 3. Just because Saban and Meyer did it? Possibly the top 2 coaches of all time? I think Stoops won a mythical one 15 years ago and Chizik rode Cam Newton to one pretty early (year 2) then was fired 2 years later.
I like our coach. I think he’ll get us a natty or two....when he finds HIS QB. Jimbo did it after 4 with a Heisman QB and Dabo took 9 with a Heismanesque QB. We will get there, too. It’s not a matter of “IF”...it’s a matter of “WHEN”. But we will get there.
But after all the crap post PSU loss, I feel like I have to. I’ll do my best to be objective and try to keep my personal opinion out of it. For the record, I believe I can make an argument that he is top 3 and MAYBEEE even #1, but that would probably require more personal opinion.
A couple ground rules...you gotta have 50 FBS wins to qualify. And for the sake of argument, lets rate Harbaugh somewhere between #5 and #10 (because you can’t say somebody is overrated if he’s not rated, right?).
Here are some stats and information about the top 10 qualifying D1 coaches plus a few B1G rivals. National Championships count, so we’ll start with the 4 active coaches that have won a title. After that, we’ll go in order of winning percentage (current team and overall). *some winning percentages may be a few games off due to the website not updating...Harbaugh’s are accurate.
1. Nick Saban is the top dog and might be the greatest college coach of all time. He has 5 natty’s with 2 different teams. He is 125-19 with Bama (good for #2 current) and 216-61 overall (#5 current). He also spent some time in the NFL, where he was 15-17 (when his team’s payroll was the same as his opponent’s). He wins on the field, on the recruiting trail, and has a huge coaching tree.
2. Urban Meyer is a close second. He might be the second greatest college coach of all time. He has 3 natty’s with two different teams and won at Bowling Green and Utah before then. He is batting .904 at Ohio State (#1 current), and .850 overall (#1 current). He wins on the field and on the recruiting trail.
3. JImbo Fisher has a natty and that gets him third place on this list. He is 79-20 at FSU (his only stop). His .798 win rate is good for #3 with his current team and #3 overall. BTW, he won his natty with a Heisman Trophy winning #1 overall draft choice. Oh yeah, he’s 2-4 in year 9 in the richest recruiting area of the country.
4. Dabo Swinney has a natty (with a near-Heisman QB, btw). His 95-28 (.772) record is good for #6 overall and #6 current. He won his NC partially because an NC St kicker missed an NFL extra point length FG to force OT.
5. Chris Petersen is 125-26 (.828) at Boise St and Washington. He led Boise to two undefeated seasons. He is now 33-15 at Washington and come in #2 overall and #10 current. He made the playoffs last year with Browning at QB
6. David Shaw is 68-19 (.782) at Stanford. That’s good for #4 overall and #5 current. He inherited an 11-1 program from Jim Harbaugh and has done an excellent job of sustaining it. But he hasn’t made a playoff, and he’s not gonna make it this year.
7. Mark Richt is 160-55 (.744) overall and 15-4 (.789) at Miami. That’s good for #7 overall and #4 current. With no national championships and no conference titles in 10 years he was fired by Georgia two years ago, quickly landing on his feet at the U.
8. Gary Patterson is 156-54 (.743) at TCU, where he has played in 4 different conferences. In the Big 12 he is 47-24 (.662). His overall # is 8, but he’s only top 40 for TCU in the Big 12. Still, he has a very impressive resume.
9. Bobby Petrino is 113-45 (.715) overall (#9), 71-24 (.747) (#9) at Louisville. He’s also not a very good man....
10. Jim Harbaugh is 83-35 (.703) (#10) and 25-8 (.758 #8) at Michigan after the PSU loss. He is 1-4 vs. rivals. HOWEVER, one of the losses was the flukiest play of all time (with several uncalled penalties on MSU on that play) and one was the bad spot vs. OSU. Take those plays into account and he is 27-6 at Michigan, which would put him at #3 on the current list.
Some other notes....
Mark D’Antonio is .651 overall and .690 at MSU. Take away the 3-9 season, which I think we can all agree was an anomaly (like Bo’s 1984 season) and he is .727 while at MSU. He is a great coach whether you hate Sparty or not.
James Franklin is very young. He is 56-30 overall, 32-15 at PSU. In his young career, he has made many mistakes. But he is confident, gets better every year with two challenging programs and deserves a lot of credit for the team he has assembled in his 4th year at Penn St, whether you hate the Nittany Lions or not.
Paul Chryst is 47-25 (.652) overall and 28-6 (.823) at Wisconsin. Impressive.
So you guys can draw your own conclusions, but I don’t think there’s any way in hell that one can objectively call Harbaugh “overrated”. And you can’t say that about D’Antonio, Franklin or Chryst either. I’m not sure why everybody thinks that you should be ready to win a natty in year 3. Just because Saban and Meyer did it? Possibly the top 2 coaches of all time? I think Stoops won a mythical one 15 years ago and Chizik rode Cam Newton to one pretty early (year 2) then was fired 2 years later.
I like our coach. I think he’ll get us a natty or two....when he finds HIS QB. Jimbo did it after 4 with a Heisman QB and Dabo took 9 with a Heismanesque QB. We will get there, too. It’s not a matter of “IF”...it’s a matter of “WHEN”. But we will get there.
