Who's No. 1 . . . coach?
Posted: Monday, November 26, 2007 9:47 AM
In what has been the wackiest of wacky seasons in college football, at least a couple dozen coaches should be recognized for truly outstanding work. But there is only one “Coach of the Year” and that competition might be the toughest to call.
Let’s make an attempt … BCS style. We’ll pare the field down to six automatic qualifiers and four at-large selections, and then let you state your case for one of them.
Here they are:
ACC: Virginia’s Al Groh. Edging out Boston College rookie Jeff Jagodzinski and Virginia Tech’s longtime boss Frank Beamer for the automatic bid, Groh had less to work with and still made a strong run at a division title. If winning tight games is a sign of good coaching, Groh had an outstanding campaign, coming up with more nailbiting victories than any other coach in history.
Big East: Connecticut’s Randy Edsall. For a while it looked like South Florida’s Jim Leavitt was a lock to take the whole enchilada, but he got derailed by a three-game losing streak. Edsall’s Huskies certainly got more than their fair share of breaks, but you’ve got to love the way he built his team and how they won games with gusty defense and heady play.
Big Ten: Illinois’ Ron Zook. Patience paid off for the Illini, who seemed to be going nowhere with Zook. It just took time for wins in the recruiting wars to translate into victories on the field. It will be interesting to see where Illinois goes from here, now that it won’t be sneaking up on anybody in 2008.
Big 12: Missouri’s Gary Pinkel. Obviously receiving the nod over Kansas’ Mark Mangino by virtue of Saturday’s head-to-head victory, Pinkel is inexplicably two games away from collecting Missouri’s first national championship. No team in the country exhibited more week-to-week improvement than his Tigers.
Pac-10: Arizona State’s Dennis Erickson. Although well-known as a Mr.-Fix-It, Erickson wasn’t expected to do his magic this quickly. Picked to finish in the middle of the Pac-10, he kept his Sun Devils in prime position to take the conference crown up until Thanksgiving. It makes you wonder what would have happened this season if Erickson took over a year earlier in Tempe.
SEC: Mississippi State’s Sylvester Croom. With his job security under question as the season started, Croom seemed to be half way out the door when his Bulldogs got trounced, 45-0, by LSU in the season opener. But he really responded well, winning seven games. Croom can even claim the “Alabama State Title,” having beaten both Auburn and Alabama.
At large: Boston College’s Jeff Jagodzinski. In his first season with the Eagles, Jagodzinski easily surpassed the recent standard of respectability set by Tom O’Brien. Boston College isn’t just the “Matt Ryan Show.” That rugged run defense really sets the tone for a team that shows a lot of physical toughness.
At large: Hawaii’s June Jones. If you have a $60,000 recruiting budget and you go 11-0, you deserves some sort of trophy. Jones has worked extremely hard to build a sense of belief and teamwork within the Warriors, which really paid off when they had to rally for three dramatic road victories. A little known fact is that Hawaii currently ranks at No. 31 in total defense.
At large: Kansas’ Mark Mangino. We know that his schedule was questionable, but you can’t really question the job Mangino did with a Jayhawk program that hadn’t ever been remotely near the heights it experience this season. The loss to Missouri certainly stings, but just think about Kansas being in that position in the first place.
At large: BYU’s Bronco Mendenhall. After losing a pair of early road games, the Cougars have a chance to post their ninth consecutive win on Saturday at San Diego State. Mendenhall, who has already wrapped up his second straight MWC title and won 15 conference games in a row, appears well on his way to bringing the glory days back in Provo.
My vote goes to Sylvester Croom.
Who do you give the nod to?
