ON TODAY'S SCORECARD
Simply the Best
Every college football program has that one hire. It's the moment that changes everything and kicks off an unprecedented run of success. It can transform an athletic department and show both donors and players what's possible at a school.
The race to find that hire has never been more difficult. For example, Florida has hired six coaches in the 21st century alone. Tennessee hired five in 12 years. USC hired three straight Pete Carroll disciples to try and recapture the magic. Countless buyout dollars have flown out the windows in search of the next big thing. But when the right coach has found the right situation, magic happens.
For a list like this, laying out criteria is critical. More than anything, being transformative is valued. There are coaches who defined a place, or even helped elevate a program long term. Winning big is valued -- the top five are all multi-time national champions -- but it's not the only qualification. Success at Purdue looks different than that at Alabama.
Additionally, a coach is only eligible to be listed on here once. Otherwise, multiple champions like Nick Saban and Urban Meyer very well could take up all of the top five spots on their own. The list will also consider coaches who started their head coaching tenure in 2000 or later. That means a few legendary coaches, like Oklahoma's Bob Stoops, narrowly miss the cut.
With that said, here are the top 5 coaching hires of the 2000s, from national champions to program builders, per Sports Yahoo:
5. Kirby Smart, Georgia
First season: 2016
Notable accomplishments: 2 national championships, 3 SEC titles, 105-19 record
We're now getting into the territory of coaches with multiple national championships, and Smart is perhaps best positioned to join Nick Saban as the only coach with more than two. Smart has created the closest thing we have to a new Alabama, rattling off eight straight AP top seven finishes with consecutive national championships. The only thing keeping Smart slightly lower on this list than the top four is that he took over a Georgia program that was painfully close to reaching the promised land under Mark Richt. All four of the other situations were bleaker. In the next decade, though, Smart can easily elevate himself to No. 2.
4. Pete Carroll, USC
First season: 2001
Notable accomplishments: 2 national championships, 7 Pac-10 titles, 97-19 record, 2 Heisman Trophy winners
Carroll was not USC's first choice when he was hired. He had runs as head coach of the New England Patriots and New York Jets in the 1990s, but spent the 2000 season away from the field after getting fired. He built a legitimate recruiting fence around Southern California and helped return the Trojans to national prominence. He produced the first Heisman-winning teammates since Army in the 1940s and captured a pair of AP national titles. An indicator of Carroll's success: USC hired a series of former Carroll assistants as head coach in an attempt to recapture the magic.
3. Dabo Swinney, Clemson
First season: 2009
Notable accomplishments: 2 national championships, 9 ACC titles
Swinney isn't the only coach on this list with multiple national championships, but his rise is nothing short of magical. A former wide receivers coach on Tommy Bowden's staff, Swinney was one of the least experienced hires on this list when he took over. All he did over the next 15 years was transform Clemson into a national powerhouse. Before his tenure, the Tigers had just one national title and six top-10 finishes; Swinney surpassed both marks on his own. There are fair questions about whether he can return Clemson to the mountaintop in a new era, but those are champagne problems. His hire remains one of the boldest and best swings a program has ever taken.
2. Urban Meyer, Florida
First season: 2005
Notable accomplishments: 2 national championships, 2 SEC titles, 65-15 record
Meyer was always going to have a high spot on this list. The only debate surrounds which of his hirings stands apart as the best. Frankly, if evaluated separately, Meyer's stints at Utah, Florida and Ohio State could all rank as top 10 hires of the 21st century. However, his five-year tenure at Florida helped cement him as a Hall of Fame coach with three 13-1 records in six seasons behind legendary quarterback Tim Tebow. Meyer helped create a monstrous recruiting machine and produced countless NFL players at Florida. If not for No. 1 on the list, he would be considered the best overall coach of the 21st century. Instead, he had to settle for silver.
1. Nick Saban, Alabama
First season: 2007
Notable accomplishments: 6 national titles, 9 SEC titles, 201 wins
Could there be any other answer? Saban was so successful for so long, people forget the mess he inherited at Alabama. The program had two outright SEC titles in the 25 years between Paul "Bear" Bryant's retirement and Saban's hiring. He rattled off nine such titles in 17 seasons at Alabama. He also won six national titles at the school -- the most by any coach in history. Saban's Alabama defined the 21st Century in every way, from its on-field success to reworking how every peer program approached recruiting and development. Saban was perhaps the single greatest hire in the history of college football. Ironically, Alabama had the No. 1 Best and Worst coaching hires (Saban and Mike Price) this millennium.
Note: You can read the entire list of Top 25 coaching hires this century here. |
