Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Ranking the ACC's Coaches.....


We engaged in a gentle discussion with a friend the other day over the superiority of the SEC over the rest of college football. First, before you get your undergarments all knotted up, this is not going to descend into a debate over SEC vs. ACC superiority. Frankly, been there, done that, got the scars to prove it. Let's move on from that debate (we can debate this later if anyone so chooses- just fire up a comment). For the record, the "discussion" of SEC greatness vs. our beloved ACC ended with him simply repeating"John Swofford, John Swofford, John Swofford" like some deranged Louisiana voodoo priest until I cowered whimpering in a corner. That guy is a pox upon ACC fans like none other, insidious bastard.
I digress. In our discussion of ACC vs. SEC the topic of coaching came up. Of course he trotted out the names Meyer & Saban as examples of SEC greatness. I countered with CPJ & Beamer, so on & so forth. Perhaps the only usable information that came from the discussion was a realization that Houston Nutt & Dabo Swinney are actually the SAME PERSON! Giggity, giggity....But the debate did get us thinking about ACC coaching in general. How do the head coaches in our conference stack up? Is there a level playing field or are things stratified? So we decided to rank the ACC's head coaches, from top to bottom, & see what we actually thought of the headmen in the ACC. This is not a ranking of the programs as a whole but a ranking of the coaches. Who would you want coaching Tech if CPJ wasn't here & we had to hire a coach from within the ACC? That's essentially the standard. The number after their name in parenthesis is their salary, in millions, per year, just in case you wanted to make that correlation. Here goes:

  • 1) Frank Beamer, Virginia Polly (2.1): oh, the gnashing of teeth. Why didn't you put CPJ first, you traitorous bastard? Well, frankly because we think CPJ will overtake Beamer in a couple years but right now Beamer is the gold standard in the ACC. The dean of ACC coaches with 23 years at VPISU, Beamer has built a consistently excellent program. In six years in the conference, Beamer has won the ACC Championship three times, the Coastal division four times & finished second twice. His teams are consistently ranked in the top 25, he's won an Orange Bowl, something no other ACC team has managed, & played for a national championship in 1999. Other than the brothers Vick, the program is perceived as relatively law abiding. So for now we'll put Beamer on top of the ACC mountain but that perch is tenuous, particularly with defensive coordinator Bud Foster looking for a head coaching job, offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring a dubious character, & a gentleman in Atlanta building a juggernaut....
  • 2) Paul Johnson, MA TECH (2.3): with the retirement of Bobby Bowden, Johnson becomes the conference's highest paid coach & deservedly so, having turned our fortunes around in just two years on the Flats. While many nay-sayers doubted the effectiveness of his spread option offense, Johnson has silenced the critics with a 20-7 record during his first two years in Atlanta. The two bowl losses are the only unexpected blemish on his record so far. We love him at Tech & rightly so. As I said earlier, we have every expectation he'll over take Beamer on this list with in two years, particularly with Al Groh running the defense on the Flats.
  • 3) Jim Grobe, Wake Forest (1.2): does anyone do more with less? Grobe has built a consistent winner at a school with a little more than 7,000 students. Grobe's Wake teams are always smart, disciplined & they play hard. His policy of redshirting every player has certainly paid dividends at school handicapped by their size. There are never off-field issues at Wake & Grobe always seems to find talent that flies under the radar (Aaron Crry, Riley Skinner). We're pleasantly surprised he's stuck around in Winston-Salem as long as he has.
  • 4) David Cutcliffe, Ole Miss (1.5): do you think Ole Miss fans punch themselves in the groin when they remember they fired Cutcliffe only to end up with Houston Nutt? It's tough to win in football at Duke. There are high school games in metro Atlanta that draw bigger crowds than a home game at Wallace Wade Stadium. There's no football tradition & frankly most Dukies could care less about football, it's simply a prelude to hoops. But Cutcliffe is building a solid program in Durham. They will no longer be the doormat of the ACC. Will they ever be a juggernaut? Doubtful. But Cutcliffe isn't making excuses, he's just steadily changing the culture in Durham. He & Grobe certainly make the most of the limited resources they have.
  • 5) Butch Davis, UNC (2.1): the hiring of Davis at UNC was seen around the conference as a huge deal; a powerful school goes out & gets a big name coach who's both won a national championship (Miami) & coached in the NFL (Cleveland). So far, the results have been decent but frankly I think everyone expected more. It's still early, as 2009 was only Davis' third year in Chapel Hill, so there's a chance we're ranking him a bit low. There's little question that Davis can recruit as he's stockpiled a vast array of talent at UNC. The question remains as to how that talent is put to use, particularly on the offensive side of the ball? 2010 will be a key year for Davis as the Heel's defense is loaded & they looked primed to contend for an ACC title.
Please note: we are now entering the OH SHIT zone. The waters in which these coaches swim are murky & filled with oft angry fans, boosters, & alumni. Tread at your own risk....

  • 6) Tom O'Brien, NCSU (1.1): hired away from Boston College three seasons ago, O'Brien's tenure in Raleigh has been underwhelming so far. Thought of as a solid coach & disciplinarian, O'Brien has yet to make his mark on the Wolfpack program & better start soon or his time will be up. The natives, as we say, are restless. One side note is that the reason many N.C. State fans are upset is that it was rumored that the Pack chose O'Brien over Paul Johnson. A giant thank you from Tech fans everywhere....
  • 7) Randy Shannon, ThugU (1.5): from former Miami player to graduate assistant/bagman for Dennis Erickson to head coach. A tidy little circle. Only one other ACC school (FSU) has the national cache that Miami has & yet Shannon has been able to do little to reinvigorate the once swagger-filled program. Sure they have talent but not nearly as much as in year's past. And their performance on the field lacks not only swagger but discipline & execution as well. Shannon & Miami have slowly improved as his assistants have gotten better but frankly he's in over his head. He did, after all, VOLUNTARILY hire Patrick Nix.
  • 8) Ralph Friedgen, Maryland (1.75): Simply a beautiful man. Look at the cut of his jib. It pains us to put The Fridge here but after last season's 2-10 debacle we fear his ample seat is quite hot. Friedgen has never managed any consistency in College Park, yoyo-ing from 9-4 to 5-7 on a regular basis. That plus the high expectations of the Maryland fanbase and a coach-in-waiting (James Franklin) have the Fridge in a tenuous position. He's recruited well enough at Maryland but losses to teams they should easily beat have been a hallmark of his tenure. Fridge may be that classic case of someone who's better as a coordinator than head coach.
That leaves us with four coaches left who, due to their lack of time in their current job, we really can't rank. It's incredibly premature & just guesswork to try & figure out how Jimbo Fisher at FSU & Mike London at Virginia will fare. Same can be said for second-year coaches Dabo Swinney at Climpsum & Frank Spaziani at Boston College. It's just far too early to tell how they will turn out as coaches. If we had to guess, Fisher will do an okay job at FSU & based on the historical strength of the program will have above-average success. London has done it at the FCS level so we'll see how it translates. Spaziani will at best keep BC where they are now; an above average ACC program. That's the upside. And Dabo? Well, let's just say we're all for him continuing to coach right up the way at Clemson. Let us know your thoughts on the current ACC coaches...

-Hash

14 comments:

  1. If you think Ole Miss fans regret firing Cutcliffe, you're crazy. What a ridiculous statement. Houston Nutt can coach circles around Cut.

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  2. Punching ourselves in the groin...for Cutcliffe? You have absolutely no business wrting on a football blog if you prefer Cutt over Nutt when it comes to coaching.

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  3. Duke is the perfect place for Cutcliffe. What other BCS conference school can you drop a home game to 1-AA Richmond and still be considered a coaching genius?

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  4. I guess you guys answered my question (it was in the interrogative, gentlemen) that you much prefer Nutt to Cutcliffe. After two Cotton Bowl wins, that's certainly understandable.
    -Hash

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  5. Now you're going to pass it off as a legitimate question, and use condescension while doing so? Your question is idiotic. No football fan, looking at the results, would choose Cutcliffe over Nutt. Yet your question intimates that not only do we question the choice, but we kick ourselves in the junk for such a stupid decision. I'm glad Duke is happy with Cut. He's a good guy. I wish him the best. But you'll not catch any Ole Miss fans crying over the change.

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  6. In fairness, I will say Cut is most likely a better coach now than he was when he was fired. He was in very poor health his last couple of years in Oxford and had multiple bypass surgery the following spring. I think that played a role in his demise. Regardless of health, though, he made idiotic personnel decisions - always allowing seniority to rule over talent, ability and common sense as far as playing time went. Patrick Willis, the single-most talented LB to come through Ole Miss (and one of the best ever in the SEC) rode the pine as a sophomore behind a slow, white academy kid. He also managed to lose to Memphis with a Manning under center. So...

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  7. Fair enough, it was as you suggested, a loaded question. We don't take ourselves too seriously around here but we do appreciate the passion. I may have underestimated Nutt on looking back at my post. Remember, the point was comparing coaching, not overall strength of program as an earlier response suggested. That being said, Nutt has done more in his brief time at Ole Miss than Cut ever did.
    So here's a serious question (I assume you're an Ole Miss fan): what will the departure of Kent Austin mean for you next year?
    Keep bringing the heat & we appreciate the passion & discussion.
    -Hash

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  8. Patrick Willis was & is a BEAST. Certainly as good a college LB to come around in a long time. Always loved watching him play. Would have loved to see McCluster in Tech's offense. Would have been a perfect fit at A-back.
    -Hash

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  9. I'll bite... How do these guys stack up against their corresponding SEC coaches?

    I'd take the top 3; particularly Johnson and Grobe, in our league over Saban or Meyer or any of the other coaches in any other conference in the country. If you base it on pure coaching ability (not ability to recruit talent, and conversely talent on the field), but ability to make a system and players win regardless.

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  10. If we're to be totally honest about the departure of Austin, I'll say that I don't think it is going to change much - and that worries me. I did not subscribe to the idea that Nutt kept a tight reign on the offense, but some things that happened this year made me question that belief. The departure of Austin really lends credence to the idea that he didn't get to do what he wanted to do. Do I have evidence of that? No. But it is sure the feeling I get. And from that, the idea that things won't change much. That also means that you're not likely to get a top-flight OC under Nutt and even if you do, it won't yield that much benefit.

    The personnel losses are going to be tougher than the loss of Austin. If we get bowl eligible (and I think we will), it will be by a small margin.

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  11. The Cutt vs. Nutt Debate isn't the point. Both Coach's teams have played well above their historic averages at their last two stops, Duke and Arkansas respectably and Ole Miss.

    Cutcliffe vs. Oregeron! that's the situmacation.

    Cuttcliffe, I believe was the winningest coach in ole miss history (anyone care to check my stats go ahead), but after one loosing season he was fired and Ole Miss fans had to suffer through Ed Orgeron. A mistake the administration quickly corrected when Arkansas cut Nutt loose under similar circumstances.

    I personally route for both coaches as they both seem to do more with less, and have both been the victum of unrealistic expectations. Something which may have played into Cutt's decision not to go to Tennessee (the most unrealistic of all fans)

    FLW

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  12. Dude... Cutcliffe wasn't even CLOSE to the winningest coach at Ole Miss. Google Johnny Vaught.

    If your initial argument was Cutcliffe versus Orgeron, then that statement should have been made. Most Ole Miss fans would have even agreed with you to at least some extent. But you can't even begin to compare Nutt and Cutcliffe.

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  13. To be precise and to "check your stats", Cut was 44-29 at Ole Miss. John Vaught was 190-61-12. Vaught won just over 72% of his games. Cut won 60%. Vaught had a seven year stretch that included 6 top 10 finishes, and the seventh we finished number 11. That includes two finishes at number two in the nation and one at number three.

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  14. The initial post was that Cutcliffe, IMHO, is a better than average coach in the ACC. The fact that you feel Nutt is a significant upgrade over Cut is a great sign for your program. What's interesting is that Tech & Ole Miss are in similar places to begin this year as programs:
    1) Both have had a nice two year run with their new coaches but now those coaches will have higher expectations
    2) Both coaches have so far "won with their predecessors players" & now they will face the challenge of "winning with their own guys".
    3) Both lost a coordinator (albeit it for different reasons) & will have a new face in a significant role on the staff this Fall
    4) as an addendum to #2 both teams lose tons of talent: Hodge, Snead, McCluster, Hardy to name a few for Ole Miss - Burnett, Morgan, Dwyer, & Thomas, & Howard for Tech.

    This year will be interesting for both programs. I agree that the loss of talent will be the biggest hurdle for both to overcome. As far as #2 I threw it in there because many people cite that argument but I think it's B.S. in this case. Both guys can recruit & coach so having "their" players shouldn't be a problem.

    One last needle: why'd you guys bail on playing us these last two years? Can you smell what Paul Johnson's cooking??????

    -Hash

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