Records shown are at current school with their conference records.
Coaching Rankings : 1-9 | 10-19 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50-59 | 60-68
20) Kevin Sumlin – Texas A&M (28-11, 13-11)
In his first year in the SEC, Kevin Sumlin led Texas A&M to an 11-2 record and top 5 finish back in 2012. While he hasn’t been able to get the Aggies to the next level, he’s never won fewer than 8 games in his 3 years in College Station.
21) Todd Graham – Arizona State (28-12, 19-8)
I don’t think Todd Graham gets enough credit for turning Arizona State into really solid program. He’s put together back to back 10 win seasons in Tempe. That’s really impressive stuff.
22) Paul Johnson – Georgia Tech (58-35, 37-19)
If I had done this rankings last year, I think I would have put Paul Johnson somewhere in the mid 30s. He reminded us this past year what a good coach he is. That’s what an 11 win top 10 finish in 2014 will do for you. He has 4 Coastal Division Titles in 7 years at Georgia Tech and after some early bowl struggles has won 2 of his last 3 including an Orange Bowl.
23) Bobby Petrino – Louisville (9-4, 5-3)
Bobby Petrino had a good first season at Louisville winning 9 games and a top 25 finish. If he can coach this year’s Louisville team into a 9 or 10 win team after losing 10 NFL draft picks I’ll move him into the top 20.
24) James Franklin – Penn State (7-6, 2-6)
At Vanderbilt James Franklin did the near impossible leading that team to back to back 9 win seasons. He struggled a bit in his first at Penn State going 2-6 in the Big 10. He’s a relentless recruiter, and I expect better days are ahead for Penn State.
25) Brian Kelly – Notre Dame (45-20)
Brian Kelly got Notre Dame to the national title game in 2012, but in 3 of his 5 years at Notre Dame he’s lost at least 5 games. He’s been very good at Notre Dame, but not quite great.
26) Gary Anderson – Oregon State (0-0, 0-0)
Gary Anderson won 19 games in two years at Wisconsin. He made an appearance in the Big 10 championship game, and last year went 10-3 with a top 15 finish. Now he heads to Oregon State, where he’ll be tasked with turning the Beavers around.
27) Mike Gundy – Oklahoma State (84-44, 49-35)
Mike Gundy has made Oklahoma State one of the more respected Big 12 football programs around. In 2011 he should have played in the national title game, but was denied a deserved spot to in favor of the LSU/Alabama matchup. A 7-6 (4-5) record caused Gundy to slip a bit here, but he’s a good one.
28) Rich Rodriguez – Arizona (26-14, 15-12)
After two decent 8-5 years at Arizona, Rich Rodriguez put together a 10 win season and a Fiesta Bowl berth for the Wildcats. His Michigan tenure was a mess, but he made West Virginia into the Big East’s most dangerous team for several years.
29) Hugh Freeze – Mississippi (24-15, 11-13)
Hugh Freeze has gradually turned Mississippi around improving from 7 wins to 8 wins to 9 wins last year. He’s upgraded Mississippi’s recruiting, and now we’ll see if he can make Ole Miss a true nationally relevant program.
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