Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2023 8:01:28 GMT -5
Maybe it just seemed like there were more amazing coaching jobs done this year than normal.
Maybe it’s because there were so many good teams at the top. Several places that never seem to have any success suddenly had phenomenal runs, and a whole lot of new coaching hires took off right away.
We will do our 1 to 133 head coaching rankings after the season is over. That’s when we’ll announce our Coach of the Year.
How do we determine which 15 get the nod? It’s all loosely based on a combination of those who did the most with the least, those who came up with something historically good, and those who did the best jobs of navigating through the ups and downs of the 2023 season to get to this point.
There were at least 15 others who could’ve and probably should’ve made this list - and, if any who aren’t on this list do something special this bowl season, we’ll change it up in our final rankings - but for now our 15 best college football coaches of 2023 are …
(In alphabetical order - again, we’ll do 1 through 15 at the end of the season.)
David Braun, Northwestern
After all of the offseason controversy that led to Braun getting the full-time job, he got the program that went 4-20 over the previous two seasons back to a bowl game.
The Wildcats have a whole lot of flaws, but they closed out winning four of the last five games, was close to beating Iowa to make it 5-for-5, and ensured a winning season by beating Illinois, keeping it out of a bowl game.
Jeff Brohm, Louisville
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the favorite son was going to take over Louisville and maybe it would be a year or three everything would start to work.
Nope - one season, in the ACC Championship, and almost certainly off to the Orange Bowl no matter what happens against Florida State. The team pulled out five one-score games and whacked Notre Dame 33-20 in the program’s best season since 2013.
Curt Cignetti, James Madison
Cignetti not only kept the team focused and dominant through the adversity of the fight with the NCAA to be eligible for a bowl game, but his team was even better than the fantastic 2022 version.
12 teams from the Sun Belt are going bowling, and even with the loss to Appalachian State, James Madison proved it’s the best in the conference - even though it can’t play in the Sun Belt title game. It finished with 11 wins, was No. 1 in the nation against the run - by a relative mile - and because there weren’t enough bowl eligible teams, the bowl eligible payoff came.
Kalen DeBoer, Washington
How do you follow up an 11-2 debut? By going 12-0 and playing for the Pac-12 Championship.
This is UW’s first 12-win season since going to the College Football Playoff in 2016, and with one more victory it’ll be the winningest campaign in the program’s history. And don’t think any of this was a walk in the park - six of the last eight wins were by one score, and time and again his team came through.
Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri
Missouri was stuck. For years, it won the games it was supposed to win, lost the games it was supposed to lose, maybe it went to a bowl game, maybe it didn’t. The last winning season was 2018, the last double-digit win season was 2014, and this year it all came together.
In his fourth season, Drinkwitz finally had his pieces in place to be the second best team in the SEC East, throttling Tennessee and beating Florida along the way. The Tigers are 10-2 and likely off to a New Year’s Six bowl.
Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
10-2. Iowa might have the Greatest Slow On Turf offense with a punt, baby, punt style, but the guy keeps on rolling. Ferentz got Iowa to the Big Ten championship - and was one waved hand on a punt return against Minnesota away from making the upcoming matchup with Michigan for a shot at the College Football Playoff.
Find anyone else who can do any or all of that with an offense that’s dead last in college football averaging 246 yards per game - 24 fewer yards than the second-worst team. 10-2. That’s all that matters.
Jedd Fisch, Arizona
He needed a few years to to build up the lines. Arizona went from 1-11, to 5-7, to a 9-3 run that was shockingly close to being 12-0 - all three losses were by one score and very, very winnable.
This was Arizona’s first winning season since 2017, and with a bowl victory - if it happens - it will be the program’s fourth double-digit win season ever. All that, and hanging 59 on Arizona State certainly didn’t hurt.
Alex Golesh, USF
Even with the big Tampa market and large enrollment, USF sat by and watched UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston get the call up to the majors and life in the Big 12.
The Bulls were 4-29 in the previous three seasons, went four years without being even close to a bowl game, and they were in desperate need of a rebuild.
It was a rocky run, but in his first year the 39-year-old former Tennessee offensive coordinator got the O going enough to get to six wins in what might be a huge stepping-stone season.
Brent Key, Georgia Tech
Sometimes the vibe around a team is just … interesting. There’s an energy under Key - starting with the second half turnaround after he took over last year - and it all worked in a blast of a campaign that was all over the place.
Georgia Tech started out 2-3, the remaining schedule seemed daunting, and a fifth straight losing season appeared to be a lock. And then came the miracle in Miami, a thriller over North Carolina, and the team just kept on finding wins until it became bowl eligible for the first time since 2018.
Jerry Kill, New Mexico State
If you could NASCAR this and give everyone the same college football parts to work with, Kill would be among the best drivers in the field. Health issues cut short his time at Minnesota, but he was able to work for years as an assistant at several places before taking on the impossible task of the New Mexico State gig.
The Aggies got a special exemption to find their way into a bowl game last year, but this season - the first as a member of Conference USA - Kill’s team is playing for the title. As is it’s the second-best season in school history, and this group could stand alone as NMSU’s first 12-win team ever with two more victories.
GJ Kinne, Texas State
Texas State entered the major college football world in 2012. It had one winning season back in 2014, has never been to a bowl game, and enjoyed just two campaigns of more than four wins in its first 11 seasons.
The 34-year-old Kinne came over from UIW, and he brought the offense that’s No. 1 in the Sun Belt, and the defense that’s No. 1 in the nation in tackles for loss.
His Bobcats came out roaring with a shocking win over Baylor, had bowl eligibility wrapped up in early November, and now he’s one win away from making this the best season in TXST history.
Mike Norvell, Florida State
The expectations for Florida State were jacked after the breakout 10-3 2022 season, and Norvell and his team were able to more than match them. As 2023 turned out, FSU needed to go unbeaten to be in the College Football Playoff mix.
Through injuries and a few close calls, the team is one win away from 13-0, an ACC Championship, and - no WAY it’s left out with a win over Louisville - a trip to the CFP. Not bad considering FSU was coming off its fourth straight losing campaign two years ago.
Barry Odom, UNLV
Randall Cunningham led 1984 UNLV to an 11-win season. It was the only double-digit season in the program’s history. Many had tried to make UNLV work over the years, but with no luck whatsoever. In the 38 years since that one great run, there have been just three bowl appearances and five winning seasons.
In his first year, Odom stepped in, the offense became phenomenal on third downs, the team dominated the turnover margin, and now it’s in the Mountain West Championship and off to a bowl game.
Rich Rodriguez, Jacksonville State
Rodriguez winning the Atlantic-Sun title in his first season at Jacksonville State was nice, but moving up to the FBS level into Conference USA was a whole different thing.
His offense hasn’t been nearly as dominant, and it hasn’t always been easy, but starting with a win over UTEP and continuing on as a tough out each week, the Gamecocks finished third in CUSA. Thanks to a lack of eligible bowl teams, the great eight-win season has become truly special with a bowl invite on the way.
Kirby Smart, Georgia
Yeah, you absolutely should get credit for fielding one of the most talented teams in the country year in and year out - bringing in the guys is the most important job of a big-program college football head coach - and never, ever, ever assume 12-0.
You try to lose ten parts from a two-time national champion team to the NFL Draft and keep the momentum rolling. For all of the whining about the schedule, the team worked through the early growing pains, got through the tough games in the back end, and now it’s back in the SEC Championship and national title mix.
collegefootballnews.com/news/15-best-college-football-head-coaches-of-2023-cfn-coach-of-the-year-finalists
Maybe it’s because there were so many good teams at the top. Several places that never seem to have any success suddenly had phenomenal runs, and a whole lot of new coaching hires took off right away.
We will do our 1 to 133 head coaching rankings after the season is over. That’s when we’ll announce our Coach of the Year.
How do we determine which 15 get the nod? It’s all loosely based on a combination of those who did the most with the least, those who came up with something historically good, and those who did the best jobs of navigating through the ups and downs of the 2023 season to get to this point.
There were at least 15 others who could’ve and probably should’ve made this list - and, if any who aren’t on this list do something special this bowl season, we’ll change it up in our final rankings - but for now our 15 best college football coaches of 2023 are …
(In alphabetical order - again, we’ll do 1 through 15 at the end of the season.)
David Braun, Northwestern
After all of the offseason controversy that led to Braun getting the full-time job, he got the program that went 4-20 over the previous two seasons back to a bowl game.
The Wildcats have a whole lot of flaws, but they closed out winning four of the last five games, was close to beating Iowa to make it 5-for-5, and ensured a winning season by beating Illinois, keeping it out of a bowl game.
Jeff Brohm, Louisville
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the favorite son was going to take over Louisville and maybe it would be a year or three everything would start to work.
Nope - one season, in the ACC Championship, and almost certainly off to the Orange Bowl no matter what happens against Florida State. The team pulled out five one-score games and whacked Notre Dame 33-20 in the program’s best season since 2013.
Curt Cignetti, James Madison
Cignetti not only kept the team focused and dominant through the adversity of the fight with the NCAA to be eligible for a bowl game, but his team was even better than the fantastic 2022 version.
12 teams from the Sun Belt are going bowling, and even with the loss to Appalachian State, James Madison proved it’s the best in the conference - even though it can’t play in the Sun Belt title game. It finished with 11 wins, was No. 1 in the nation against the run - by a relative mile - and because there weren’t enough bowl eligible teams, the bowl eligible payoff came.
Kalen DeBoer, Washington
How do you follow up an 11-2 debut? By going 12-0 and playing for the Pac-12 Championship.
This is UW’s first 12-win season since going to the College Football Playoff in 2016, and with one more victory it’ll be the winningest campaign in the program’s history. And don’t think any of this was a walk in the park - six of the last eight wins were by one score, and time and again his team came through.
Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri
Missouri was stuck. For years, it won the games it was supposed to win, lost the games it was supposed to lose, maybe it went to a bowl game, maybe it didn’t. The last winning season was 2018, the last double-digit win season was 2014, and this year it all came together.
In his fourth season, Drinkwitz finally had his pieces in place to be the second best team in the SEC East, throttling Tennessee and beating Florida along the way. The Tigers are 10-2 and likely off to a New Year’s Six bowl.
Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
10-2. Iowa might have the Greatest Slow On Turf offense with a punt, baby, punt style, but the guy keeps on rolling. Ferentz got Iowa to the Big Ten championship - and was one waved hand on a punt return against Minnesota away from making the upcoming matchup with Michigan for a shot at the College Football Playoff.
Find anyone else who can do any or all of that with an offense that’s dead last in college football averaging 246 yards per game - 24 fewer yards than the second-worst team. 10-2. That’s all that matters.
Jedd Fisch, Arizona
He needed a few years to to build up the lines. Arizona went from 1-11, to 5-7, to a 9-3 run that was shockingly close to being 12-0 - all three losses were by one score and very, very winnable.
This was Arizona’s first winning season since 2017, and with a bowl victory - if it happens - it will be the program’s fourth double-digit win season ever. All that, and hanging 59 on Arizona State certainly didn’t hurt.
Alex Golesh, USF
Even with the big Tampa market and large enrollment, USF sat by and watched UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston get the call up to the majors and life in the Big 12.
The Bulls were 4-29 in the previous three seasons, went four years without being even close to a bowl game, and they were in desperate need of a rebuild.
It was a rocky run, but in his first year the 39-year-old former Tennessee offensive coordinator got the O going enough to get to six wins in what might be a huge stepping-stone season.
Brent Key, Georgia Tech
Sometimes the vibe around a team is just … interesting. There’s an energy under Key - starting with the second half turnaround after he took over last year - and it all worked in a blast of a campaign that was all over the place.
Georgia Tech started out 2-3, the remaining schedule seemed daunting, and a fifth straight losing season appeared to be a lock. And then came the miracle in Miami, a thriller over North Carolina, and the team just kept on finding wins until it became bowl eligible for the first time since 2018.
Jerry Kill, New Mexico State
If you could NASCAR this and give everyone the same college football parts to work with, Kill would be among the best drivers in the field. Health issues cut short his time at Minnesota, but he was able to work for years as an assistant at several places before taking on the impossible task of the New Mexico State gig.
The Aggies got a special exemption to find their way into a bowl game last year, but this season - the first as a member of Conference USA - Kill’s team is playing for the title. As is it’s the second-best season in school history, and this group could stand alone as NMSU’s first 12-win team ever with two more victories.
GJ Kinne, Texas State
Texas State entered the major college football world in 2012. It had one winning season back in 2014, has never been to a bowl game, and enjoyed just two campaigns of more than four wins in its first 11 seasons.
The 34-year-old Kinne came over from UIW, and he brought the offense that’s No. 1 in the Sun Belt, and the defense that’s No. 1 in the nation in tackles for loss.
His Bobcats came out roaring with a shocking win over Baylor, had bowl eligibility wrapped up in early November, and now he’s one win away from making this the best season in TXST history.
Mike Norvell, Florida State
The expectations for Florida State were jacked after the breakout 10-3 2022 season, and Norvell and his team were able to more than match them. As 2023 turned out, FSU needed to go unbeaten to be in the College Football Playoff mix.
Through injuries and a few close calls, the team is one win away from 13-0, an ACC Championship, and - no WAY it’s left out with a win over Louisville - a trip to the CFP. Not bad considering FSU was coming off its fourth straight losing campaign two years ago.
Barry Odom, UNLV
Randall Cunningham led 1984 UNLV to an 11-win season. It was the only double-digit season in the program’s history. Many had tried to make UNLV work over the years, but with no luck whatsoever. In the 38 years since that one great run, there have been just three bowl appearances and five winning seasons.
In his first year, Odom stepped in, the offense became phenomenal on third downs, the team dominated the turnover margin, and now it’s in the Mountain West Championship and off to a bowl game.
Rich Rodriguez, Jacksonville State
Rodriguez winning the Atlantic-Sun title in his first season at Jacksonville State was nice, but moving up to the FBS level into Conference USA was a whole different thing.
His offense hasn’t been nearly as dominant, and it hasn’t always been easy, but starting with a win over UTEP and continuing on as a tough out each week, the Gamecocks finished third in CUSA. Thanks to a lack of eligible bowl teams, the great eight-win season has become truly special with a bowl invite on the way.
Kirby Smart, Georgia
Yeah, you absolutely should get credit for fielding one of the most talented teams in the country year in and year out - bringing in the guys is the most important job of a big-program college football head coach - and never, ever, ever assume 12-0.
You try to lose ten parts from a two-time national champion team to the NFL Draft and keep the momentum rolling. For all of the whining about the schedule, the team worked through the early growing pains, got through the tough games in the back end, and now it’s back in the SEC Championship and national title mix.
collegefootballnews.com/news/15-best-college-football-head-coaches-of-2023-cfn-coach-of-the-year-finalists