The riddle of Arkansas’ next head coach won’t be solved in one post, but one of the most frequent hopes for Arkansas Fans is for AD Jeff Long to hire a Top 5 or 10 coach.
The bigger question is whether any realistic candidates exist which meet the Top 5 or Top 10 criteria, so here are the Top 10 Coaches according to the final Associated Press football poll from 2002 through 2011.
Top 10 College Football Coaches from 2002-2011
Year Rank Team Head Coach
2011 1 Alabama Nick Saban
2011 2 LSU Les Miles
2011 3 Oklahoma State Mike Gundy
2011 4 Oregon Chip Kelly
2011 5 Arkansas Bobby Petrino
2011 6 USC Lane Kiffin
2011 7 Stanford David Shaw
2011 8 Boise State Chris Petersen
2011 9 South Carolina Steve Spurrier
2011 10 Wisconsin Bret Bielema
2010 1 Auburn Gene Chizik
2010 2 TCU Gary Patterson
2010 3 Oregon Chip Kelly
2010 4 Stanford Jim Harbaugh
2010 5 Ohio State Jim Tressel
2010 6 Oklahoma Bob Stoops
2010 7 Wisconsin Bret Bielema
2010 8 LSU Les Miles
2010 9 Boise State Chris Petersen
2010 10 Alabama Nick Saban
2009 1 Alabama Nick Saban
2009 2 Texas Mack Brown
2009 3 Florida Urban Meyer
2009 4 Boise State Chris Petersen
2009 5 Ohio State Jim Tressel
2009 6 TCU Gary Patterson
2009 7 Iowa Kirk Ferentz
2009 8 Cincinnati Brian Kelly
2009 9 Penn State Joe Paterno
2009 10 Virginia Tech Frank Beamer
2008 1 Florida Urban Meyer
2008 2 Utah Kyle Whittingham
2008 3 USC Pete Carroll
2008 4 Texas Mack Brown
2008 5 Oklahoma Bob Stoops
2008 6 Alabama Nick Saban
2008 7 TCU Gary Patterson
2008 8 Penn State Joe Paterno
2008 9 Ohio State Jim Tressel
2008 10 Oregon Mike Bellotti
2007 1 LSU Les Miles
2007 2 Georgia Mark Richt
2007 3 USC Pete Carroll
2007 4 Missouri Gary Pinkel
2007 5 Ohio State Jim Tressel
2007 6 West Virginia Rich Rodriguez
2007 7 Kansas Mark Mangino
2007 8 Oklahoma Bob Stoops
2007 9 Virginia Tech Frank Beamer
2007 10 Texas Mack Brown
2006 1 Florida Urban Meyer
2006 2 Ohio State Jim Tressel
2006 3 LSU Les Miles
2006 4 USC Pete Carroll
2006 5 Boise State Chris Petersen
2006 6 Louisville Bobby Petrino
2006 7 Wisconsin Bret Bielema
2006 8 Michigan Lloyd Carr
2006 9 Auburn Tommy Tuberville
2006 10 West Virginia Rich Rodriguez
2005 1 Texas Mack Brown
2005 2 USC Pete Carroll
2005 3 Penn State Joe Paterno
2005 4 Ohio State Jim Tressel
2005 5 West Virginia Rich Rodriguez
2005 6 LSU Les Miles
2005 7 Virginia Tech Frank Beamer
2005 8 Alabama Mike Shula
2005 9 Notre Dame Charlie Weis
2005 10 Georgia Mark Richt
2004 1 USC Pete Carroll
2004 2 Auburn Tommy Tuberville
2004 3 Oklahoma Bob Stoops
2004 4 Utah Urban Meyer
2004 5 Texas Mack Brown
2004 6 Louisville Bobby Petrino
2004 7 Georgia Mark Richt
2004 8 Iowa Kirk Ferentz
2004 9 California Jeff Tedford
2004 10 Virginia Tech Frank Beamer
2003 1 USC Pete Carroll
2003 2 LSU Nick Saban
2003 3 Oklahoma Bob Stoops
2003 4 Ohio State Jim Tressel
2003 5 Miami (FL) Larry Coker
2003 6 Michigan Lloyd Carr
2003 7 Georgia Mark Richt
2003 8 Iowa Kirk Ferentz
2003 9 Washington State Bill Doba
2003 10 Miami (OH) Terry Hoeppner
2002 1 Ohio State Jim Tressel
2002 2 Miami (FL) Larry Coker
2002 3 Georgia Mark Richt
2002 4 USC Pete Carroll
2002 5 Oklahoma Bob Stoops
2002 6 Texas Mack Brown
2002 7 Kansas State Bill Snyder
2002 8 Iowa Kirk Ferentz
2002 9 Michigan Lloyd Carr
2002 10 Washington State Mike Price
Source: www.collegepollarchive.com/
Use the above list whenever a Top 10 or Top 5 coach is part of your criteria.
Breaking down the list of 100 Top 10 finishes, 38 coaches account for all Top 10 finishes over the last 10 years.
Six of those 38 coaches may be eliminated immediately: Jim Tressell (former Ohio State Head Coach & NCAA allegations), Lloyd Carr (retired from Michigan), Joe Paterno (passed away), Bill Doba (70 years old, fired in 2007 at Washington State, out of coaching), Terry Hoeppner (passed away) and Larry Coker (front-row center during Miami NCAA allegations). (32)
For all practical purposes fifteen others may be eliminated from the list of potentials because of loyalty or longevity or recentness at their current positions: Nick Saban (Alabama), Les Miles (LSU), Urban Meyer (Ohio St.), Mark Richt (Georgia), Mack Brown (Texas), Jim Harbaugh (San Francisco 49ers 1 year), Frank Beamer (Virginia Tech, since 1987), Rich Rodriguez (Arizona Wildcats 1st year), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma), Chip Kelly (Oregon), Kirk Ferentz (Iowa, alum making $3.65M/ yr.), Jim Tedford (California, California native) and probably Steve Spurrier (South Carolina), Dave Shaw (Stanford 1 year), and Bill Snyder (Kansas State). (17)
Five are simply undesirable: Lane Kiffin (USC), Gary Pinkle (Missouri), Mike Price (Strip Bars & fired from Alabama), Mark Mangino (2005 NCAA Major Infractions & 2009 dismissal for erratic behavior from Kansas) and Gene Chizik (Auburn). (12)
If Bobby Petrino was going to be rehired, it’s hard to see why that would not have already happened so count him as a toss out. (11)
Top 5 or 10 College Football Coaches After Eliminations
2006 7 Wisconsin Bret Bielema Wisconsin Head Coach
2009 8 Cincinnati Brian Kelly Notre Dame Head Coach
2005 9 Notre Dame Charlie Weis Kansas Head Coach
2006 5 Boise State Chris Petersen Boise State Head Coach
2008 7 TCU Gary Patterson TCU Head Coach
2004 9 California Jeff Tedford California Head Coach
2008 2 Utah Kyle Whittingham Utah Head Coach
2008 10 Oregon Mike Bellotti ESPN Analyst
2011 3 Oklahoma State Mike Gundy HC Oklahoma State
2005 8 Alabama Mike Shula QB Coach Carolina Panthers
2005 2 USC Pete Carroll Seattle Seahawks Head Coach
2006 9 Auburn Tommy Tuberville Texas Tech Head Coach
Various Sources
The remaining list is intriguing. Although Charlie Weis and Mike Shula may not be so great, Bret Bielema from Wisconsin, former Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, and Oklahoma State Coach Mike Gundy rarely hit anyone’s lists for consideration despite running winning programs. Unless there is someone whose connection is obscure, Tommy Tuberville remains as the only one on the list with Arkansas connections who has coached a Top 10 football team in the last 10 years. Your thoughts are welcome below. — Sharp
