Stewart Mandel's Top Five Coaches, All Time

[junior4949]

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QUOTE(Husker B @ Jul 15 2009, 06:47 AM) 444251[/snapback]
Nebraska owned Rockne in his heyday.

Rockne was not that great of a coach, he had a stretch of 5-6 years with exceptional players in a time that football was not filled with exceptional players like it is today. Today he'd be the equivalent of Mike Bellotti.
Eh, couldn't the same be said about TO? He played OU when Switzer was coach 17 times. He won just 5. He never beat Jimmy Johnson (0-3). His record against Bowden stands at 2-6. Other than the last 5 or 6 years of TO's career when he had exceptional players, he really never beat any teams that he wasn't supposed to. For most of his career, he won the expected games and lost the expected games. I guess what I'm saying is I hate to see someone knock one coach when the coach they're trying to elevate has pretty much the same MO.

 

[AuroranHusker]

Eh, couldn't the same be said about TO? He played OU when Switzer was coach 17 times. He won just 5. He never beat Jimmy Johnson (0-3).

Osborne defeated Jimmy Johnson 5 out of 6 tries. All 5 wins were over Okie State in JJ's five years there ('79-'83). TO's only loss was in the 1989 Orange Bowl to Miami...

And, TO was 3-2 vs. Joe Paterno, 1-0 vs. Steve Spurrier and 1-1 vs. Howard Schnellenberger.

 

[junior4949]

The site I saw said 0-3 against Jimmy at Miami. At any rate, the point I was making was that for most of TO's career we lost to the teams with similar talent and against programs on par with Nebraska. We beat the inferior teams and lost to those on par with us. Talent for talent in 1983, there wasn't a team that even came close. In terms of getting out coached. It happened more times than I care to discuss. The game that still gets me is the 89' game against CU. Bienemy fumbles the rock like 5 times. The game is at home. We build a big lead. CU runs all over us in our own house in the 4th quarter. The string of 7 bowl losses in a row is still somewhat painful as well.

 

[AuroranHusker]

The site I saw said 0-3 against Jimmy at Miami. At any rate, the point I was making was that for most of TO's career we lost to the teams with similar talent and against programs on par with Nebraska. We beat the inferior teams and lost to those on par with us. Talent for talent in 1983, there wasn't a team that even came close.

Osborne did lose to Miami three straight times, but to 3 different coaches (Schnellenberger in '84 OB, Johnson in '89 OB, and Erickson in '92 OB).

And, ironically, Osborne's 1983 powerhouse team had a close call in Stillwater (14-10), which was Jimmy Johnson's final Okie State team.

 

[junior4949]

I still remember watching the 93' bowl game with all the locals at the bar. The general consensus was that we'd get our butts handed to us like we had so many times at the hands of good teams. It was this game that we finally saw light at the end of the tunnel. There was more optimism about Nebraska football and TO after that loss than at any other time I can remember. When sophomore Frazier came in and stole the show from Hypseman Ward, it was quite a sight.

 

[Chef K]

Let's see, Paterno has a losing record against top ten teams, an unimpressive record against top 20 teams, two national championships and a whopping THREE conference titles. Yeah he's a top coach alright. :sarcasm :sarcasm :sarcasm :sarcasm And about that "moral" thing? Look at the track record of some of his players lately.

Not a Paterno appologist but - most of the time of Joe Pa's tenure PennSt was an independent. Kind of hard to win a title when you are not in a conference.

By his choice, he's happy beating the Temples, Akrons and Coastal Carolinas of the college football world. And his record shows that. Most of his career has been the proverbial Big fish in a little pond.

 

[Hokieluv]

I guess having total lack of self-control and punching an opposing player makes up for 2 losing seasons, somehow. Woody F. Hayes. Give me a break. You wonder how many times he hit kids off camera.

Couldn't agree more. Hayes should never be mentioned with greatness. I'm sure Clemson fans despise this guy, but I just cannot imagine accepting that behavior from any coach. Being involved and passionate about the game is quite different than punching a player... I just cannot believe that this guys is on the list 30 years later...

 

[blkshrtz]

good list we will see bo on there in the future

 

[knapplc]

Looks like Andy Staples of SI is on the Osborne bandwagon:

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Esteemed colleague Stewart Mandel has made a grievous error. Last week, Mandel omitted former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne from his list of college football's five most legendary coaches of all-time because Osborne, according to Mandel, was "too bland." Stew should have come to Florida State's University Center Club on Wednesday, because Osborne absolutely slayed at a roast for FSU coach Bobby Bowden.
Osborne came out swinging with an oldie but a goodie.

"You can tell from looking that Bobby and I are getting on in life, getting a little older," Osborne said. "This was driven home to me a little while ago. A lady came up to Bobby, and she said, 'My goodness. Drinking makes you look so much better.' He said, 'Ma'am, I'll have you know, I'm not drinking.' She said, 'No. I am.'"

OK, so Osborne wasn't Chris Rock, but he did make former Seminoles quarterback Chris Weinke laugh so hard he almost fell off the dais. Another Osborne zinger involved Bowden's visit to a nursing home. The punchline? "Go to the front desk and they'll tell you who you are."

 

[Scarlet Overkill]

Let's see, Paterno has a losing record against top ten teams, an unimpressive record against top 20 teams, two national championships and a whopping THREE conference titles. Yeah he's a top coach alright. :sarcasm :sarcasm :sarcasm :sarcasm And about that "moral" thing? Look at the track record of some of his players lately.

Not a Paterno appologist but - most of the time of Joe Pa's tenure PennSt was an independent. Kind of hard to win a title when you are not in a conference.

By his choice, he's happy beating the Temples, Akrons and Coastal Carolinas of the college football world. And his record shows that. Most of his career has been the proverbial Big fish in a little pond.

I once gave a Penn State fan a hard time about playing Temple every year and was informed that it wasn't their choice. The state has apparently "mandated" that they have to play Temple. Their choice would have been the other instate D1 university, Pitt, in that situation, however the agreements could never be reached. So, that's one cupcake explained away, but what about the rest of them?

 

[walksalone]

Just something this made me think about...

Ok, TO has over 250 wins in 25 years, in theory, if he'd coached since the Jurassic period, like Joe Pa, he'd have about 400 some odd wins...

 

[HUSKER 37]

Looks like Andy Staples of SI is on the Osborne bandwagon:

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Esteemed colleague Stewart Mandel has made a grievous error. Last week, Mandel omitted former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne from his list of college football's five most legendary coaches of all-time because Osborne, according to Mandel, was "too bland." Stew should have come to Florida State's University Center Club on Wednesday, because Osborne absolutely slayed at a roast for FSU coach Bobby Bowden.
Osborne came out swinging with an oldie but a goodie.

"You can tell from looking that Bobby and I are getting on in life, getting a little older," Osborne said. "This was driven home to me a little while ago. A lady came up to Bobby, and she said, 'My goodness. Drinking makes you look so much better.' He said, 'Ma'am, I'll have you know, I'm not drinking.' She said, 'No. I am.'"

OK, so Osborne wasn't Chris Rock, but he did make former Seminoles quarterback Chris Weinke laugh so hard he almost fell off the dais. Another Osborne zinger involved Bowden's visit to a nursing home. The punchline? "Go to the front desk and they'll tell you who you are."...

Wish it would show on Comedy Central..