junior4949
All-American
I'd say this is pretty close to what I'm thinking. Actually, there's not a single coach on this list IMO that could have pulled off what Snyder pulled off. Here's my list. It's a somewhat different.
1. Snyder. No one manages JuCos as well as he does. It's interesting to note that all other struggling Big 12 teams took a page from his playbook with regards to scheduling extreme patsies in the nonconference to boost team confidence. Heck, Mangino and KU barely even played anyone with a pulse the year they nearly went undefeated.
2. Stoops. It's not because of NC's because he only has one. It's because of the amount of Big 12 titles he's won and BCS bowls he's landed OU into. Can you imagine the wealth of the OU program if it were an independant? Interesting to note that Stoops was once a Snyder assistant.
3. Mangino. It took him a few years, but he's got KU consistantly playing good football. He needs to stress recruiting a bit more and use the strong basketball program more to get better players. As far as I'm concerned the coaches in the 3-10 ranking all have arguments as to why they should be higher or lower than where I have them.
4&5. Mike and Mike (Leach & Gundy) both are great offensive coaches who don't place enough stress on the defensive side of the ball. However, both have shown they can play with and beat the big boys down south.
6, 7, & 8. This is where I'm putting the newcomers Bo included. The reason: how would many of you have ranked the Big 12 coaches with regards to Bill Clownahan after the 2005 season? I mean it appeared we were on our way back and then beating Michigan in the bowl game. I am in no way saying Bo is comparable to Clownahan at all, but I think each of the 3 need to be at their respective schools at least 4 seasons before they can be moved up or down. As far as I'm concerned, these three could all have not rankable beside them because none of them have been at their respective schools long enough to get an accurate ranking.
9 & 10. Mack Brown and Gary Pinkel - Is this too low? Probably. However, I still hold grudges against these two for mistakes in the past. Brown screwed over Major Applewhite. Had he played him, he'd probably have another NC trophy in his case. Pinkel totally messed up with how he played Brad Smith. You don't take the best spread option guy out there and make him a drop back passer. Mack Brown, IMO, underachieves with the talent he gets. Gary Pinkel always seems to do something that makes me just go wow, why? Pinkel has been with his respective school the longest consecutively of the northern schools, yet he has never been able to play with the big boys to the south. Now that it appears Nebraska is on its way back up, the question still lingers whether or not Pinkel can get the recruits he's come accustomed to when Nebraska football was on life support?
11. Mike Sherman - it just smells and looks like another Clownahan experiment down there in Aggieland. IMO, Slocum should never have been forced out. It's been downhill for the program ever since.
12. Dan Hawkins - He got the benefit of the doubt for quite a while. In fact, I thought this year they were a darkhorse to win the northern division. I'm still having trouble determining whether his team is really as slow as West Virginia, Toledo, etc. made them look or if his players just aren't playing for him. Either way, there's big troubles in Boulder especially now after playing their backup QB that was supposed to redshirt this year.
