Okay, here are the BCS coach picks so far this off-season:

Cincinnati - Butch Jones
Florida State - Jimbo Fisher
Kansas - Turner Gill
Louisville - Charlie Strong
Notre Dame - Brian Kelly
South Florida - Skip Holtz
Southern Cal - Lane Kiffin
Tennessee - Derek Dooley
Texas Tech - Tommy Tuberville
Virginia - Mike London

So, how would you rank these gets 1-10?

Cheers,
Neil

My picks:

10. Tennessee - Derek Dooley
9. Virginia - Mike London
8. Kansas - Turner Gill
7. Cincinnati - Butch Jones
6. Southern Cal - Lane Kiffin
5. Texas Tech - Tommy Tuberville
4. Louisville - Charlie Strong
3. Florida State - Jimbo Fisher
2. South Florida - Skip Holtz
1. Notre Dame - Brian Kelly

Cheers,
Neil

1) Louisville - Charlie Strong (Florida recruiting and strong D)
2) Texas Tech - Tommy Tuberville (proven winner)
3) South Florida - Skip Holtz (Upgrade from previous coach)
4) Notre Dame - Brian Kelly (Miracle worker at Cincy, but at ND?)
5) Cincinnati - Butch Jones (Um.....?)
6) Florida State - Jimbo Fisher (No one tried to take him from FSU before Bobby left, why is that?)
7) Kansas - Turner Gill (Can you really tell anything from a mid-range MAC record?)
8) Southern Cal - Lane Kiffin (When was the last time he coached a team to a better than 500 season, 7-6 this year?)
9) Virginia - Mike London (FCS to BCS? Only in Virginia)
10) Tennessee - Derek Dooley (Not a judgement on Dooley personally. Had ECU hired Dooley it might have been considered a good hire, but UT, swimming in cash, and all they can get is LaTech's coach? Something is BAD WRONG in Rocky Top)

I agree about Tennessee. I'm not saying Dooley can't succeed and might not be a great coach, but the evidence isn't strong enough, not for a program with the resources of Tennessee.

1. Notre Dame - Brian Kelly - Clearly the best coach on paper
2. Louisville - Charlie Strong - We'll see but i really like this hire
3. South Florida - Skip Holtz - I think we did great getting Skip, especially this late in the game. I just hope he can take his recruiting to the next level. Its been less than stellar at ECU. Hes going to have to move from a 2/3* guy to a 3/4* guy to be successful here.
4. Southern Cal - Lane Kiffin - I think hes going to do great at USC
5. Texas Tech - Tommy Tuberville - Might be the 2nd best coach on this list, but i think hes a bad fit at TT
6. Florida State - Jimbo Fisher - How much control of the mess lately has he been responsible for? Im not sold.
7. Cincinnati - Butch Jones - Lets hope they hit again with the CMU coach
8. Kansas - Turner Gill - Mediocre mac team, might turn out great but right now hes below these guys
9. Virginia - Mike London - Probably no better than Dooley, but this is VA and theyre Tennessee.
10. Tennessee - Derek Dooley - How did they end up with this guy?

(01-16-2010 12:40 AM)49RFootballNow Wrote:  1) Louisville - Charlie Strong (Florida recruiting and strong D)
2) Texas Tech - Tommy Tuberville (proven winner)
3) South Florida - Skip Holtz (Upgrade from previous coach)
4) Notre Dame - Brian Kelly (Miracle worker at Cincy, but at ND?)
5) Cincinnati - Butch Jones (Um.....?)
6) Florida State - Jimbo Fisher (No one tried to take him from FSU before Bobby left, why is that?)
7) Kansas - Turner Gill (Can you really tell anything from a mid-range MAC record?)
8) Southern Cal - Lane Kiffin (When was the last time he coached a team to a better than 500 season, 7-6 this year?)
9) Virginia - Mike London (FCS to BCS? Only in Virginia)
10) Tennessee - Derek Dooley (Not a judgement on Dooley personally. Had ECU hired Dooley it might have been considered a good hire, but UT, swimming in cash, and all they can get is LaTech's coach? Something is BAD WRONG in Rocky Top)

Charlie Strong at #1 and he's never coached a game as a head coach? Wow.

1. Notre Dame - Brian Kelly - If he turns it around, he's gold.
2. Kansas - Turner Gill - Tremendous potential. If he made Buffalo a winner, anything's possible.
3. Virginia - Mike London - Very, very underrated.
4. South Florida - Skip Holtz - Doesn't put USF in the Top 10, but could be a Top 25 team
5. Louisville - Charlie Strong - I think the high expectations are going to be a problem.
6. Texas Tech - Tommy Tuberville - Agreed on being a bad fit at Lubbock.
7. Southern Cal - Lane Kiffin - This is the hit-or-miss pick. Most of Kiffin of late has been miss.
8. Florida State - Jimbo Fisher - Tough to meet expectations as The Man Who Succeeds Bobby Bowden.
9. Cincinnati - Butch Jones - The good times at UC are ebbing.
10. Tennessee - Derek Dooley - Not a lot of upside. A 6-5 season and he'll be run out of town.

1) Brian Kelly
2) Tommy Tuberville
3) Skip Holtz
4) Butch Jones
5) Lane Kiffin
6) Jimbo Fisher
7) Mike London
8) Charlie Strong
9) Turner Gill
10) Derek Dooley

(01-16-2010 10:38 AM)DFW HOYA Wrote:  1. Notre Dame - Brian Kelly - If he turns it around, he's gold.
2. Kansas - Turner Gill - Tremendous potential. If he made Buffalo a winner, anything's possible.
3. Virginia - Mike London - Very, very underrated.
4. South Florida - Skip Holtz - Doesn't put USF in the Top 10, but could be a Top 25 team
5. Louisville - Charlie Strong - I think the high expectations are going to be a problem.
6. Texas Tech - Tommy Tuberville - Agreed on being a bad fit at Lubbock.
7. Southern Cal - Lane Kiffin - This is the hit-or-miss pick. Most of Kiffin of late has been miss.
8. Florida State - Jimbo Fisher - Tough to meet expectations as The Man Who Succeeds Bobby Bowden.
9. Cincinnati - Butch Jones - The good times at UC are ebbing.
10. Tennessee - Derek Dooley - Not a lot of upside. A 6-5 season and he'll be run out of town.

You are really underestimating Butch Jones.

(01-16-2010 10:38 AM)DFW HOYA Wrote:  The good times at UC are ebbing.

1. Notre Dame - Brian Kelly - But CAUTION - not all his long-time assistants (namely Forest and Quinn) made it.
2. South Florida - Skip Holtz - Great hire by USF - he's been on the hot list for quite some time.
3. Texas Tech - Tommy Tuberville - His availability enabled Tech to dodge the bullet in a big way.
4. Kansas - Turner Gill - Anyone who can make Buffalo a winner deserves points - plus good for for the B-12.
5. Cincinnati - Butch Jones - Actually improved CMU after Kelly, and has won team over already.
6. Southern Cal - Lane Kiffin - Big win getting a coach with his aspirations into a probation situation. Not sure how great he really is though.
7. Virginia - Mike London - Hey, hiring I-AA worked for OSU.
8. Louisville - Charlie Strong - Assistants have proven nothing yet.
9. Florida State - Jimbo Fisher - Ditto.
10. Tennessee - Derek Dooley - Middle of the pack Sun Belt to SEC - WOW!

1) Tuberville - though I hate AU and Ole Piss with a passion, I will give him credit, he can coach.
2) Mike London - seen his teams play in the FBS playoffs over the past few years and they are very discipline and always tough
3) Brian Kelly - very impressed at what he did at CMU and Cinci
4) Turner Gill - thought he would get a shot last year but I think he will do great at KU
5) Lane Kiffin - he made significant improvements to UT last season and knows how to fire up a fan base
6) Skip Holtz - did a great job at ECU and while at UConn
7) Charlie Strong - can recruit the state of Florida well, but unproven as a head coach
8) Dooley - thought he did a good job at LaTech but was surprised he got the UT gig
9) Jimbo Fisher - lots to prove, I think he will do really well now the coaching chaos at FSU is over
10) Butch Jones - I think he has a lot to prove as a head coach. Having the best QB in the MAC helped a lot.

(01-16-2010 10:40 AM)MichaelSavage Wrote:  1) Brian Kelly
2) Tommy Tuberville
3) Skip Holtz
4) Butch Jones
5) Lane Kiffin
6) Jimbo Fisher
7) Mike London
8) Charlie Strong
9) Turner Gill
10) Derek Dooley

This is pretty accurate in my book, except I would have Turner Gil at number 5 and leave everyone after #5 the same.

I'm going to wait a couple years before I rank 'em. But I am willing to bet the ranking after a couple of seasons will look radically different than what everyone thinks...

(01-16-2010 12:50 PM)BamaRoll Wrote:  10) Butch Jones - I think he has a lot to prove as a head coach. Having the best QB in the MAC helped a lot.

Look at what Zack Collaros did when Tony Pike was out. Butch will have one of the best QB's in the conference over the next 2 years. By the way that "best QB in the MAC" was recruited by Butch during his first stop at CMU. And Butch has better recruits visiting over the next 2 weeks than Brian Kelly had visit in his entire 3 years here.

I'd certainly take Butch over any of the coordinators who haven't been head coaches and BK and Tuberville are the only established coaches who I'd say are clearly superior to Butch.

1. Kelly
2. Tuberville
3. Holtz
4. Jones
5. Fisher
6. Kiffin
7. London
8. Strong
9. Gill
10. Dooley

None of these guys are can't miss and for me, the gap between 4 and 9 is very small.

10. Tennessee - Derek Dooley- This is a WTF hire.
9. Southern Cal - Lane Kiffin - Seriously what has he done at any level.
8. Florida State - Jimbo Fisher - Saban made him IMO
7. Kansas - Turner Gill - Only moderate success at Buffalo
6. Tommy Tuberville - Good coach but I see bad fit.
5. Louisville - Charlie Strong - Just call it a gut feeling, will be very good @ Da Ville.
4. Virginia - Mike London - Tough teams at Richmond and remember Jim Tressel came from Youngstown State.
3. Cincinnati - Butch Jones - Very good coach and very good fit for UC.
2. South Florida - Skip Holtz - Major upgrade from Leavitt. Leavitt=John L. Smith, Holtz=Petrino without the character flaws.
1. Notre Dame - Brian Kelly - See what I said bout Butch Jones and apply it to Notre Dame.

1. Tuberville - Proven winner. Offense may take a step back in terms of its high scoring nature and run more.
2. Holtz - A more structured offense could be good for BJ Daniels
3. Kelly - Offense may not look much different than what Weis did. Kelly will look to bring in more defense
4. Fisher - No more loyalties to Bowden or Fisher for players. More streamlined chain of command will help
5. Jones - Should have continuity for at least the offensive side of the ball
6. London - Very successful at a private, academic I-AA (Richmond) and knows the area coaches already.
7. Strong - Work to do but appears to be recruiting very well.
8. Gill - Brought in a fairly strong staff (only one UB assistant moved with him). Legend in that area of country. Didn't lose many players to graduation, but the players lost were key starters at skill positions on offense.
9. Kiffin - Walking NCAA violation at a school that could receive sanctions for Carroll's tenure.
10. Dooley - Desperation hire. Dooley was only FB coach in FBS to also serve as the AD at a school. Will need to be able to delegate to assistants.

Neuheisel and Kiffin in LA. Always thought that Slick Rick would put UCLA on probation before USC would ever get violations to stick to them. But Kiffin clearly will narrow that gap.

1. Brian Kelly

10) Butch Jones - I think he has a lot to prove as a head coach. Having the best QB in the MAC helped a lot.

He has proven himself, he was more successful at Central Michigan then Kelly was, and he did it with his players. Heck, Central Michigan right now is ranked in the Top 25, something Kelly and others couldn't do. I don't know how people can take away from his success because of a good QB when he was the one that recruited the QB to begin with (during his original run at CMU). One thing I like about Jones, that frustrated me about Kelly, is that Jones will utilitize the running game much more. He also has an aggressive defense, similar to the pre-Kelly Bearcats defense. That's what amuses me about people who say that UC is slipping because Jones is basically a poor man's Kelly, and offensive mind that isn't as good. His offense is actually more multi-facet then Kelly's, and his defense and running game much better. That's why Central Michigan is a Top 25 program.