Surprises, snubs in rankings of prime coaches in faculty soccer

Who’re the highest 10 coaches in faculty soccer?

A simple query, however one which generated a variety of opinions.

In asking our reporters for his or her prime 10, we left the parameters open, permitting them to weigh the elements they thought have been vital — from previous accomplishments to potential future success — nonetheless they noticed match.

Irrespective of the way you slice it, Kirby Sensible of Georgia is the present standard-bearer. No shock there. However after that, issues received fascinating.

With factors assigned primarily based on our reporters’ votes (10 factors for first place, 9 for second place and down to 1 level for tenth place), listed below are the whole rankings.

1. Kirby Sensible, Georgia (100 factors)
2. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama (62)
3. Kyle Whittingham, Utah (56)
4. Dabo Swinney, Clemson (50)
5. Mike Norvell, Florida State (49)
6. Dan Lanning, Oregon (37)
7. Steve Sarkisian, Texas (35)
8. Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss (29)
9. Lance Leipold, Kansas (28)
10. Ryan Day, Ohio State (27)

Additionally receiving votes: Brian Kelly, LSU (23); Lincoln Riley, USC (20); Kirk Ferentz, Iowa (7); Luke Fickell, Wisconsin (7); Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri (6); Mack Brown, North Carolina (3); Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State (3); Jonathan Smith, Michigan State (3); Deion Sanders, Colorado (2); Curt Cignetti, Indiana (1); Chris Kleiman, Kansas State (1); Jon Sumrall, Tulane (1)

Is DeBoer, with simply two years at an influence convention faculty, worthy of being No. 2? Is Swinney, who has a stellar observe document at Clemson however has slipped the previous few years, nonetheless among the many prime 4 coaches within the nation? Ohio State’s Day, with a 56-8 profession document, is No. 10? LSU’s Kelly and USC’s Riley do not even crack the highest 10?

We wanted solutions, so we requested a few of our voters about which consequence shocked them essentially the most, and to defend a few of their choices that differed from these of their colleagues.

What rating shocked you essentially the most?

Chris Low: Ryan Day may not be an apparent top-five choice, however he is a minimum of someplace within the neighborhood. To see him barely slide into these rankings at No. 10 was extraordinarily stunning. Sure, he has misplaced to rival Michigan three straight years, however he isn’t the primary elite coach to have a tough stretch towards a rival. Keep in mind, Sensible was 1-5 towards Nick Saban.

Day held issues collectively for Ohio State in 2018 as performing head coach when City Meyer was suspended. Since being promoted to interchange Meyer in 2019, Day has gained two Huge Ten championships and posted eleven-plus victories yearly besides the 2020 COVID season. His Buckeyes misplaced a heartbreaker to eventual nationwide champion Georgia within the 2022 playoff. There are a number of coaches ranked forward of Day who have not completed almost what he has or matched his consistency in 5 seasons as Ohio State’s coach.

Adam Rittenberg: Folks may not like Brian Kelly personally, however the information overwhelmingly present that he is a prime 10 coach. He twice took Notre Dame to the four-team School Soccer Playoff, went 34-6 at Cincinnati with an undefeated season, gained the SEC West in his first yr at LSU, has 13 finishes within the AP prime 20 and owns two Division II nationwide titles. I like a few of the younger coaches on this prime 10, however they have not completed a fraction of what BK has in his profession.

David Hale: Dan Lanning looks as if a nice coach. He commanded an elite protection en path to a nationwide title as Georgia’s defensive coordinator in 2021 and has been an distinctive 22-5 in two seasons as Oregon’s head man. What’s to argue with? Effectively, two years and no convention titles is a little bit of a skinny résumé for the No. 6 coach within the nation, is not it? His staff was torched by Georgia in 2022, misplaced a rivalry sport to Oregon State that very same yr, and has been unable to topple Washington in convention. The Geese’ most spectacular win exterior the Pac-12 was a 1-point win over a shorthanded North Carolina within the 2022 bowl sport.

Certainly, this is the listing of Lanning’s wins over groups that ended the yr ranked within the AP prime 25: 2022 Utah (by 3), 2022 UCLA and 2023 Liberty. Once more, no knock on Lanning, who would been an improve at almost each program within the nation. However No. 6? I must see a bit extra earlier than we begin placing him into the identical conversations with Swinney, Whittingham and Norvell.

Harry Lyles Jr.: Dabo Swinney at No. 4 feels excessive to me, given his unwillingness to regulate to right now’s sport. I believe he is a terrific coach, and what he has executed at Clemson is famous work. They should construct a giant statue of him on that campus sooner or later. However in the event you aren’t keen to do all the required issues to compete on the highest stage of the sport, you possibly can’t be prime 5. There’s a terrific argument you possibly can’t be prime 10 both, particularly when one considers what these under Swinney have executed and are doing.

Invoice Connelly: Actually, Kalen DeBoer at No. 2 is neither stunning nor undeserved. He has been nice at mainly each soccer job he has ever had. But it surely’s fairly humorous to consider the second-best coach in faculty soccer inheriting a job by which he has virtually no likelihood of matching his predecessor’s accomplishments. The load of expectation will make DeBoer’s tenure in Tuscaloosa completely fascinating to observe.

Kyle Bonagura: The standards for choice was up for interpretation, however I am having a tough time imagining how Deion Sanders acquired any votes until it was a light-hearted troll try with the safety of anonymity. In Sanders’ debut season, Colorado went 1-8 within the Pac-12 and completed in final place.

Defend your vote

Kyle Whittingham at No. 2

How’s this for sustained excellence? Whittingham earned nationwide coach of the yr honors in 2008 (13-0; beat Alabama within the Sugar Bowl) and 2019 (11-3; in CFP rivalry till the Pac-12 title sport). He has guided the Utes to top-20 finishes in three many years and constructed a program that was the Pac-12’s most constant over the previous six years. To have that stage of success at a spot with out the assets of the packages within the sport’s higher echelon is past spectacular. It is honest to marvel what heights he may need reached if he was blessed with a few of the benefits of the blue-blood colleges. — Bonagura

Dan Lanning at No. 3

Once I made my listing, I did not simply have a look at what coaches had executed prior to now. I thought-about who I’d need teaching my staff within the trendy panorama, and all the things that comes together with it. That is why my No. 3 coach was Lanning, who had probably the most enjoyable groups to observe final yr.

I believe Lanning’s path to being a head coach is critical. He has seen how two of the perfect coaches — Nick Saban and Kirby Sensible — do it, and he was the coordinator for a few of the greatest defenses we have ever seen at Georgia. Now, he has Oregon in nice place to win the Huge Ten in its first yr within the convention. Simply as vital, it appears as if he is made Eugene a premiere vacation spot not only for recruits, however for transfers as properly. We’re additionally speaking about somebody who could have been Alabama’s first alternative to interchange Saban. I believe Lanning would have ranked larger had he taken that job, primarily based on how excessive we’ve got Kalen DeBoer (whose rating is ok by me). — Lyles

Brian Kelly at No. 3

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Perhaps it is simply me, however successful — and doing so at each stage over three many years — counts for one thing. Kelly gained two Division II nationwide championships at Grand Valley State, gained two Huge East titles at Cincinnati, and took Notre Dame to a BCS nationwide championship sport and two extra CFP appearances. Most not too long ago, he guided LSU to the 2022 SEC championship sport in his first season in Baton Rouge.

Kelly has additionally confirmed he can flip round downtrodden packages rapidly. (See Central Michigan and Cincinnati.) Even Notre Dame had not gained greater than seven video games within the three seasons previous to Kelly’s arrival in 2010. So anyone who did not have Kelly of their prime 10 both hasn’t been paying consideration, does not notably like him or is just too younger to understand the problem of teaching at a excessive stage over an extended time period. I will take confirmed substance over flash each time. — Low

Lincoln Riley at No. 5

Riley has underwhelmed a bit at USC, and it is honest to query whether or not he’ll determine the defensive piece of a championship equation. But when we’re placing a number of offense-centric coaches within the prime 10 — DeBoer, Norvell, Lanning, Sarkisian, Kiffin — why depart off the man with three Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks and a runner-up in Jalen Hurts? Oklahoma led the FBS in scoring (43.7 PPG) and offense (533 YPG) throughout Riley’s time as coach and offensive coordinator. USC is tied for the nationwide lead in scoring common (41.6 PPG) and ranks second in passing offense (334.3 YPG) throughout Riley’s tenure. How is he not within the prime 10 once more? — Rittenberg

Dabo Swinney at No. 3

Effectively, the shine’s off Swinney, it will appear. After two nationwide titles and 6 straight playoff appearances, Clemson has reversed course and, within the course of, sullied Swinney’s status as a miracle employee. Certainly, it has been a dismal three years by which Clemson is — checks notes — 30-10 with an ACC title and the eighth-best document amongst energy convention packages in that span.

What? Yeah, that is how nice Swinney has been. The usual is so unbelievably excessive that even a stretch by which solely a small handful of groups have been higher is taken into account a failure. Sure, Swinney has stored a few of the most up-to-date shifts within the sport’s panorama at arm’s size, however regardless of the criticism and, sure, the missed playoffs, he has nonetheless churned out NFL expertise, gained a bunch of video games and positioned Clemson, as soon as once more, to win the ACC and return to the brand new, expanded postseason. — Hale

Swinney out of the highest 10

All of it depends upon the statute of limitations, proper? If we’re judging coaches by their résumés, Swinney needs to be second on the listing at worst. It is exhausting to beat two nationwide titles and 7 ACC championships. However whereas he stays an excellent head coach, it is extraordinarily tough to make the case that he has been anyplace near considered one of faculty soccer’s 10 greatest over the previous three years. Clemson has completed 14th, thirteenth and twentieth prior to now three remaining AP polls and has retreated from nationwide title rivalry to 1 convention title in three seasons and wins within the Cheez-It and Gator Bowls.

Swinney’s refusal to adapt to the evolution in roster administration, and his insistence on persevering with to construct via highschool recruiting, is endearing in a means, however it has made Clemson far much less nimble than different prime packages on the subject of plugging holes from yr to yr. And proper now, it seems that Clemson is merely a top-15 or top-20 program. Most nonetheless aspire to that, however it’s an unquestionable letdown for a program that after made six straight CFP appearances. Make no mistake: If we had ranked 15 coaches, I’d have had Swinney on the listing. But it surely has been a minute since he was a top-10 coach. — Connelly

Ryan Day trip of the highest 10

Contemplating my prime 10 included Lance Leipold, Kyle Whittingham and Curt Cignetti, it is fairly clear I’ve a factor for the coaches who create massive issues from tougher jobs. Day may need thrived at Kansas, Utah or James Madison too, however all we all know is that he inherited a staff that had averaged 11.3 wins per yr over the earlier 12 seasons (and 12.2 over the earlier six) and has, in 4 full seasons, averaged 11.5.

Not simply anybody might try this, and Day is clearly an excellent head coach. However merely successful a number of video games at Ohio State does not make you one of many 10 greatest. — Connelly

Kalen DeBoer at No. 10

Maybe I am a pessimist. Or, a minimum of, somebody who’s seen too many can’t-miss hires miss spectacularly (Jimbo Fisher, Scott Frost, Chip Kelly, Tom Herman, and many others., and many others.). Sure, DeBoer is an incredible coach who has gained in every single place he is been at almost each stage of school soccer. He had Washington just a few performs away from a nationwide title final yr. He is nice. However … he has coached two years at an influence convention faculty, and now he is transferring to a program the place the usual is, shall we embrace, a tad lofty.

He has by no means needed to recruit within the SEC. He has by no means been below the microscope that comes with being the Alabama head coach. He has by no means needed to showcase his offense towards the kind of bodily dominant opposition he’ll see almost weekly in 2024. And, after all, he has by no means needed to observe a legend, and that alone is an extremely tall activity. Ought to we be shocked if all of it works out? In fact not! Once more, DeBoer is excellent. However the names I’ve forward of him — Sensible, Swinney, Whittingham, Norvell, Kiffin — have executed it longer, are in additional secure positions and have loved nice success in their very own rights. — Hale