Bruce Feldman’s Top 25 College Coaches

The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman posted his annual ranking of the Top 25 coaches in college football. I like Feldman’s college football views so I like his annual ranking of the coaches. Except for one omission. This ranking and any ranking of the best college football coaches starts at #3. 

1.   Nick Sabin, Alabama (2020 rank-No.1)

2.   Dabo Swinney, Clemson (2020 -No. 2)

3.   Brian Kelly, Notre Dame (2020-No. 8)

4.   Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma (2020-No. 5)

5.   James Franklin, Penn State (2020-No. 3)

6.   Jimbo Fischer, Texas A&M (2020-No. 6)

7.   Ed Orgeron, LSU (2020-No. 4)

8.   Ryan Day, Ohio State (Not qualified in 2020)

9.   Matt Campbell, Iowa State (2020-No. 16)

10. Kirby Smart, Georgia (2020-No. 7)

11. Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern (2020-Unranked)

12. Kyle Whittingham, Utah (2020-No. 9)

13. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa (2020-No. 13)

14. David Shaw, Stanford (2020-No. 17)

15. Gary Patterson, TCU (2020-No. 11)

16. Dan Mullen, Florida (2020-No. 14)

17. Lance Leipold, Buffalo (2020-No. 20)

18. Jeff Monken, Army (2020-Unranked)

19. Mario Cristobal, Oregon (2020-No. 24)

20. Luke Fickell Cincinnati (2020-Unranked)

21. Paul Chryst, Wisconsin (2020-No. 19)

22. Jim Harbaugh, Michigan (2020-No. 18)

23. Mike Leach, Mississippi State (2020-No. 12)

24. Hugh Freeze, Liberty (2020-Unranked)

25. Tom Allen, Indiana (2020-No. Unranked)

Just missed the cut: Scott Satterfield, Louisville; Ken Niumatalolo, Navy; Chip Kelly, UCLA; Bryan Harsin, Auburn; Jamey Chadwell, Coastal Carolina; Neal Brown, West Virginia; Dave Clawson, Wake Forrest; Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State; Mark Stoops, Kentucky; P.J. Fleck, Minnesota; Mack Brown, North Carolina; Bill Clark, UAB; Billy Napier, Louisiana

Justin Wilcox! Where’s Justin Wilcox? Bruce Feldman really needs to find his way to Berkeley. This is the best run Cal program since the best days of Jeff Tedford. 

Jeff Brohm?

I always wonder how long highly successful coaches at smaller schools stay at those schools. Coaches like Lance Leipold, Jamey Chadwell, Bill Clark, and Billy Napier. That also go for coaches at bigger schools that aren’t traditional football powers. Coaches like Jeff Monken, Tom Allen, Scott Satterfield, Ken Niumatalolo, Dave Clawson.