Randy Smith
Football is hands down our country's most popular sport. The popularity of the NFL is at an all-time high, and the college game continues to rise year after year. College football coaches are like rock stars. They're highly paid, and they can hardly go out in public without being mobbed by adoring fans As we continue our countdown to kickoff for the 2017 season, here are the top ten best coaches in the college game.
10. Dan Mullen-Mississippi State
Mullen has been in charge of the Bulldogs for eight years and is 61-42 with seven bowl appearances.
No doubt, Mississippi State is the toughest job in the SEC West but Mullen has made a real name for himself in Starkville.
9. James Franklin-Penn State
A little more than a year ago, odds were being taken on how much longer James Franklin would last at Penn State. Now he's among the top ten best coaches in the country. The Nittany Lions were 11-3 in 2016 with a Big Ten Championship and a Rose Bowl berth. This is the man who was 2-1 against Tennessee when he was at Vanderbilt.
8. Bobby Petrino-Louisville
The man can turn good or average quarterbacks into great ones and great ones into freshman Heisman Trophy winners. His two different Louisville stints have produced an overall record of 67-22. Petrino can flat out coach no matter where he is.
7. David Shaw-Stanford
With academic standards that are at least equal to Vanderbilt, Shaw has a record of 64-17 since 2011. That includes three Pac-10 titles and a couple of Rose Bowl wins.
6. Jim Harbaugh-Michigan
Harbaugh has been at Michigan two years and has guided the Wolverines to a mark of 20-6. He's recruited back to back top five classes nationally and has his team poised to make the College Football Playoffs in 2017. Harbaugh has had success in both college football and the NFL.
5. Jimbo Fisher-Florida State
Jimbo hasn't missed a beat since taking over for the legendary Bobby Bowden at Florida State. In seven years in Tallahassee, the Seminoles are 70-17 and that includes at least ten wins in six of those seven seasons. The 'Noles were 2013 national champs.
4. Chris Peterson-Washington
He won big at Boise State (92-12) and put them on the college football map. He's been at Washington for three seasons and had the Huskies in the College Football Playoffs in 2016. He has had just three seasons with less than ten wins, and never had a losing record.
3. Urban Meyer-Ohio State
The fact that I have Meyer listed as number three may surprise a lot of folks, but there is no question he is one of the very best. His overall record is 165-29 with three national championships; two at Florida and one at Ohio State.
2. Dabo Swinney-Clemson
Swinney has captured the hearts of an entire fan base and beyond. He has spent ten years at Clemson and has taken the Tigers to back to back national championship appearances, winning it all in 2016. He is 28-2 over the last two years and has won at least ten games per season for six straight years. By the way, Swinney is 3-1 all time versus Urban Meyer and Nick Saban.
1. Nick Saban-Alabama
The Crimson Tide is an amazing 119-19 under Saban, with four national titles and only five SEC losses in the last six years. Overall, Saban is 210-61-1 with a grand total of five national titles. He is 65 years old and has shown no signs of slowing down, which is bad news for the other thirteen SEC schools.
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for 30 years. He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga television for more than a quarter-century. In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith. They have five grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, Mattingly, DellaMae, and CoraLee.
He can be reached at rsmithsports@epbfi.com