Top 5 College Football Coaches – 2012 NCAA Football Coaches Rankings

2012 College Football Coaches Rankings – Top 5 Head Coaches: Unlike in the NFL where the players are the stars, head coaches are the faces of the programs in college football. Players come and go, but the head coach remains the same, and dynasties are built around coaches. College football coaches have an endless job. They have to sell the program to boosters and alumni, as well as potential recruits. They also have to run practices and make personnel decisions, and we haven’t even gotten to the actual coaching of football games yet. Needless to say, it takes a dedicated individual, and it takes an individual that knows the game inside and out. The great ones are few and far between, but building a powerhouse program starts with the head man. With that in mind, here is a look at the top coaches in college football for the upcoming season.

Top 5 College Football Coaches – 2012 NCAA Football Coaches Rankings

1.      Nick Saban, Alabama Crimson Tide

You just can’t make an argument for anyone else for the top spot. He has three national titles since 2004, including two in the last three seasons at Alabama. Saban also leads all coaches with five career BCS bowl game wins, and he has lost just four SEC games the last four seasons. His attitude rubs some people the wrong way, but he is still one of the top recruiters in the country. More importantly, he is arguably the best game manager around. Nobody has their team better prepared on a weekly basis and better prepared for big games than Saban, and the numbers back it up.

2.      Chip Kelly, Oregon Ducks

No, he doesn’t have a national title, but the meteoric rise of the Oregon program is directly tied to Kelly’s arrival. In his three years as head coach, the Ducks have three Pac-12 titles, three Rose Bowl appearances and a 34-6 record. Oregon also made it to the national title game in 2010 and won the Rose Bowl last season. The Ducks have averaged more than 43 points per game since Kelly installed his spread-option system, and he has basically assembled a track team in pads that nobody outside of the SEC can seem to keep up with. Kelly will eventually need a national title to validate his legacy, but for now, dominating the Pac-12 since he walked in the door will do.

3.      Chris Petersen, Boise State Broncos

The BCS may consistently overlook the Broncos, but I won’t give the same treatment to their head coach. In his six seasons with Boise State, Petersen has a 73-6 record. For the record, that equates to a ridiculous .924 winning percentage. Anyone that wants to argue that the Broncos haven’t played tough enough competition for Petersen to make the list is ignoring the facts. Last year, the Broncos knocked off the SEC East champion Georgia Bulldogs. The year before that, they took out the ACC champion Virginia Tech Hokies. In 2009, Boise State upset the Pac-12 champion Oregon Ducks. Not to mention that the team’s unforgettable Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma in the 2006 season was largely engineered by Petersen’s fearless play calling. If not for a couple of meltdowns by his kicker the last couple of years, Petersen would be an easy pick for No. 2.

4.      Les Miles, LSU Tigers

With a national title in 2008 and a 41-15 record in the SEC regular season games, Miles had enjoyed plenty of success at LSU. He has a 75-18 overall record in his seven seasons in Baton Rouge, and in five of those seasons, he has won at least 11 games. Miles is sometimes criticized for his risky play calling and for not getting enough out of the talent he assembles. However, there is something to be said for the ability to recruit that much talent, and it’s not like the Tigers haven’t been losing to bad teams. A victory in last year’s BCS title game would have gone a long way to quieting all the doubters and vaulting him to the top spot, but there is still no doubt he is a top five coach.

5.      Steve Spurrier, South Carolina Gamecocks

This pick will probably draw plenty of criticism, but Spurrier deserves a ton of credit for what he is doing at South Carolina. The SEC has never been better, but Spurrier still managed to lead the Gamecocks to a school-record 11 wins last season. He has transformed a program that was basically a doormat in its own conference to a national power. South Carolina landed the top recruit in the country prior to last season, it has a Heisman Trophy candidate in running back Marcus Lattimore this year, and it is suddenly producing first-round picks in the NFL draft. Spurrier deserves all the credit, and no coach has done a better job of maximizing their resources in recruiting and maximizing the results of their players on the field.

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