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Alabama Football: Interesting rankings of top coaches not named Nick Saban

By Ronald Evans

TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 09: The Alabama Crimson Tide take the field prior to the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Game against the Clemson Tigers at Raymond James Stadium on January 9, 2017 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 09: The Alabama Crimson Tide take the field prior to the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Game against the Clemson Tigers at Raymond James Stadium on January 9, 2017 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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All lists of top coaches start with Nick Saban. Check out where other head coaches rank behind the Alabama football coaching legend.

No one, other than inhabitants of some alternate college football universe, rate any coach as highly as Alabama football head man, Nick Saban. If you see a list of top current CFB head coaches without Saban as No. 1 – quickly disengage before such absurdity warps your brain.

Alabama football fans give little notice to even the legitimate lists, other than to see how low (or high) future coaching opponents are ranked. Maybe we should pay a little closer attention. It is becoming common for college football pundits to argue SEC football no longer has the top coaches, except for Nick, of course.

The SEC ruled college football during the seven seasons 2006-2012. During that span, four SEC schools won seven national championships. Alabama football won three, Florida two, Auburn and LSU one each. But the last SEC school not named Alabama to win a natty was Auburn in 2010.

SEC football is a long way from the Crimson Tide and 13 dwarfs but the success of Alabama football has dimmed the reputations of most SEC programs.

One of the reasons the bloom is off the rose for SEC football is how damn hard it is to beat Nick Saban. Butch Jones, Bret Bielema, Jim McElwain, Kevin Sumlin, Les Miles and Mark Richt did not measure up coaching against Nick, harming their coaching futures and diminishing the reputations of their programs. The beneficiaries of the carnage have been coaches from other Power Five conferences.

Ranking the Power Five Head Coaches

A group of CBS Sports college football experts ranked all the 65 Power Five head coaches. The SEC coaches fared pretty well in the top ten but were not dominant.

  1. Nick Saban – Alabama
  2. Urban Meyer – Ohio State
  3. Dabo Swinney – Clemson
  4. Jimbo Fisher – TAMU
  5. Chris Petersen – Washington
  6. Gary Patterson – TCU
  7. David Shaw – Stanford
  8. Kirby Smart – Georgia
  9. Chip Kelly – UCLA
  10. James Franklin – Penn State

Where did the other SEC football head coaches rank?

Keep in mind, Joe Moorhead and Jeremy Pruitt are new head coaches with a to be determined track record.

13. Dan Mullen – Florida

14. Gus Malzahn – Auburn

37. Will Muschamp – South Carolina

46. Mark Stoops – Kentucky

50. Derek Mason – Vanderbilt

52. Chad Morris – Arkansas

55. Barry Odom – Missouri

56. Ed Orgeron – LSU

57. Jeremy Pruitt – Tennessee

58. Joe Moorhead – Mississippi State

62. Matt Luke – Ole Miss

Eight of the worst 20, Power Five head coaches is a slam against the SEC. Reviewing the list, it is hard to find much fault with the rankings. Morris, Pruitt and Moorhead may prove doubters wrong. Conversely, Jimbo may be over-rated and Kirby in the top ten is a stretch after only two seasons.

Next: Toughest 2018 Opponents

Not that any of us wants to change it, but it could be true the continued dominance of Alabama football has hurt the rest of the SEC.

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