Alabama Football: CFB’s best coaches and why they don’t match Nick Saban

Alabama Football: A recent list of college football’s best coaches shows the gap between them and Nick Saban.

There is no credible debate about Alabama Football, Head Coach, Nick Saban being the best. The best now and the best ever. Measuring every other college football head coach against Saban makes sense. With few exceptions, no one thinks any other current, top coach comes close to Saban.

Mike Farrell of Rivals published a list of CFB’s current, best ten head coaches. It is a good list, with only a couple of selections worth a quibble. Alabama Football head man, Nick Saban is No. 1 as Farrell described, needing no explanation.

Farrell’s Top CFB Coaches

Instead of debating what coaches should be ranked differently or should not be on the list, let’s consider the weaknesses of each as compared to Nick Saban.

No. 1 Nick Saban

No. 2 Dabo Swinney

Dabo has had the most success and should be acknowledged for keeping the Clemson program at an elite level for the last six seasons. The Tigers are favored to make the Playoff again in 2021. Other than Saban, no other coach has such a successful track record. The only minor blemish for Dabo is the weakness of the ACC. Coming out of the SEC, it is unlikely Clemson would have qualified for so many Playoff fields.

No. 3 Jimbo Fisher

Jimbo has the National Championship pedigree and he has made progress in College Station. He also left FSU in disarray and has 16 losses in his last four seasons. He is Saban-like but far from his old boss.

No. 4 Lincoln Riley

Riley deserves his cred as a sharp offensive mind. His Oklahoma teams have done well enough. Would his offenses have been as effective and his record nearly as good if the Sooners were in the SEC or the Big Ten? We doubt it.

No. 5 Brian Kelly

Brian Kelly is a very good coach with outstanding career success. As Farrell says, at Notre Dame Kelly must contend with tough “academic restrictions.” The rap on Kelly is the Irish are often not elite in big games. Going back to 2012, Kelly’s Notre Dame’s teams have been way overrated. In 2012, the Irish did not belong on the field with Alabama Football. That happened again last season. Clemson did the same to them in 2018.