FanPost

Ranking the Pac10 Coaches

For the sake of this ranking, I am not going to put Paul Wulff (WSU) on this list because I have no idea where he would rank. It'll from the other 9 coaches that have coached at least a couple of seasons in the Pac10 (not necessarily with their current teams, such as Nieuheusel and Erickson)

 

1. Pete Carroll, USC

Hard to argue with a 76-14 record (average of more than 10 wins a year), 7 consecutive conference championships, 2 National Championships, 3 NC games, and what, 7 consecutive top 4 finishes, something like that. Not to mention he has a stronghold on recruiting. It doesn't matter if USC is 100 deep at QB, you better bet the best QB from southern California is going to be a Trojan.

2. Dennis Erickson, Arizona State

158-67-1 overall college coaching record. Yep, that's right. The guy has been around long enough to have experienced a tie (not too many of those coaches left). Add 2 National Championships and you have a premier coach. Erickson is said to be the guy that might be able to finally awake the sleeping giant at ASU and dethrone ol' Petey. We'll see.

3. Mike Riley, Oregon State

There isn's a greater example of doing more with less. While his record may not be all that impressive (47-38) and he doesn't have a big name bowl victory on his resume, he was the guy who kick started a program that had endured 28 consecutive losing seasons. His 2nd stint back has been pretty good, with 19 wins over the last 2 years. He consistently gets the best out of 1 and 2 star players.

4. Jeff Tedford, Cal

Aside from last year's meltdown (sparked by losing to unranked OSU when they were poised to take over the #1 spot!), Tedford has amassed an impressive 50-26 record, with 1 conference co-championship. His teams always seem to be prepared and ready, and expect no different for the future. Cal will be poised to be a top 15, top 10 team yet again.

5. Rick Neuheisel, UCLA

It was a struggle putting a guy who has a Pac10 Championship and Rose Bowl under his belt, but remember that at Colorado and UW he did so with a lot of violations. We'll see how he redeems himself at UCLA, but I think for right now #5 is a good spot.

6. Jim Harbaugh, Stanford

Hard to tell exactly where he's going to go with Stanford, but taking a team that was the laughing stock of the Pac10 the last few years and getting within a couple games of a bowl, all the while beating USC and Cal in the same season, hard to say the guy won't be a winner.

7. Mike Belloti, Oregon

Hear me out before you people start getting pissy. Yes his record is impressive (106-52, 1 Pac10 Championship, been to two BCS bowls). But Oregon fans, this is not the guy that is going to take your program to the next level. You have the best facilities in the nation, one of the top stadiums (I don't think so but ESPN the Mag does, so I'll run with it ha), and yet fail to win 10 games a year consistently. Yes, last year was a tough break, and he was probably on his way to coaching in a National Championship game, but 1 good year every couple years with years of mediocrity with all that UO has, isn't the indicator of a good coach. In my honest opinion, you fire Belloti and make Chip Kelley the head coach before he gets a huge money offer and goes elsewhere. That's the coach that takes you to the next level.

8. Ty Willingham, Washington

I hate putting Ty here. One of the class acts of college football coaching, does everything right. And I hated Notre Dame for the way he treated him, after all that he did at Stanford (those old enough to remember know how good Stanford was when he was there). But the guy has had his 5 years now, and he has one of the top QBs in the nation, and this is the year that UW needs to put up or get out.And honestly, I don't know if Willingham is actually a bad coach, or if he just coached when the Pac10 was as strong as it has ever been.

9. Mike Stoops, Arizona

If I could, I'd put Mike Stoops at 10th (or even 11th haha). He is by far one of the worst head coaches in the country. The guy has recruited amazing talent, amassed a pretty solid coaching staff, and still has only a 17-29 record (average of close to only 4 wins a year). Arizona has gorgeous weather and co-eds, yet still can't manage to win.

 

As I wrote this, I realized how many talented coaches there are in the Pac10. And when Ty Willingham and Mike Stoops get fired after this year, you better believe UW and UA are going to pay big bucks to get their programs back on track. This will be good for some teams, bad for others. Let's just hope your favorite program doesn't get lost in transition.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or the Building the Dam staff. FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable Oregon State fans.