2012 5-Year Plan Coaching Rankings from CFN. Ranking coaches you’d want to bring in to turn your program around in 5 years (so age is a big factor):
22. Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
The Ball Coach pulled it off. This run South Carolina is on is by far the greatest in the history of its shockingly mediocre program, highlighted by a fantastic 11-2 2011 coming off an East title in 2010. His run at Florida was legendary, and while the disaster with the Washington Redskins hurt his legacy and reputation, the last seven years got it all back. Not only has he done the nearly impossible by giving the success-starved Gamecock fans a consistent winner, but he is going stronger than ever with a few loaded recruiting classes beefing up the talent level. Now, because of Spurrier and what he’s been doing, there’s a legitimate reason to throw out the idea that USC could be good enough to be in the BCS championship chase. However, he’s turning 67 this year and probably wouldn’t be the coach you’d want to rebuild a program. At the immediate moment, though,
he’s still among the best in the business
.
Damn straight! (Though calling our program “shockingly” mediocre seems a bit of overkill to me…)
51. Dabo Swinney, Clemson
There are mixed feelings regarding Swinney at Clemson. On the one hand, he’s the head coach of the reigning ACC champs, and an outstanding procurer of talent. On the other, he’s just 29-19 overall in three-plus seasons, and he’s not among the league’s best in-game managers. Oh, and then there’s the issue of last year’s finish, a 2-4 close capped by the 70-33 Orange Bowl debacle. The youthful energy that Swinney brings to Clemson is somewhat offset by concerns within the fan base that he might be
in over his head at a big-time program
. To his credit, he’s surrounded himself with two solid coordinators, Chad Morris and Brent Venables, who can make a coach look better.
Like we’ve been saying all along…
22. Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
The Ball Coach pulled it off. This run South Carolina is on is by far the greatest in the history of its shockingly mediocre program, highlighted by a fantastic 11-2 2011 coming off an East title in 2010. His run at Florida was legendary, and while the disaster with the Washington Redskins hurt his legacy and reputation, the last seven years got it all back. Not only has he done the nearly impossible by giving the success-starved Gamecock fans a consistent winner, but he is going stronger than ever with a few loaded recruiting classes beefing up the talent level. Now, because of Spurrier and what he’s been doing, there’s a legitimate reason to throw out the idea that USC could be good enough to be in the BCS championship chase. However, he’s turning 67 this year and probably wouldn’t be the coach you’d want to rebuild a program. At the immediate moment, though,
he’s still among the best in the business
.
Damn straight! (Though calling our program “shockingly” mediocre seems a bit of overkill to me…)
51. Dabo Swinney, Clemson
There are mixed feelings regarding Swinney at Clemson. On the one hand, he’s the head coach of the reigning ACC champs, and an outstanding procurer of talent. On the other, he’s just 29-19 overall in three-plus seasons, and he’s not among the league’s best in-game managers. Oh, and then there’s the issue of last year’s finish, a 2-4 close capped by the 70-33 Orange Bowl debacle. The youthful energy that Swinney brings to Clemson is somewhat offset by concerns within the fan base that he might be
in over his head at a big-time program
. To his credit, he’s surrounded himself with two solid coordinators, Chad Morris and Brent Venables, who can make a coach look better.
Like we’ve been saying all along…
