Greatest Cfb Coach of All-Time?

[PEOPLESCHICKEN]

Yost was a POS start there. If you actually want to credit a coach with creating ND football as America's team. You can actually directly blame Yost for it. If it wasn't for him and his anti-catholic inferiority complex against ND and being an all around ass hat. ND may never had gone national and might have been a University of Chicago, or Northwestern type school.

Michigan taught ND to play football and they played an actual first game in 1887. Michigan of course won this. They were at the zenith of their football dynasty. The following year 1888, they played two games against ND in back to back days. They won both games, by scores of 26-6 and 10-4. However when they got back to Ann Arbor they were booed by the fans. Because these were the first points that had even been scored against 'Mighty Michigan' since 1883. So Michigan promptly cancelled all future games for the next 10 years. They resumed the series while Michigan was in their 'Point a Minute' teams. And beat ND each game. Until 1909. When ND won. In Ann Arbor. Then Michigan cancelled the series again. And Yost went to the rest of the midwest and told any B1G team willing to schedule ND would be blackballed by the conference. ND and Michigan didn't play again until 1942. Michigan won. They played again in 1943. ND won. Michigan cancelled the series again. And didn't resume until 1978.

This is why ND doesn't have a 'trophy' with Michigan. Because ND doesn't consider them a rival, because of the actions of Yost

Seriously though. Rockne as a coach did more to change college football than Yost did. From the mastery of the forward pass to the changes in travel to make ND the first true 'barn storming' team and play a national instead of regional national championship seasons. Yost was in reality the UCF of his day. Beating up on a lot of very inferior opponents with a stud loaded team.

Hard to believe but he found some time to win a few football games as a hobby away from his career of screwing ND

 

[PEOPLESCHICKEN]

I disagree.

Twas sarcasm

 

[PEOPLESCHICKEN]

LOLZ@Bobby Bowden

 

[JuiceTheGator]

You're all on crank. Spurrier is the father of modern CFB. He took almost nothing and made Florida a respected program. Moreover, he literally change the offensive game in CFB.

Coaching tree you say??

 

[Diego Roll Tide]

Twas sarcasm

It was a dare from an Auburn fan.

Sue me.

 

[Codaxx]

You're all on crank. Spurrier is the father of modern CFB. He took almost nothing and made Florida a respected program. Moreover, he literally change the offensive game in CFB.

Coaching tree you say??

Actually I would go with LaVell Edwards as the father of modern day offenses. He arguably left the greatest influence on the game

 

[JuiceTheGator]

Actually I would go with LaVell Edwards as the father of modern day offenses. He arguably left the greatest influence on the game

Meh. I would say Schnellenberger more than Edwards if you go that route.

 

[IrishBlooded]

Hard to believe but he found some time to win a few football games as a hobby away from his career of screwing ND

I thought the same thing

Was still a complete asshole. That Michigan still claims him as one of their best says a lot

 

[Jtrain80]

Ok, Saban's is #1, that is almost beyond dispute.

Can The King get some love?

 

[fredsdeadfriend]

Well, so far I've noticed that about half of you seem to try to be unbiased and list coaches you honestly think have proven to be the best, and the other half seem to allow their personal biases to influence their picks, which is ok. So far most of the coaches I've seen mentioned all seem worthy of high praise, and I like this Mt Rushmore idea, so I'm going to list my biased Mt Rushmore coaches first. Sometime later I will try to make up an unbiased list, but I'll wait to see more suggestions first.

My Mt Rushmore is

Henry L "Doc" Williams
Gil Dobie
Bernie Bierman
Bud Wilkinson

And my 5th would be Biggie Munn.

Biggie Munn not only won a couple Natty's coaching MSU, he was the most instrumental person responsible for getting Michigan State into the Big Ten.

Bud Wilkinson was named by CBSSportsline as their 20th Century "National Coach of the Century", taking turns during the 50's with Biggie Munn winning Natty's with OU while taking ownership of the longest winning streak in cfb history. They were both(Munn and Wilkinson) Asst Coaches under...

Bernie Bierman was named by CBSSportsline as their 20th Century "Big Ten Coach of the Century". After playing for Doc Williams he went on to coach Tulane to TWO Natl Titles before going home to Minnesota, where he won FIVE MORE Natl Titles, and probably would have won at least one more in 1942, if not more, but the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the Military stole not only most of Minnesota's best players, they also stole Bierman, who then ended up coaching the very team that broke his own Minnesota winning streak. His Iowa Seahawks Navy team, which included a couple former Gophers that got pulled out of the NFL beat them by a very small margin for their first loss since 1939.

So after winning SEVEN Natl Titles at two DIFFERENT schools, it took a friggin world war to end his dynasty and domination of college football and he, himself, had to break his own winning streak. And not only did former Gophers play for Bierman on his Iowa Seahawks team that played against the Gophers, but at least 2 other Gophers who garnered some degree of AA status ended up playing for the Gophers rivals, Michigan and NW because there were military training bases near those schools, while there was none near the U of Mn campus.

Gil Dobie only holds the NCAA record for the longest unbeaten streak in history, 63 games, coaching Washington. But Washington wasn't the only school he had success at. He coached at Navy for 3 years and only lost 2-4 games and he coached Cornell to 1 or 2 Natl Titles as well.

And Dobie, Bierman and HOFer Clark Shaughnessy all played for...

Henry L "Doc" Williams, who won 4 Natl Titles(unrecognized), had close to the best winning percentage in cfb from 1900 to 1919. Yeah, better than even Michigan and Notre Dame. He is considered one of the Fathers of college football. He co-authored one of the seminal early works in cfb with Amos Alonzo Stagg considered one of a trilogy of the most important books every written about cfb. The other two were written by Walter Camp and Deland, the inventor of the flying wedge. Williams invented the 4 man backfield. He came up with that innovation as a way of neutralizing Michigan's Point a Minute Machine, and it worked, ending their 1903 game in a 6-6 tie. He also invented the Minnesota Shift, which was the precursor to all offensive pre-snap movement, used to throw off defenses ever since then. I read he was the one who first proposed the forward pass be allowed in college football(not saying he invented or came up with the idea, just that he was the first to propose making it legal), and he was one of the first to utilize the forward pass successfully.

And the Natl Title Trophy was named after Henry Williams for a short period of time. Any school that won 3 Natl Titles got the Trophy renamed after one of their coaches and Minnesota came one Title short of getting the Trophy renamed for one of it's coaches a 2nd time, and probably would have accomplished this in 1942 if not for the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Instead it got renamed the Knute Rockne Trophy late in the 40s and I believe that became it's permanent name? Might of had something to do with the UPI/Coaches Poll starting up?


Williams coaching tree is extensive, including Bierman, Gil Dobie and Shaughnessy, all Cfb Hall of Fame Coaches, and Bierman coached Bud Wilkinson and Bud Grant, both Hall of Famers, he also had Biggie Munn(a HOFer) and Wilkinson as Asst Coaches, as well as a guy named Cal Stoll. Cal Stoll coached Tony Dungy(a HOFer) and that 4 time CFL Grey Cup Title winning coach I can never remember the name of, lol.




So, my Mt Rushmore guys is a biased list, but 3 of them are legitimate contenders. Bierman with SEVEN Natl Titles who needed a World War to stop his domination of the sport, Wilkinson who others here have listed and who got named "Coach of the Century" by at least one unbiased source, and Williams with 4 Nattys and who is considered one of the one of the Grandfathers of the game and a major innovator.

I'll work on my unbiased list to post later. Saban will be on it, just not yet #1.

 

[carson]

Nick Saban could move up into the #1 spot, but at this moment, he's NOT my #1.

Before I make the argument for my pick, tell me your picks, and defend your pick, or list your Top 3 or Top 5 or Top 10.

Your threads/takes are about as weird as your avatar.

 

[carson]

Well, so far I've noticed that about half of you seem to try to be unbiased and list coaches you honestly think have proven to be the best, and the other half seem to allow their personal biases to influence their picks, which is ok. So far most of the coaches I've seen mentioned all seem worthy of high praise, and I like this Mt Rushmore idea, so I'm going to list my biased Mt Rushmore coaches first. Sometime later I will try to make up an unbiased list, but I'll wait to see more suggestions first.

My Mt Rushmore is

Henry L "Doc" Williams
Gil Dobie
Bernie Bierman
Bud Wilkinson

And my 5th would be Biggie Munn.

Biggie Munn not only won a couple Natty's coaching MSU, he was the most instrumental person responsible for getting Michigan State into the Big Ten.

Bud Wilkinson was named by CBSSportsline as their 20th Century "National Coach of the Century", taking turns during the 50's with Biggie Munn winning Natty's with OU while taking ownership of the longest winning streak in cfb history. They were both(Munn and Wilkinson) Asst Coaches under...

Bernie Bierman was named by CBSSportsline as their 20th Century "Big Ten Coach of the Century". After playing for Doc Williams he went on to coach Tulane to TWO Natl Titles before going home to Minnesota, where he won FIVE MORE Natl Titles, and probably would have won at least one more in 1942, if not more, but the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the Military stole not only most of Minnesota's best players, they also stole Bierman, who then ended up coaching the very team that broke his own Minnesota winning streak. His Iowa Seahawks Navy team, which included a couple former Gophers that got pulled out of the NFL beat them by a very small margin for their first loss since 1939.

So after winning SEVEN Natl Titles at two DIFFERENT schools, it took a friggin world war to end his dynasty and domination of college football and he, himself, had to break his own winning streak. And not only did former Gophers play for Bierman on his Iowa Seahawks team that played against the Gophers, but at least 2 other Gophers who garnered some degree of AA status ended up playing for the Gophers rivals, Michigan and NW because there were military training bases near those schools, while there was none near the U of Mn campus.

Gil Dobie only holds the NCAA record for the longest unbeaten streak in history, 63 games, coaching Washington. But Washington wasn't the only school he had success at. He coached at Navy for 3 years and only lost 2-4 games and he coached Cornell to 1 or 2 Natl Titles as well.

And Dobie, Bierman and HOFer Clark Shaughnessy all played for...

Henry L "Doc" Williams, who won 4 Natl Titles(unrecognized), had close to the best winning percentage in cfb from 1900 to 1919. Yeah, better than even Michigan and Notre Dame. He is considered one of the Fathers of college football. He co-authored one of the seminal early works in cfb with Amos Alonzo Stagg considered one of a trilogy of the most important books every written about cfb. The other two were written by Walter Camp and Deland, the inventor of the flying wedge. Williams invented the 4 man backfield. He came up with that innovation as a way of neutralizing Michigan's Point a Minute Machine, and it worked, ending their 1903 game in a 6-6 tie. He also invented the Minnesota Shift, which was the precursor to all offensive pre-snap movement, used to throw off defenses ever since then. I read he was the one who first proposed the forward pass be allowed in college football(not saying he invented or came up with the idea, just that he was the first to propose making it legal), and he was one of the first to utilize the forward pass successfully.

And the Natl Title Trophy was named after Henry Williams for a short period of time. Any school that won 3 Natl Titles got the Trophy renamed after one of their coaches and Minnesota came one Title short of getting the Trophy renamed for one of it's coaches a 2nd time, and probably would have accomplished this in 1942 if not for the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Instead it got renamed the Knute Rockne Trophy late in the 40s and I believe that became it's permanent name? Might of had something to do with the UPI/Coaches Poll starting up?


Williams coaching tree is extensive, including Bierman, Gil Dobie and Shaughnessy, all Cfb Hall of Fame Coaches, and Bierman coached Bud Wilkinson and Bud Grant, both Hall of Famers, he also had Biggie Munn(a HOFer) and Wilkinson as Asst Coaches, as well as a guy named Cal Stoll. Cal Stoll coached Tony Dungy(a HOFer) and that 4 time CFL Grey Cup Title winning coach I can never remember the name of, lol.




So, my Mt Rushmore guys is a biased list, but 3 of them are legitimate contenders. Bierman with SEVEN Natl Titles who needed a World War to stop his domination of the sport, Wilkinson who others here have listed and who got named "Coach of the Century" by at least one unbiased source, and Williams with 4 Nattys and who is considered one of the one of the Grandfathers of the game and a major innovator.

I'll work on my unbiased list to post later. Saban will be on it, just not yet #1.

oh my... given this post, I'd say you're at least in your mid-50s. That said, your young girl avatar is even more el creepo.

 

[Gohogs14]

Frank Broyles has the best coaching tree ever IMO, and winning a natty at Arkansas is almost as impressive as building a dynasty at Bama.

Surprised no Alabama fans have tried to dispute the natty claim yet lol.

Arkansas was a top 10-15 program back then so it’s not as impressive as it would be today, but granted that’s probably only due to Broyles. Lou Holtz had some success too.

Broyles always seemed like he was about 15 years ahead of the rest of the college football world. He was one of the first to create a separate foundation to raise athletic department funds and obviously saw the demise of the SWC and the rise of the SEC when he negotiated us into the conference.

 

[DeafOranguntan]

Ok, Saban's is #1, that is almost beyond dispute.

Can The King get some love?

I'm willing to give the guy some love. He'd be in the top 10 college coaches of all time for me. He was excellent and had Osborne's number throughout his career. I personally wouldn't have him in my top 5, as I don't think he was around in college long enough to seriously challenge Osborne (and he had the three 4 loss seasons in a row in the early 80s, while Osborne never lost more than 3 games in 25 years - and his winning percentage was 82% compared to Osborne's 84%.

However, if we're talking about the greatest coaches (not just college) of all time, he'd be in the top 10 for me. To be able to succeed in college and the pros is very, very rare, and takes a coach that can both win over people (ie: the recruiting battle), have enough humility to deal with grown men instead of kids, but also be an extremely intelligent tactician who can win in a league with so much parity. It's much harder to win in the NFL since you can't just bring in players who are bigger, faster, and stronger than everyone else's. I think Dabo has a real chance to break into the top 10-15 college coaches. I'd be shocked if he could succeed in the NFL. Saban, Spurrier, Holtz, and Dennis Erickson are legends in college (and I have Saban as the best). However, they were utter failures in the NFL, and so wouldn't even break the top 20 greatest coaches period in my book. But Switzer would. So my top 6 coaches list would be something like Lombardi, Paul Brown, Bill Bellichick, Bear Bryant, Jimmy Johnson, and Switzer.

 

[Codaxx]

Meh. I would say Schnellenberger more than Edwards if you go that route.

????

 

[BlueDevil]

Saban by a mile. Nobody has even come close to doing what he has done.

 

[Wishbone]

Saban, get back to me after you win 47 straight games.

 

[GeekSportsFan]

Nick Saban could move up into the #1 spot, but at this moment, he's NOT my #1.

Before I make the argument for my pick, tell me your picks, and defend your pick, or list your Top 3 or Top 5 or Top 10.

Come on....it's Nick Saban and it's not even close.

 

[batchaps4me]

If you are going to have a coaching Mount Rushmore, Coach Eddie Robinson should get some love.

 

[poewelch84]

Bryant's coach and mentor was

Saban, get back to me after you win 47 straight games.

Back when Notre Dame could end a streak