CBSSports released a Head Coaching Tier article and Virginia Tech's top guy came in at number one for the "Coaches Moving Up" ranking.
College football coaching tiers 2018
It's the offseason so let's do what we do best. Debate and discuss.
Forums:
DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Comments
So Fuente doesn't fit in the Program Builders or the Proven P5 coaches category? Also a little premature to crown Kirby Smart and Lincoln Riley in the second Tier with less than 3 years on the job.
Lincoln Riley is probably the best offensive mind currently in college football, with a few strong competitors like Brohm at Purdue.
Kirby Smart took a team that went 8-5 in 2016 and took them to the National Championship the next season and capped it off with one of the greatest recruiting classes of all time.
I think those two coaches have valid arguments.
Time will tell, Riley had a Heisman winning #1 overall draft pick at QB. You could make a chicken or egg argument whether or not the system made Mayfield look good or if Mayfield made the system look good. Same goes for Kirby Smart, got to ride Richt's recruits at RB and Roquan Smith, but did pull the #1 QB recruit in the country and Fromm looked really good last year. I just am not ready to call them top tier coaches until I see them bring their own classes on board and sustain the success.
Lincoln Riley having a Heisman QB is certainly an excellent rebuttal point, it probably made both of them look better to some degree, but all the schematic guys whose work I follow have absolutely gushed about Riley's schemes and play designs.
It's fair to reserve judgement, but I was just saying those guys at least have arguments to be second tier. I actually think both of them are better coaches schematically (and it's not close) over someone like Dabo, who is a great figurehead and has hired incredible coordinators and recruiters. He would have been almost certainly fired if he didn't hire Morris (6-7 in 2010 had him on a very short leash, trust me as I live in upstate SC and know many Clemson boosters), and the defense wasn't fixed until he hired Venables.
This is the frustrating part about Dabo. Of course you can't deny the success under his watch, so you have to give him his due. I just can't help but wonder what HE actually brings to the table. As far as I can tell, it's really just his ability to connect with people (ie recruit player and coordinators). He's even helped significantly in that regard by being at a school that will support him financially in pretty much whatever he wants.
He made the mold that Stinespring would have fit into as a head coach.
That's kind of like asking what Steve Jobs brought to Apple. The guy can't code, but he made that company what it is today.
Dabo might not design plays, but he's not football illiterate; he dictates the high level strategy for game, making sure the defense and offense are working together towards a common goal. He acquires talent - both coordinators and players, and has built a unique culture. His staff is becoming the example of stability; the fact that Chad Morris left, and Dabo could just promote two assistants to OC speaks volumes for his hiring choices.
Finally, one thing that Dabo is pretty good (from the three or so Clemson games I watch each season) is clock/game management. It really is stunning how many head coaches (not just Mike London) make stupid time out calls, fail to make common sense time outs, fail to let the play clock run when they're up late, etc. Dabo just doesn't make dumb decisions, doesn't lose games for his teams, and put players in a spot where they can be successful.
I was about to say "Fuente's not building a program - VT is an established program." but then I looked at the list, and the top 'Program Builder' coaches are exactly the coaches Fuente should be measured against (for now).
I guess this is the reason he was on the 'Risers and Fallers' list:
All in all, I don't like the categories of these lists.
*goes over to other websites to see their rational thoughts on Fuente
Runs screaming back to TKP. I think Fuente has done an outstanding job with many things thrown at him from taking over for Beamer, to trying to change the play style and recruting of the program to dealing with a resurgence of Miami and Clemson in the ACC.
The pure stupidity of that post/argument is just mind-boggling. Seen others saying he's only had success because Beamer's recruits set him up for that and we should have hired someone proven (or in the case of the first commentor, just a young black coordinator).
Gotta love the offseason.
Fuente has done a very good job with room for improvement and I think he's about hitting the ceiling of VT's recruiting abilities until he's given more resources to work with. It's undeniable he's raised the talent level in the program, now he's got to figure out how to get a bunch of sophomores to play consistently.
TKP is so much more level headed than 247 its ridiculous. They're a useful source of info but they have a very bad culture problem over there.
I couldn't agree more, I've only been reading over there for a couple weeks now but my god there is not one positive comment to be found on any recruiting threads... pretty ridiculous and really sucks all of the enjoyment out of being a fan...
We aren't as close to the level of negativity over there but we aren't smelling like roses over here either.
did you mean "We aren't as close"?
That's true, but I'm not saying that there aren't some valid criticisms to be made and I think that's mostly what happens here. Whereas there, as soon as a new thread is started it seems like it takes .06 seconds for some jackass to make a backhanded comment, many times not even relevant to the topic of the thread.
Preach. I have been on 247 for two weeks solely for the D Ford updates and it has been incredibly painful. Will probably be cancelling after next Friday.
Yeah it's a pretty shitty website. And don't get me started on their useless CBs.
Yeah, but he hasn't gotten us close to the playoff in two seasons, so I think he should be on the hot seat after this season if we don't win the ACC.
/s
Super Friends Voiceover Guy: "Meanwhile, at Georgia Tech..."
Considering the mess that Beamer left him I think he has done an outstanding job. Hopefully by year 5 he has all his recruiticorns and systems in place and we can seriously compete for the ACC
I would say his success has been in part because of the solid foundation Beamer left him. I would not call it a mess by any means. Regardless, Fuente is doing a great job from my standpoint.
You misspelled Bud as solid foundation, common mistake :)
I have a headache from trying to read through that. To not have Taggart and Fuente on the same does not make sense to me. I feel like they have almost the same resume.
And Taggart only has a single year at a top P5 program before be left town for the better job.
Didnt he do that twice?
Oregon was his first P5 job.
Maybe he's seen the future, and he knows that Taggart leaves FSU after this season.
Pat Narduzzi makes the Jim Mora Tier "The Jury's still out". Pat Narduzzi is a douche. The Jury just came to a verdict.
The Jury ruled on that long ago.
I guess this is as good a reason as any to remember this:
Great video. There's no doubt that Nardouchy is "puzzled".
Extra credit for film of a Nardouchy meltdown.
Looks one man's, puzzling, opinions on a bunch of made up fluff to fill an off-season column and ruffle everybody's feathers.
Back to naptime until Ford announces...
Entertaining article and I think it's just that. It's something to fill the HUGE OFFSEASON VOID.
I am looking forward to next year's category that Herm Edwards falls under.
I want to believe that Herm Edwards will do something so ridiculous that he gets canned mid season in his first year for no reason other than my own amusement.
Those post game pressers are going to must watch television.