According to the coaches themselves.
Candid coaches: Willie Taggart and James Franklin tied for most overrated coaches as voted by their peers. David Shaw and Chris Petersen tied for most underrated. Shaw, Tom Herman and Kirk Ferentz got votes in both categories. https://t.co/aN07Xs4BGm— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) August 19, 2018
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Comments
Surprised to see Kirk Ferentz clock in at #3 for most overrated coaches. I think pretty highly of that Iowa program.
He makes over $5 mil a year. That's a lot to repeatedly go 8-5 or 7-6.
Yeah, Ferentz is always on my list as being overvalued. It's not that he's a bad coach, but that he's not worth what he makes.
The list should be Lane Kiffin, ranked 1 to 5.
Franklin is surprising, considering the PSU ascension was quick and unanticipated. Franklin probably rubs a lot of people the wrong way.
Taggert's ascension has been quick, and probably too early to tell. FSU needed to hire somebody, and his resume isn't Kiffin bad, but it's not overly remarkable.
I would certainly argue with anyone who suggests Kiffin isn't a great OC.
In his 5 years of OC experience, he was arguably set up to win in all those situations. Most of his OC years were co-linked with Sarkisian and a hall of fame coach. Many of those years ended in a championship game, so he is deserving of some accolades. Too many variables for me to define him as a great OC, but he is definitely held his own during his tenure of OC. Can't say the same for HC.
As an X and O guy, I've always thought as Franklin as pretty overrated.
But I always underestimate the importance of cheerleading, which is also why I looked down on Dabo for so long.
Joe Morehead May have been the genius at PSU. Let's see how Franklin dies without him.
But Franklin deserves credit for hiring well and staying out of the way. Something Dabo does well.
Did you mean to type "dies" or is that a perfect little slip?
Franklin is a master program marketer and recruiter (read: salesman). What he did at Vanderbilt cannot be overstated. I have lived in Nashville for 25 years - to take Vandy to two 9 win seasons and bowl games is absolutely remarkable, if you know the situation.
That doesn't make him a great "coach", necessarily. But, the guy is a tremendous recruiter and marketer. And, that matters in today's game.
As remarkable as what Cutliffe has done at Duke?
Honestly? Maybe. Before Franklin arrived, Vandy had made exactly one bowl game in the previous 28 years, by going 6-6 in 2008. They went 2-10 in each of the 2 years just prior to his arrival. He was there for 3 years and made 3 bowl games. They finished 4th in the East each year he was there, but his second year all 3 teams ahead of them were top-10 teams, and the following year 2 of the 3 were in the top-5.
As soon as he left, they returned to their losing ways with a 3-9 season, winless in the conference. He took them from SEC East Doormat to the top-25, and as soon as he left they returned to their prior role immediately.
This is a compelling argument.
Compelling...because it's looking at surface stats and ignoring what he inherited and what he left behind when he departed.
Of Vandy's 18 wins in '12 & '13, just 4 were bowl teams. Ole Miss (7-6), NC State (7-6), UGa (8-5), overrated Houston (8-5). The rest of the wins were vs Presbyterian, UMass, Austin Peay, UAB, Wake (5-7, 4-8) and a bunch of losing record SEC teams (which is almost impossible to do in the SEC) - 2012 Missouri (5-7), horrible 2012 Auburn (3-9), Kentucky (2-10, 2-10) Tenn (5-7, 5-7), horrible 2013 Florida (4-8) .
It was as much luck of the draw in '12 & '13 - with several normally superior opponents in each year having down years plus weak SEC west crossovers - as it was improvement. And arguably moreso.
Point is, before he was hired and after he was left, Vandy loses almost all of those kinds of games, even as uninspiring as that sounds. They were literally the basement-dweller in the SEC East for decades before he showed up, and while he was there they were right in the middle each season - 4th of 7. After he left, they resumed their prior status as basement-dweller. Yes, they made a bowl game in 2016, but their 3-5 conference record was only a game better than last-place, and the following year they went 1-7.
You can be a good coach and still only have a mediocre team, if said team is generally terrible.
I've been right all along
I would pay good money to know what brave bastard said that about Nick Saban.
Gus?
Most overrated: Jim Harbaugh (or Brian Kelly)
Most underrated: David Cutcliffe
Coach on the rise: Mike Houston (JMU). This guy and his staff are killing it in every way at JMU. it wouldn't surprise me to see him have a Jim Tressel kind of ascent in the CFB world.
Reading the article, I didn't even think of Cutcliffe... But when you mention him, it seems so obvious. He's so underrated he's underrated on the underrated list.
Fuck Brian Kelly.
He hasn't really done anything to VT but can we make that a thing?
He killed a kid. That's good enough for me.
Let's change your post then to show:
Coach on the rise: Bronco Mendenhall. Really changing the culture and talent level at uva.
The coaches must have different opinion about Jim Harbaugh than me. He would have been right there with Franklin.
When you shit the khakis like Ol' Milk Mustache has so far, it doesn't surprise me. He's found that sweet spot: #4 in his own conference (if he's lucky, this season).
Mediocrity
Justin Fuente's name did not appear in the article. Now you don't have to click the link.
That's all I wanted to know
No news is good news? Under the radar and such
I think a lot of the overrated votes are because they don't like that particular coach rather than their ability.
That being said, Taggart hasn't stayed at any one place long enough to truly prove himself and show that he can maintain excellence. Only one 9+ win season in eight years as a head coach. For reference Fuente is about the same age and has 4 such seasons and has done them back-to-back twice. Not sure that makes him "overrated" per se, though.
I laughed out loud at this.
Looks like the coaches knew what they were talking about with Taggart
Underrated = BUD