Ranking the 25 best head coaches in college football history

8. Jock Sutherland

Jock Sutherland is one of the few head coaches in college football history to win a national title with more than one school. Sutherland got his start at Lafayette in 1919. He led the Leopards to a national championship in 1921, going 9-0 with five shutouts. Over his five years at Lafayette, Sutherland went 33-8-2 playing an independent schedule. The success was recognized by his alma mater, Pittsburgh, which hired him to take over for Pop Warner in 1924.

Sutherland established himself slowly but steadily at Pitt, leading the Panthers to the Rose Bowl in 1927 after an 8-0-1 regular season. In 1929 Pittsburgh was invited back to the Rose Bowl as the top team in the country. The Panthers won the national championship for the second time in three seasons in 1931 as they finished the year 8-1. They returned to the Rose Bowl in 1932, but lost their third straight game in Pasadena.

Pittsburgh’s breakthrough at the Rose Bowl finally came in 1936, when the Panthers shut out Washington 21-0. They were awarded a share of the national title that year and followed up with a 9-0-1 title defense in 1937. He eventually went on to coach in the NFL in a career interrupted (like so many other head coaches) by World War II.