SMQ: Evaluating the backgrounds of championship coaches
By Zach Bigalke
Ladder Climbers: 8 title winners who started at mid-major or I-AA schools
The last subset of championship coaches are those who actually follow through on that notion of working through the ranks. This group of eight started coaching at either a I-AA/FCS program or at one of the schools we currently call Group of Five teams.
This list features two of the top coaches of the past decade and former SEC rivals. Nick Saban worked his way up from Toledo to Michigan State to LSU to Alabama. Urban Meyer got his start at Bowling Green, then took Utah to a BCS game when they were still a Mountain West school, before moving on to win national titles at Florida and Ohio State.
Among the group of ladder climbers is also Lou Holtz, who won the national title at Notre Dame after getting his start at FCS William & Mary. Dennis Erickson is another ladder climber of the 1980s, getting his start at Idaho and Wyoming before moving to Washington State and then Miami. While in Coral Gables, Erickson continued the momentum of the program after Howard Schnellenberger turned Miami into champions and then Jimmy Johnson repeated the feat.
More recently, we saw legends like Bobby Bowden (started at FCS Samford) and Jim Tressel (started at FCS Youngstown State) pull off the big wins to start the season. By nature, their example shows that the FCS wins and losses have no overall bearing on this report… and that you’re probably not going to not eat.
Next: 5 head coaches that aren’t taking over at your school
The Full List (8)
- Lou Holtz (Notre Dame)
- Dennis Erickson (Miami)
- Bobby Ross (Georgia Tech)
- Don James (Washington)
- Bobby Bowden (Florida State)
- Jim Tressel (Ohio State)
- Nick Saban (LSU/Alabama)
- Urban Meyer (Florida/Ohio State)