Picking college football’s best head coaching jobs by conference
By John Scimeca
Surprised that Mark Stoops prefers Kentucky to the potential of coaching FSU? Don’t be. We rank the best college football coaching gigs by conference.
How can one accurately measure the “best” football head coaching job in a particular conference, or in the NCAA as a whole?
This question arises considering the speculation that Kentucky coach Mark Stoops was mulling a potential move to Florida State late in 2019, only to turn down the overtures from the Seminoles.
On the surface, it appears shocking that a coach from a lower prestige program like Kentucky would turn down an opportunity to coach at Florida State. Florida State claims 28 bowl wins, 15 conference championships and three national titles. Kentucky, on the other hand, has only finished in the Top 25 nine times in 104 seasons and had only seven winning records in the 27 years before Stoops’ arrival in 2012.
So what explains Stoops’ reasoning to remain at Kentucky? Could this burgeoning Wildcats football program truly be a better professional location for Stoops than Tallahassee and Doak Walker Stadium?
Stoops had many considerations to keep him in Lexington: his roots to nearby Youngstown, Ohio, his incentive-laden contract, and his personal and professional ties with players, coaches, and staff members.
But there are some intangible reasons, too, that might make coaching Kentucky on the gridiron just as appealing as coaching the once-feared Seminoles. Consider the crushing weight of expectations by fans and big-time boosters. The support (or lack thereof) from the school’s administration. Recruiting ties with local high school coaches. The competition in and the perception of your conference.
It’s just as important to measure a head coach’s ability to succeed in terms of facilities, proximity or attractiveness to high school recruits, and level of conference competition. And let’s not forget the last important factor: cold, hard cash.
Considering that Stoops has an eight-year deal with at least $3.5 million annually and could feasibly keep success-starved Kentucky football fans happy with eight wins per season (though the team did win 10 games in 2018), it’s hard to fault him for not wanting to jump to what’s evidently a toxic situation at Florida State.
With Stoops and Kentucky in mind, what are the best head coaching situations from each conference?