Best Coaching Job of the Year – Fifth Place
(tie) Turner Gill, Buffalo & Al Golden, Temple
Buffalo and Temple haven’t just been lousy programs, they’ve been bad on an all-time scale. Gill and Golden have become two of college football’s most dynamic new head coaches who have done the impossible to make their woebegone teams relevant. Buffalo and Temple were actually in the MAC title hunt going into November.
Best Coaching Job of the Year – Fourth Place
Les Miles, LSU
He might have a heater hand, but he has had to work to keep this ultra-talented team in the national title hunt. Some of his calls might have been nutty, but the fourth down plays against Florida, the fake field goal flip against South Carolina, the late deep ball call against Auburn, as misguided as that might have been, and the last few minutes against Alabama all worked out for the Tigers. Miles has given the team a swagger under all the pressure.
Best Coaching Job of the Year – Third Place
Lloyd Carr, Michigan
Yes, that Lloyd Carr. Think of where this team was on September 8th. The defense was supposedly too slow. The team was about to be in for the season Notre Dame is dealing with. There was no hope in sight, and Carr was as good as canned. And then the wins started coming, winning eight in a row going into the Wisconsin showdown, and Carr and his staff have done it with QB Chad Henne and Heisman-caliber RB Mike Hart getting hurt.
Best Coaching Job of the Year – Second Place
Troy Calhoun, Air Force
Air Force had become irrelevant, making the most news in recent years for the controversy around former head man Fisher DeBerry and his remarks about needing more black players. Calhoun has stepped in and turned things around in his first year, leading the way to a 7-3 mark with wins over Utah and TCU. Remember, Air Force is a service academy with a limited talent level.
Best Coaching Job of the Year – First Place
Mark Mangino, Kansas
All Mangino has done is take a team full of average high school prospects and molding them into the number four team in America. Kansas isn’t just beating teams, it’s killing them, ranking second in the nation in scoring, second in scoring defense, and is now a position to possibly play for the national title by winning out. Talent-wise, the Jayhawks aren’t even close compared to most of the Big 12, but they’ve still been dominant. Yeah, the schedule stinks, but this is Kansas. Kansas?!
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