Best Coaching Jobs in the Country

With the firing of Mike Stoops at Arizona, I wondered where they ranked among the best coaching jobs in the country. So I figured I make my own list. I'll use the following criteria: 1. Conference affiliation (that's why I'm only including BCS schools + Notre Dame), 2. Pay, 3. Difficulty of recruiting (good players in the area + facilities), 4. History and tradition of program (plus fan support), 5. Do coaches typically leave or stay when they have success, 6. How quick is the A.D.'s/fan's trigger to fire you for one bad season?, 7. Climate at location of school (if it's freezing 9 months out of the year or brutally hot 9 months out of the year then that sucks to most everyone). One thing I did not include is whether it is in a rural or urban environment. Typically, writers and other folks think being in a city means it's better. Well, it doesn't. Half the nation likes the country better, half likes the city better, so I'm disqualifying that from the criteria.

I based it all on a points system. 1 to 5 for each of those seven categories. 5 is excellent, 1 is as poor as it gets. If it's in category #1 (conference affiliation -- SEC 5 stars, Big 10 & PAC 12 4 stars, ACC & Big 12 3 stars, Notre Dame 2 stars, and Big East 1 star) then I multiplied it by 7 (seven categories). If it's category #7 (climate) then I multiplied by 1 and you can fill in the rest from there. Add up all the points and here is what I came up with:

*All of these are based on right now, with no regard for which conference they will be in next year.

*140 was a perfect score

1. Florida, 136
2. LSU, 131
3. USC, 126
4. Alabama, 125
4. Georgia, 125
6. Texas, 123
7. Auburn, 122
7. Tennessee, 122
9. Ohio State, 120
10. Penn State, 119
10. South Carolina, 119
10. Oklahoma, 119
13. Mississippi State, 118
14. Arkansas, 116
14. Ole Miss, 116
16. Florida State, 112
17. Texas A&M, 111
17. Michigan, 111
19. Notre Dame, 106
20. Kentucky, 104
20. UCLA, 104
22. Iowa, 99
22. Oklahoma State, 99
22. Virginia Tech, 99
25. Clemson, 97
25. Wisconsin, 97
27. Stanford, 94
27. California, 94
27. Arizona, 94
27. Arizona State, 94
31. Illinois, 93
32. Michigan State, 92
32. Missouri, 92
34. Nebraska, 91
35. Oregon, 90
35. North Carolina, 90
35. Georgia Tech, 90
38. Purdue, 89
38. Wake Forest, 89
38. Colorado, 89
41. Miami (FL), 88
41. N.C. State, 88
41. Texas Tech, 88
44. Vanderbilt, 85
44. Virginia, 85
46. Maryland, 82
47. Washington, 80
47. Northwestern, 80
49. Kansas State, 79
50. West Virginia, 77
51. Pittsburgh, 76
52. Baylor, 75
53. Indiana, 73
53. Utah, 73
55. Rutgers, 71
56. Louisville, 67
56. Minnesota, 67
58. South Florida, 66
58. Kansas, 66
58. Iowa State, 66
58. Oregon State, 66
62. Washington State, 61
63. Cincinnati, 57
64. Duke, 56
65. Boston College, 54
65. UConn, 54
67. Syracuse, 47


JB