The Sporting News ranks Frank Beamer as 9th best FBS coach in country, tops in ACC
This was from a couple days ago, but I figured it’d be a good weekend post. The Sporting News did its annual ranking of all of the Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches. Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer came in ninth overall and was the top coach in the ACC.
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Here’s the blurb it had about Beamer, who is 209-98-2 with the Hokies:
The man has won four ACC championships since claiming three in the Big East. Which is to say, no one in either league has done better. The phrase “Beamer Ball” is a bit of an insult to the Hokies coach, because his program is so much more than surprises and special-teams tricks. This is the best “old” coach without a national title.
Who is in the top 10? (My thoughts are after each one):
- 1. Nick Saban, Alabama — With three national titles to his credit, no doubt about this choice.
- 2. Chris Petersen, Boise State — Seems awfully high for someone with six years of head coaching experience.
- 3. Urban Meyer, Ohio State — Success at every stop is inarguable. Kind of a jerk, though.
- 4. Les Miles, LSU — Played up as a fool in the media, but the man can coach football.
- 5. Bob Stoops, Oklahoma — Sustained success in a major conference, plus he has a national title.
- 6. Chip Kelly, Oregon — Ducks never achieved this kind of success until Kelly brought his up-tempo offense to Eugene.
- 7. Gary Patterson, TCU — I’m OK with this ranking for Patterson, who turned the Horned Frogs into a power.
- 8. Steve Spurrier, South Carolina — Maybe at the height of his power he’d be this high, but seems kind of generous.
- 9. Beamer — Only thing lacking is a national title, which he’s still gunning for.
- 10. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State — Known for the “I’m a man! I’m 40!” rant, but he knows how to coach an offense.
Interestingly, half of the top 10 does not have an FBS national title to its credit. Some that do that are outside the top-10 include Texas’ Mack Brown (16th), Auburn’s Gene Chizik (36th — ooh, that’s going to make Auburn folks mad) and from a previous stop at Miami, now-UT-San Antonio head coach Larry Coker (78th).
Just for kicks, here’s where the rest of the ACC coaches ended up on the list:
- 9. Beamer, Virginia Tech
- 19. Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech
- 27. Dabo Swinney, Clemson
- 31. Jim Grobe, Wake Forest
- 34. Al Golden, Miami
- 38. Jimbo Fisher, FSU
- 45. Mike London, Virginia
- 49. Tom O’Brien, NC State
- 53. Larry Fedora, UNC
- 65. Randy Edsall, Maryland
- 67. David Cutcliffe, Duke
- 110. Frank Spaziani, BC
May 12, 2012 - 10:20 AM
Ole Spaziani had better get into the hunt for winning the Atlantic Division this season or he will most definitely be looking for a job in December.
I’m sure Spaz will be taking ques-chee-owns about his job security all year.
Andy, I agree with you on Peterson, seems like a “flavor of the week” type pick. He has done a good job at Boise, but seems like an awfully small sample size. It makes my head spin that Mack Brown is not in the top 10, I might even have him top 5. And how, how, how could they have left out Bob Stoops? On a side note, I’m thinking that “King of a jerk” is probably a typo, but I’d leave it… seems fitting to me.
Ouch, I missed Stoops name up there… darn glasses!
I guess either King or kind would apply, wouldn’t it? I did mean kind, though.
Interesting article. No one will agree with all the picks. My gut reaction with Spurrier is that he’s had really one maybe two noteworthy seasons at USC but his record at Florida was great, so though he’s not done at USC what Frank has at VT, I’ll give him #8…
Andy, didn’t know that about Meyer. A bit impressed by himself? Same tag applies to Spurrier and Johnson at GT, IMHO.
What bothers me about Urban Meyer is that he triumphs himself as doing everything right, but he looked the other way with his stars at Florida, to the point that there were double digit arrests on his watch. I just don’t like his hypocrisy in that sense.
I have no idea how meaningful these lists really are. They provoke discussion but how do you rate a guy who started with really nothing and has produced something (Jim Grobe) against a guy who started with the world and has produced nothing (Jimbo)? Do we really know the ins and outs of their accomplushments so well?
If Beamer does get him a title does that make him “better”? He is who he is. I don’t think a title changes that.
What makes Dabo so great? Danny Ford won a title at Clemson cheating all the way. Dabo has a couple good years.
Larry Coker has quite a history. What makes him 78th? Would you rather have him or Fedora? Him or London?
Fun to talk about but nonsense to me.
Andy -
I find both good and bad in these rankings but have to agree with them pretty much, although, Spurrier whom you question should be ranked higher due to his success at Florida, and in the national championship category.
Yes, VT may own FL State these days, and with Jimbo Fisher at the helm, the Hokies have no worries of being whipped at our own game as Bobby Bowden did to us. Plus, you have to acknowledge the fact that Coach Beamer has the most wins of any active coach but no national title. Talent on the field is not the problem and Coach Beamer had better figure out this puzzle before he runs out of time.
RT
I bet the ranking was based on best winning per centage against top 5 or top 10 teams over a 20 year period.
Beamer wins with the “players” on the field and the “coaches” on the field. IMO that alone puts him in an elite category.
Interesting note on Urban Meyer. During his year as an ESPN announcer I saw him covering national signing day. He said he thought VT did one of the best jobs in the county evaluating talent (discussing getting good play from underrated or lower ranked high school players). He also said he didn’t see why more highly ranked high school students don’t sign with VT.
Ranking Frank Beamer ninth seems a bit generous for a coach who can’t seem to win against top teams. He could probably do a better job “weeding” some of the thugs out of his program too.
What impresses me most about Beamer is the fact he has accomplished all he has with athletes that were SUPPOSEDLY inferior to all the so-called ELITE teams. If we were able to get the same type talent to the ‘Burg, there is no telling where he would rank.
Don’t diss Spurrier like that – the guy won at DUKE, of all places. Had he not left Florida, he’d be #1 on the list, and it’d be Nick Who? And, there probably wouldn’t be a #2. He’s coaching in a situation at South Carolina, like Roy Williams described for VT basketball – “a tough job.”
I’d go Saban, Spurrier, Miles, Stoops, Meyer – just to give them their due for national championships, then I’d kind of Beamer (for the long, consistency), Kelly/Patterson/Peterson (not enough to rank ahead of Frank), then its anybody’s guess.