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August 10, 2009

Longest Tenured Coaches without a BCS Bowl


Each year, we publish the list of the longest currently tenured coaches at a BCS Conference school that haven't guided their current program to a BCS bowl game.

This is the third year that we've published the list. The 2007 Champ was Houston Nutt (Arkansas), and the 2008 Champ was Tommy Bowden (Clemson). For 2009, we have a four way tie for first place.

Here's the 2009 Top 10:
    1.(T) Mike Leach (Texas Tech) - 2001
    1.(T) Al Groh (UVA) - 2001
    1.(T) Greg Schiano (Rutgers) - 2001
    1.(T) Gary Pinkel (Missouri) - 2001
    5.(T) Bobby Johnson (Vandy) - 2002
    5.(T) Jeff Tedford (Cal) - 2002
    7.(T) Rich Brooks (Kentucky) - 2003
    7.(T) Mike Riley (Oregon State) - 2003
    9.(T) Randy Edsall (UConn) - 2004* (Joined Big East)
    9.(T) Mike Stoops (Arizona) - 2004
Off the list this year:
    1. Tommy Bowden - Formerly #1 on the list. Terminated.

    2. Sly Croom - Formerly #10 on the list. Terminated.

Just off the list:
    The guys closest to making the list joined their jobs in 2005. Or in Jim Leavitt's case, their school joined a BCS conference.
      Jim Leavitt (USF) - 2005* (Joined Big East)
      Mike Gundy (Ok State) - 2005
      Steve Spurrier (SC) - 2005
      Dave Wannstedt (Pitt) - 2005

    Tom O'Brien and Houston Nutt aren't eligible for the listing above as they are both new to their current schools. If you look at their career body of work, they would rank first and second respectively among active coaches.

The Camel Club:
  • Phil Fulmer was the winner of this award for several years as he had gone without a BCS trip the longest after having tasted success. Fulmer had Joe Tiller nipping at his heels during that run. However, both are now out of the picture. The new yardstick for frustration after success is Ralph Friedgen (Maryland). The Fridge's last trip to a BCS bowl came following the 2001 season.

  • Kirk Ferentz (Iowa) is second on the list with his last BCS bid coming in 2002.

How Long Should Teams Wait?

Every school's situation is different, but how long should a program give a coach before making a BCS game? Over the past 11 seasons, 37 different BCS schools have made BCS appearances (38 if you count Notre Dame). There are only 66 schools in BCS conferences including ND.

PWD

7 comments:

Andrew said...

Not nitpicking, but i think you mean a four way tie for first place?

Love the blog, PWD. Keep it up!

Anonymous said...

andrew - thanks. I fixed it.

Anonymous said...

You could see a lot of shake up in this list before next season.

Groh will likely be fired.
Brooks could retire.
Tedford or Stoops could move on.

It'll be interesting to see how things evolve.

Anonymous said...

Here is a nice read about Ellerbe at the Ravens.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/bal-sp.preston09aug09,0,6403227.column.

Richard said...

List is interesting.

Missouri got screwed a couple of years ago and for that Mizzou should get a free pass off the list. But life isn't always fair.

Anonymous said...

Yea, Pinkel definitely got screwed in 07. I think most of those guys are safe, considering where they work. Groh and Mike Stoops are probably the likeliest to get canned.

Paul said...

Surprised Tedford gets the press he does . . . but Cal got politiked out of a Rose Bowl in, what was it? 2004? The year Texas play Michigan. Cal got moved down a notch in the last poll.

So, it's not only Georgia that happens to!

 
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