It’s the college football off-season and that means everyone is adjusting their various rankings and lists. The interweb is full of lists of just about anything and everything. In one of the latest, Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports released a list that involves an updated breakdown of his view of the top ten college coaches under the age of 45.
Of course, Ryan Day made this list, especially after taking Ohio State to the national championship game and a College Football Playoff appearance in two straight years.
There is a surprising amount of young talented coaches in the current college football landscape, but the only other Big Ten coach to make this list was P.J. Fleck from Minnesota, who was named number six.
So where does Dodd have Day?
NEXT … Dennis Dodd ranks Ryan Day among coaches under 45
No. 2 – Ryan Day
What Dodd says about Day
“You know, 23-2 isn’t a bad way to start a head coaching career, especially when the two losses are in the CFP. That’s right, Day has yet to lose in the regular season. Perhaps Day’s biggest accomplishment to date was helping will the Big Ten into playing fall football in 2020. The Buckeyes were loaded and Day knew it. In a season impacted by COVID-19, Day took Ohio State all the way to the CFP Championship Game. It wasn’t pretty with the program dodging coronavirus along the way. Day now enters a new era in his third full season without Justin Fields and many of the Urban Meyer-recruited players.”
The rest of the top ten includes Bryan Harsin of Auburn (3), Iowa State’s Matt Campbell (4), Josh Heupel of Tennessee (5), Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck (6), Billy Napier of Louisiana (7), Florida State’s Mike Norvell (8), Jimmy Chadwell of Coastal Carolina (9), and West Virginia’s Neal Brown (10).
NEXT … What we say
No. 2 – Ryan Day
What We Say
Ryan Day just might be the best of them all, but Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley has been doing it for a bit longer. Despite my deep love for Day, I am not upset by these rankings considering that Riley has been dominant with the Sooners since his arrival four seasons ago. Day has only been at Ohio State for two seasons, and despite carrying a 92% win percentage, it’s still a small sample size.
However, if the OSU coach continues to show up and show out the way he has early in his career, he’ll easily surpass Riley in the perception rankings, maybe even as early as next season.
Some would say he already has, but we’re trying our best not to be homers.
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