‘Tis the season for lists and rankings as we continue to cross off days on the calendar toward the start of the 2021 college football season. We like a list and ranking piece just like the next guy, and the last one we stumbled across is from The Sporting News.
Bill Bender worked with a six-person panel to vote on the best college coaches and came up with a top 25 based on the respective body of works so far in their careers. As you would expect, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day is near the top, but where exactly did he fall among the rest of the best according to The Sporting News?
Last season, Day was ranked No. 7 by the same panel, and with another Big Ten title and trip to the national championship game, you’d have to expect that he’s moved up. But how far? Well, you might be disappointed, so let’s get into it.
NEXT … Where Ryan Day is in The Sporting News top 25 coaches
No. 6 – Ryan Day
What Bender says
“A strong argument can be made for Day as a top-five coach considering the advances the Buckeyes have made in dominating the Big Ten while maintaining the recruiting standard Urban Meyer brought to Columbus. There has not been a drop-off, and Day is the coach we’d bet on to become the next active coach to win a national championship. Expect Day to be in the top five, perhaps even top two, by 2022.”
NEXT … What we say
Ryan Day as the No. 6 overall coach in the college football
What We Say
We wouldn’t have a problem with this aside from one glaring issue with these rankings. How in the name of all things scarlet and gray did the panel decide to move Jimbo Fisher (No. 5) above Day? We’ve got the complete rankings according to The Sporting News still to come for you, but if Fisher was behind Day before last season (he was at No. 8), and Fisher did not out recruit Day (he didn’t), win a conference championship (he didn’t), and make the College Football Playoff (again, no), then how does he get credit for moving up ahead of Day who did all of those things better?
Also, I’m not sure Brian Kelly (No. 4), or Lincoln Riley (No. 3) should be considered better coaches either, but at least that’s a little easier pill to swallow. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, longevity does not equate to quality coaching. It’s clear Day is still fighting the “he’s too green” to be a good coach perception, even though his record over the last two seasons is better than any other head coach not named Nick Saban.
Don’t worry. Wait just another year or two and we feel pretty confident about Day easily being in the top five and more.
NEXT … The Sporting News complete top 25 college football coaches
Top 25 college football coaches according to The Sporting News
1. Nick Saban, Alabama
2. Dabo Swinney, Clemson
3. Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma
4. Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
5. Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M
6. Ryan Day, Ohio State
7. Kirby Smart, Georgia
8. Dan Mullen, Florida
9. Matt Campbell, Iowa State
10. Mack Brown, North Carolina
11. James Franklin, Penn State
12. Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
13. Luke Fickell, Cincinnati
14. Ed Orgeron, LSU
15. Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
16. Mario Cristobal, Oregon
17. Paul Chryst, Wisconsin
18. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
19. Kyle Whittingham, Utah
20. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
21. Tom Allen, Indiana
22. Gary Patterson, TCU
23. Mark Stoops, Kentucky
24. David Shaw, Stanford
25. Clay Helton, USC
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