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Okay, I’ll just preface this column with the fact that if it makes you angry, you need new hobbies. This is a list of the best school combinations of basketball and football coaches as compiled by one person, and while this can be done a million different ways, it really doesn’t matter unless you’re doing a rating of athletic directors, and then this idea in theory becomes important because of money.
The one thing in doing this is that it’s hard. Basketball coaches often have multiple championship winners that seem to tilt the argument, while football does not. Whatever reason that is, I do not know, but it’s the way it is. I’d surmise it has a lot to do with one or two recruits meaning the difference between a Final Four and an NIT bid in basketball and it not being the case in football, but that’s just speculation based on nothing. So take it for what it’s worth.
The criterion for this is that BOTH sports were included in this thought process. Please read that line again. I get how great Nick Saban is. I’m well aware of Roy Williams’ credentials. However, if one side of the equation is sagging, that coaching duo isn’t making the list. Both have to be decent. You could say it this way: it’s weighted 50/50.
Otherwise, that would be, “list the top 10 coaches combining football and basketball.” No chance in hell anyone should wade into those waters. So here are the 10 best college basketball-football coaching tandems.
1. Ohio State, Urban Meyer-Thad Matta: Meyer is arguably the best football coach of this generation, which helps the equation pretty heavily. Yet, Matta is where it gets pushed over the edge, he of four B1G tournament championships and five regular-season championships to go along with a national runner-up season and an additional Final Four. No other school has an active coach that’s won a title and had another active coach compete for one.
2. Duke, Mike Krzyzewski-David Cutcliffe: If you think this is a bit high and contradictory to what I said earlier about one side being slanted, you don’t understand how tough it is to win football games at Duke. Cutcliffe ended an 18-year bowl drought in 2012, and if you don’t watch college football, realize that if you’re 98.6 and upright, you can get into a bowl. Since 2012, Duke has played for a conference title and gone to a bowl annually. I don’t really think I need to list Coach K’s credentials. He does okay.
3. Michigan, Jim Harbaugh-John Beilein: High marks considering neither coach has won a championship at his level, but Harbaugh has won big everywhere he’s been and gone to three straight NFL conference title games, while Beilein is one of basketball’s great minds. Before you chide Harbaugh as me overrating him (even though he was great at the college level at Stanford), go name yourself coaches who have succeeded in the NFL but failed in college. I’ll wait.
4. Michigan State, Mark Dantonio-Tom Izzo: I swear this isn’t just a Big Ten list with Duke sprinkled in. Izzo is a living legend. One national title, six Final Fours, and seven Big Ten championships will do that for you. Mark Dantonio has always been a heck of a coach, but he’s entered a new echelon with the 2013 season’s Rose Bowl win and 2014’s top 10 finish.
5. Louisville, Bobby Petrino-Rick Pitino: Aside from having a ton of similar letters in their last names, both have been remarkably successful at every collegiate stop and sort of flaccid when taking a chance in the pros… or in Petrino’s case, a grease fire. Both have other off-field or off-court blemishes they will never be able to shake, but this isn’t the place for that. Petrino harbors two conference championships and a 92-34 record as a college head coach.
6. Oklahoma, Bob Stoops-Lon Kruger: Stoops’ accolades are well chronicled, what with the one college football championship and the staggering eight Big 12 titles and BCS bowl games. Kruger, as people conveniently forget, has been pretty successful at multiple schools and has Norman humming. His lone Final Four appearance came in 1994, which tells you how damned long he’s been good. Kruger is the only coach to lead five separate schools to the NCAA tournament. A total of 11 other men have taken four schools to the tournament, but Kruger’s the only one to take five.
7. Villanova, Andy Talley-Jay Wright: Find a box. Find things outside it. Here we go. Who said we had to exclude the FCS from this? Talley has been to the playoffs 11 times in his 29 years and has won one title. Wright, for his part, refusing to be the thick friend of the cute blonde, has made the NCAA Tournament all but once since 2004 and has a Final Four appearance to his name.
8. Notre Dame, Brian Kelly-Mike Brey: While folks can debate what Brey has done, it should be noted that recruiting basketball players in Indiana is like being an HR guy at Wal-Mart and going into Victoria’s Secret to pass out applications to employees to work in their electronics department. It’s not a knock on ND, it’s just the landscape. Folks forget how good Kelly is, two Division II titles and unbeaten regular seasons at both Cincinnati and Notre Dame.
9. Florida, Jim McElwain-Billy Donovan: Obviously a lot of this is one part Billy Donovan weighing down the scale and one part me looking at McElwain and seeing a guy who hasn’t failed yet, so you can’t just assume he will. He took over a horrid situation at Colorado State and won almost immediately. As for Donovan, two championships and four Final Fours will help the argument.
10. Florida State, Jimbo Fisher-Leonard Hamilton: Fisher’s accolades, especially the past two years, speak for themselves. Hamilton, which might seem like an odd choice on this list, has been successful at both Miami and Florida State to a degree. Neither place is “easy” to win at necessarily. Hamilton’s stint in the NBA was a spectacular failure, but considering the management team hiring him, it probably wasn’t his fault. He just took a job someone else should have had. The main stat to keep in mind about Hamilton: He took both Miami and FSU to the Sweet 16. You try doing that.
