The folks at cougcenter.com ran a 3 part series that ranked the Pac 12 football coaches since 2000, with the subheading “From Pete Carroll to Frozen Middle to Chernobyl”.
As you might have guessed, a CU coach was “Chernobyl” (worst of the worst).
Since the Buffs joined the Pac 12 in 2010, the list did not include Gary Barnett (who may have made the top 10 to 15) and “Danny Boy” Hawkins. Would have been entertaining to hear their comments on the Hawk.
Midnight Mel did not make the list at all. Guess he is easy for the non-CU crowd to forget.
https://www.cougcenter.com/2021/4/1...l-coaching-hires-year-2000-chernobyl-division
Coaches were ranked from #1 to #39. How did the Buffs’ coaches rank?
#39 Jon Embree CU (2011-2012):
“Comment: How bad a hire was Embree? Cash-strapped Colorado knew it was such a disaster that they fired him after year two of a five-year contract. Unlike Willingham, Embree had never even been a coordinator at any stop along his coaching career. His 2012 team is arguably the worst in Pac 12 history. I pity the poor bastards they managed to beat that year!”
https://www.cougcenter.com/2021/4/2...part-two-frozen-middle-chip-kelly-lane-kiffin
#22 Mike MacIntyre Colorado (2013 - 2018):
“Comment: McIntyre’s stint in Boulder will go down as one of the great head-scratchers. After resurrecting San Jose State (they went from 1-12 to 10-2 in three years), MacIntyre inherited another downtrodden program and gradually rebuilt it. By his fourth season, the Buffaloes were the 8-1 Pac 12 South champs. That season will forever be one of the biggest outliers the Pac-8/10/12 has ever seen. The Buffaloes won six conference games COMBINED in MacIntyre’s other five seasons, and never finished better than 5-7. If not for 2016, Mike would have easily landed in last week’s edition, but somehow he had the Buffaloes beating damn near everybody for that one season.”
#16 Karl Dorrell UCLA (2003 - 2007):
“Comment: To be honest, I didn’t realize Dorrell’s record was this decent in Westwood. He was like Mike MacIntyre, only with a higher floor. In the middle of Dorrell’s tenure, UCLA went 10-2 (should’ve been 9-3 but don’t get me started) and finished in the top 15. The other four years? 6-7, 6-6, 7-6, 6-7. And that one year where they weren’t stuck in neutral? The two conference losses were by scores of 52-14 and 66-19. So yeah, they weren’t that great in 2005 either.”
https://www.cougcenter.com/2021/4/3...te-carroll-jim-harbaugh-mike-leach-david-shaw
Their top 5 coaches:
#5: Mike Leach – WSU (2012 to 2019)
#4: David Shaw – Stanford (2011 to Present)
#3: Chip Kelly – Oregon (2009 to 2012)
#2: Jim Harbaugh – Stanford (2007 to 2010)
#1: Pete Carroll – USC (2001 to 2009)
Interestingly, in 2015, Jon Wilner ranked the top coaches in the 100 year history of the Pac 12. His top 5 of all time:
#5: Chip Kelly
#4: Glenn “Pop” Warner
#3: Don James
#2: Pete Carroll
#1: John McKay
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/colleg...ersary-ranking-the-greatest-football-coaches/
As you might have guessed, a CU coach was “Chernobyl” (worst of the worst).
Since the Buffs joined the Pac 12 in 2010, the list did not include Gary Barnett (who may have made the top 10 to 15) and “Danny Boy” Hawkins. Would have been entertaining to hear their comments on the Hawk.
Midnight Mel did not make the list at all. Guess he is easy for the non-CU crowd to forget.
https://www.cougcenter.com/2021/4/1...l-coaching-hires-year-2000-chernobyl-division
Coaches were ranked from #1 to #39. How did the Buffs’ coaches rank?
#39 Jon Embree CU (2011-2012):
“Comment: How bad a hire was Embree? Cash-strapped Colorado knew it was such a disaster that they fired him after year two of a five-year contract. Unlike Willingham, Embree had never even been a coordinator at any stop along his coaching career. His 2012 team is arguably the worst in Pac 12 history. I pity the poor bastards they managed to beat that year!”
https://www.cougcenter.com/2021/4/2...part-two-frozen-middle-chip-kelly-lane-kiffin
#22 Mike MacIntyre Colorado (2013 - 2018):
“Comment: McIntyre’s stint in Boulder will go down as one of the great head-scratchers. After resurrecting San Jose State (they went from 1-12 to 10-2 in three years), MacIntyre inherited another downtrodden program and gradually rebuilt it. By his fourth season, the Buffaloes were the 8-1 Pac 12 South champs. That season will forever be one of the biggest outliers the Pac-8/10/12 has ever seen. The Buffaloes won six conference games COMBINED in MacIntyre’s other five seasons, and never finished better than 5-7. If not for 2016, Mike would have easily landed in last week’s edition, but somehow he had the Buffaloes beating damn near everybody for that one season.”
#16 Karl Dorrell UCLA (2003 - 2007):
“Comment: To be honest, I didn’t realize Dorrell’s record was this decent in Westwood. He was like Mike MacIntyre, only with a higher floor. In the middle of Dorrell’s tenure, UCLA went 10-2 (should’ve been 9-3 but don’t get me started) and finished in the top 15. The other four years? 6-7, 6-6, 7-6, 6-7. And that one year where they weren’t stuck in neutral? The two conference losses were by scores of 52-14 and 66-19. So yeah, they weren’t that great in 2005 either.”
https://www.cougcenter.com/2021/4/3...te-carroll-jim-harbaugh-mike-leach-david-shaw
Their top 5 coaches:
#5: Mike Leach – WSU (2012 to 2019)
#4: David Shaw – Stanford (2011 to Present)
#3: Chip Kelly – Oregon (2009 to 2012)
#2: Jim Harbaugh – Stanford (2007 to 2010)
#1: Pete Carroll – USC (2001 to 2009)
Interestingly, in 2015, Jon Wilner ranked the top coaches in the 100 year history of the Pac 12. His top 5 of all time:
#5: Chip Kelly
#4: Glenn “Pop” Warner
#3: Don James
#2: Pete Carroll
#1: John McKay
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/colleg...ersary-ranking-the-greatest-football-coaches/
