I’m writing this article to start some dialog on college coaches. Today was national signing day, and all the talk was about Pete Carroll, Mack Brown, Charlie Weis, Urban Meyer, Bobby Bowden and Joe Pa(Joe Paterno). The Ohio State coach, Jim Tressel, continues to quietly recruit solid players both on and off the field. During his tenure at Ohio State, his rankings have been consistently near the top. The unassuming Tressel never gets the respect he deserves. The amount of players he puts in the NFL continues to increase. This year, his graduating class may have as many as 5 first round picks.
Bobby Bowden has trouble keeping his players out of jail, let alone getting drafted by the NFL. Charlie Weis and Urban Meyer have to prove they can actually consistently coach at a high level in the college ranks. And although I would rank him one of the best all time, Joe Paterno has one good year and we are already taking him back to the top.
The “Vince Young” less Mack Brown still has to prove to me he can win the big one without Vince. For the last 10 years, Texas hasn’t been able to get over the top and in my book, without Young, they will struggle to do it again.
This leaves me with Pete Carroll, who I believe deserves all the credit he receives. The Pac Ten may struggle defending the power of its conference; Southern Cal still wins them all. So again I say, where is the love for Tressel, you must have to speak up to be recognized.
