Ranking the Pac-12 Coaches

We did this on the podcast on Monday but I figured I’d print it out here. Now there are a number of ways you can rank coaches. It can be based on past success, future success, recruiting, coaching, so many variables.

I felt like I wanted to simplify it. If I was tasked with making a new head coaching hire from the current Pac-12 pool of coaches, who would I hire. Of course there are variables with the criteria for that too. But I’m just keeping it simple, these are the guys I would hire to run my program.

Keep in mind, I’m a recruiting guy, so I’m going to put an emphasis on that criteria alone.

I don’t quite remember my rankings on the podcast so these should be close. Additionally I have a little more time to think about it putting it in an article versus on a recording.

Here we go in reverse order.

12. Justin Wilcox (Cal) – Has steadily declined and made some average hires. Of course he’s facing some challenges at Cal, but at this point, Wilcox is really starting to become a re-tread hire with not a ton of upside IMO.

11. Deion Sanders (Colo.) – I’m probably being harsh here. Deion can probably out-recruit most of the coaches ahead of him on this list. But I have substantial concerns about his coaching ability which I guess we’ll see if I’m either right or wrong about in the coming season.

10. Jake Dickert (WSU) – Tough to know what Dickert really has to offer. He inherited an average roster, which many of his best players left. I would argue he is in the toughest spot to recruit in the conference. At the moment he wouldn’t be a needle-moving hire but that might not be totally his fault.

9. Troy Taylor (Stanford) – Taylor hasn’t coached at Stanford yet. But the last two weeks of recruiting have been better than the entire last 3 seasons on the Farm combined. He’s killing it. It won’t elevate the squad this season but it’s certainly a step in the right direction.

8. Jedd Fisch (Arizona) – Fisch kind of hit the scene at Arizona making some minor splashes. A big addition of T-Mac and some fun games. But since, Arizona has kind of leveled off and instead of trending up as needed, they seem to have plateaud. Maybe he can fix it but he’s going to have to get going.

7. Kenny Dillingham (ASU) – You can call me a Dilly homer if you want. I like him, his energy, his youth, his quirky Twitter game. Recruits and parents like him too. I think he’s doing well trying to cash in on the local talent USC and Oregon aren’t taking. We know he can call an offense and recruit QB’s so he’ll always have them fun to watch.

6. Kalen Deboer (Wash.) – You can call me an Oregon homer now if you want too. Deboer had a great season at UW in his first year including the win over the Ducks. But recruiting has fallen off substantially and there seem to be some concerns about things on the Lake. I guess we’ll see how it plays out.

5. Chip Kelly (UCLA) – If you hire Chip you know you’re probably hiring 7-9 wins every year. You’re hiring someone who will run a clean program and put some points on the board. He won’t win a lot of recruiting battles and will instead gamble in the portal. I like Chip, I just don’t see him being a championship contender at this point in his career.

4. Jonathan Smith (OSU) – Ahead of Chip only because I think he could recruit and would recruit if he wasn’t in Corvallis. It’s hard to argue anyone has done a better job with less in the conference, maybe in the country the last two years. But he’s going to need to kick it up a notch.

3. Kyle Whittingham (Utah) – I think Whittingham might be #1 for a lot of Pac-12 fans. And I respect him as much a great deal. Recruits guys that fits his system well, but doesn’t recruit at a high level. (Typically in the 30’s) His teams play hard, fundamental football. He wins games and could have the right team in the playoff hunt every couple of years possibly.

2. Dan Lanning (Oregon) – I wish I could put Danimal at 1, but some first year mistakes really force me to put him at 2. Recruiting is strong, coaching hires, development, culture, all boxes are being checked. But Oregon’s defense was really bad last year and they had some inexcusable moments. Even with all that said, if I’m making a hire, Danimal is one of my first two calls.

1. Lincoln Riley (USC) – I wish I could put anyone else here but I can’t. Riley has won, can recruit, is young, and seemingly learns form his mistakes. Right now it’s hard to argue he isn’t the total package and boasts just an edge in experience of Lanning. And the Trojans are white hot on the recruiting trail to boot.