8. Oklahoma
Points: 64
Total votes: 28
First-place votes: 3
One way to put the Sooners’ remarkable run of sustained success in perspective: They’ve spent more weeks in the AP Top 25 than any other FBS program since 2000. Seventeen seasons of 10-plus wins during that span. Fourteen Big 12 championships in the trophy case since the league was founded. All they do is win, and Lincoln Riley has only elevated this program since Bob Stoops handed him the keys. Riley has them recruiting at a consistent top-10 level and has made Oklahoma, in the eyes of recruits, one of the coolest brands in the sport.
Oklahoma’s administration deserves a ton of the credit, too. This is one of those places where alignment isn’t just some buzzword. They’ll give you whatever you need to succeed. It’s slightly surprising to see the Sooners didn’t finish higher in voting. Perhaps it’s due to location or being in the College Football Playoff race every season but not playing for a national title since 2008. Or perhaps their decision to cede their throne in the Big 12 and take on the SEC is already starting to affect perception.
“OU is the best job in America right now,” said a Group of 5 coordinator who ranked this job No. 1, “but that’s gonna change in a few years. There’s just no competition in the Big 12 versus them. Huge talent gap.”
9. Notre Dame
Points: 48
Total votes: 23
First-place votes: 2
Here’s the thing about Notre Dame: There’s no other place like it. When you look atop this list and find powerhouse programs, they all are very similar. Big stadiums, crazy track records of developing NFL talent, luxurious facilities, all of it. But with Notre Dame, you have a top-notch education tied to a place that just oozes what college football is all about.
Notre Dame has the history and the buy-in for football, and it’s a private Catholic school, which gives the Irish natural in-roads at every private Catholic high school in America. Those private Catholic high schools are like little Notre Dame embassies. There are a lot of high school prospects looking for what Notre Dame offers, and the best part is that there isn’t anyone else also offering it at this level. Oh, and it has an iconic stadium, great facilities and a rabid fan base.
10. Florida
Points: 32
Total votes: 20
First-place votes: None
Florida has a great location, proximity to excellent recruits and a semi-recent history of national title contention. What it doesn’t have at the moment are facilities that compare with most of the other schools on this list. The Gators finally got an indoor practice facility a few years ago, but they still don’t have a dedicated football operations building like the other schools in the SEC. That building is in the works, though. It’s supposed to open next spring. After that, there will be no more excuses for the Gators. If they aren’t competing for national titles — or more specifically, recruiting a roster capable of competing for national titles — then it will be time to look inward. Florida received no first- or second-place votes but was one of the most popular choices as the No. 5 job on voters’ ballots.
11. Michigan
Points: 20
Total votes: 9
First-place votes: None
Michigan is the winningest college football program of all time, and though part of the reason for that is the Wolverines got started sooner, history is a major part of being a blueblood in this sport. Think about all the advantages Michigan has: an elite academic institution, a program with more than enough money and resources, iconic helmets and uniforms, a unique and historic stadium, a large fan base, an advantageous recruiting territory and a heated rivalry. The ingredients are there for this job to have top-five upside. The one downside? Results will constantly be compared to Ohio State, so 10 wins just isn’t going to cut it if one of them isn’t over the Buckeyes.
12. Texas A&M
Points: 12
Total votes: 6
First-place votes: None
This could very well be the job that’s being badly underrated right now, and Jimbo Fisher looks like he’s going to change that. The level of investment the Aggies have made in football and facilities since joining the SEC is truly impressive. “Their resources are unreal,” one Big 12 staffer said. They’ve completely caught up to Texas when it comes to in-state recruiting and consistently battle for the state’s best now. They haven’t played for an SEC championship yet and haven’t won it all since 1939, and the head job won’t open up anytime soon if Fisher honors his 10-year contract. But as one Power 5 AD put it, Texas A&M could become a top-five job when Saban retires.
Also receiving votes: Miami (Fla.) (11 points); Oregon (10 points); Florida State (9 points); Penn State (5 points); North Carolina (2 points); Northwestern (1 point)
Let’s wrap this up with a parting message from Andy Staples, who strongly believes that the best job out there is being completely overlooked.
With all due respect to the people we polled, they’re all wrong about the No. 1 job. Not a single one of them named the best one. I realize that some of you may have read my past work and are now confused. I spent years beating the drum that Georgia is the nation’s best job. A first-time head coach taking that job and making the national title game in year two and then stacking top-five recruiting classes supports my argument, but Ari Wasserman convinced me earlier this year that I have the wrong SEC East job at the top of the list.
The best job in America is … Kentucky.
If Mark Stoops averages eight wins a year, they’ll build him a statue in Lexington. Any of the schools on this list will run off the coach if he doesn’t average double-digit wins and doesn’t at least occasionally win the conference or make the College Football Playoff. Stoops, meanwhile, can finish third in the easier half of the SEC and live just as comfortably as his peers in those pressure-cooker jobs.
The Wildcats might be the surprise team in the SEC this year. They could win nine or 10 games. That still probably wouldn’t put them in the SEC title game. But it probably would get a few of the big-name schools with openings to sniff around Stoops. That’s no problem for Kentucky. The SEC revenue distribution is huge, and the Wildcats have a far more passionate and loyal football fan base than the it’s-just-a-basketball-school crowd realizes. Stoops makes about $5 million a year, and his deal bumps him $250,000 a year through 2024. But if another school tried to pry him away, Kentucky probably could go up to $6.5 million or $7 million if necessary.
And as long as Stoops doesn’t do something crazy like Steve Spurrier did at South Carolina — winning 11 games three years in a row made Gamecocks fans think such success was normal — then the expectations will remain grounded. Stoops can just keep driving to Ohio,
signing all the players Ohio State can’t take and returning to Lexington to win between eight and 10 games a year. That would get him fired at any school on this list. At Kentucky, it will make him a (rather wealthy) legend.
This B10 beef is too eternal for me
give him a 1-2 year deal but other than that im just ready for this whole season to be over
Idk what Alabama is yet this year, I gotta see if their D is worth sum so far. No offense to the U brehs but bullying Miami doesn’t mean anything nowadays
