CBS Sports spoke with one-fifth of the 129 active coaches leading FBS teams entering the 2018 season. They asked for their honest opinions on everything from NCAA rules to social issues to their peers in the profession.
Here is what they said:
Who is the most overrated coach in college football?
Willie Taggart, Florida State - 20 percent
James Franklin, Penn State - 20 percent
Kirk Ferentz, Iowa - 13 percent
Lane Kiffin, FAU - 13 percent
Five other coaches- 34 percent
Who is the most underrated coach in college football?
David Shaw, Stanford - 12 percent
Chris Petersen, Washington - 12 percent
Dan Mullen, Florida - 8 percent
Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern - 8 percent
Kyle Whittingham, Utah - 8 percent
14 other coaches - 52 percent
Explanations (overrated)
- "James Franklin. His coaching peers know he is full of it."
- "I would say Willie Taggart at Florida State. He was only at Oregon for one year, and it's not like he really transformed that program -- and that's a place that's won for a long time. Not that he isn't good -- he's won. But usually when you get a job like Florida State, it's because you've won some championships or done something really amazing."
- "[David Shaw] does a great job but, oh my Lord, I mean, it's like God's gift to football. I didn't say he didn't do a good job."
- "Willie Taggart because he still has a career losing record."
- "When [Franklin] got the Penn State job, I thought, 'Man, he's a good marketer.' He did a nice job with that. It'll be interesting without Saquon [Barkley]. He's underrated. He turns a lot of no[-gain] plays into 60-yard touchdowns."
- "I'm probably a little jealous [of Lane Kiffin]. If you're born on third base, that's great, but don't think you hit a triple."
- "We're going to see in the next three years [what happens with Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M]. That disaster last year at Florida State, he prides himself on being just like Nick Saban. He only worked for him for a couple of years. He never has the organizational skills. He flies by the seat [of his pants]. It looks like it's organized and the words he uses are the same, but if you talk to people who work in his office, the desk is sloppy, the rooms are sloppy."
- "If you had the No. 1 recruiting class in the country every year [you'd win like Nick Saban]. He shows up at every single game with a better roster than the teams he 's playing. … If you count cheating and getting the best players in the country as part of running a program, he's the best in the country. It's like saying an NFL coach is the best coach in the league if he gets 25 first-round picks every year."
- "I like Urban [Meyer], but there have been some characters that played for him that I thought should have not allowed."
Explanations (underrated)
- "I thought what [Dan Mullen] did at Mississippi State was amazing. Mississippi State, who wants to take that job?"
- "Mark Dantonio [is underrated]. He gets no respect because he isn't flashy and in the same state with a flashy guy that is unproven and hasn't won a big game yet."
- "Underrated would be Blake Anderson at Arkansas State. They've won every year. Blake does a great job, and I never hear his name for jobs to move up."
- "Underrated is Chris Petersen at Washington. There's a program that, prior to the last five years, had been down for a long, long time, and he's done an unbelievable job."
- "[Stanford] can beat anybody in the country on any Saturday."
- "[Jeff Brohm and Paul Chryst] I've always said, 'Show me a coach that wins at Alabama and Clemson, I'll show you a good coach. Show me a coach that wins at Wake Forest, I'll show you a great coach.' It's hard to mess it up at Ohio State and Penn State. It's really hard to win at Iowa State."
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