rexvol
The Minister of Defense
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Brady Ackerman/Gator Country
Last week at the SEC meetings a lot of people were surprised to discover that Urban Meyer is just the third highest paid coach in the SEC. Thats about to change if Bernie Machen has his way. Machen is not only the president of the University of Florida but also the man responsible for bringing Meyer to UF four and a half years ago.
In four seasons, Meyer has won two national championships and hes heavily favored to make that two in a row and three of the last four in 2009. Meyer has proven beyond a shadow of doubt that hes on the short list of the best coaches in the college game. Bernie Machen is not only the UF president, but also the man most responsible for bringing Meyer to UF. If you go by recent results, there is no question that Meyer deserves to be the highest paid coach in the SEC.
Recently I was putting together my list of top five coaches in the nation recently and I actually think you could separate two guys from everyone else in todays discussion. Pete Carroll (Southern Cal) and Urban Meyer are the two best coaches in college football today. From there the list would go on to include Bob Stoops (Oklahoma), Jim Tressel (Ohio State) and Mack Brown (Texas).
So who is number one?
Lets begin with the obvious, category which coaches are measured by --- wins. Both coaches ironically began their head coaching careers in 2001. Carroll is 88-15 since then with all his wins at Southern Cal. Meyer is 83-17 over the same span but his resume includes stops at Bowling Green and Utah before he arrived at Florida. Meyer has two BCS titles and while Carroll has one along with a controversial national championship awarded by the Associated Press. Carroll is 6-2 in bowl games while Urban Meyer is 5-1. Meyer put together his only unbeaten season in 2004 at Utah, which coincidentally is the same year that Carroll had an unbeaten record at USC. Pete Carroll won the Home Depot coach of the year award in 2003, while Urban Meyer won the same award in 2004. Remarkably neither guy has won the coach of the year award when there teams won the BCS title.
Statistically these guys are very close with regards to wins and losses. The stat that stands out to me most is these guys are 11-3 in bowl games and between the two of them they are 9-1 in BCS games. Meyer is 3-0 in the BCS while Carrolls only loss was at the wire to Texas in the national championship game in 2005. Its hard to compare conference records or final rankings because the SEC is so much tougher. However give Pete Carroll his due because Southern Cal has either won or tied for first in the Pac-10 all but his first season at USC. Meyer has finished first in his conference four times in eight seasons as a head coach and twice in the last three years at Florida. Both guys have coached Heisman Trophy winners and both guys are top recruiters.
Honestly this thing is a draw if you look at great offenses, great recruiters, conference championships and national championships. In eight years these guys have done as much to galvanize college football as any two coaches. Carroll has revived a proud program and made the Trojans the team everyone loves to hate. Meyers offense elevated his teams to BCS bowls and two national championships. Both of them even have daughters that play volleyball. Carrolls daughter plays for Southern Cal while Meyers daughter Nikki is heading to Georgia Tech on a scholarship.
To top it off both guys worked as assistants under Lou Holtz and Earl Bruce. Carroll worked for Holtz at Arkansas and Bruce at Ohio State while Meyer worked for Holtz at Notre Dame and for Bruce at Colorado State and Ohio State.
In my opinion its Meyer #1 and Carroll #2, but I am sure you could find many a writer put that in reverse order, especially on the west coast. Really, the only way to decide who is the better coach is on the field. January 7 is the BCS Championship Game in Southern Cals back yard at the Rose Bowl. Thats where both these teams have targeted for their postseason destination. there is only one way to decide who the better coach is, on the field. I dont know about you but give me Florida versus USC right now and I will book my ticket to Pasadena. Now that would be the ultimate tiebreaker.
Last week at the SEC meetings a lot of people were surprised to discover that Urban Meyer is just the third highest paid coach in the SEC. Thats about to change if Bernie Machen has his way. Machen is not only the president of the University of Florida but also the man responsible for bringing Meyer to UF four and a half years ago.
In four seasons, Meyer has won two national championships and hes heavily favored to make that two in a row and three of the last four in 2009. Meyer has proven beyond a shadow of doubt that hes on the short list of the best coaches in the college game. Bernie Machen is not only the UF president, but also the man most responsible for bringing Meyer to UF. If you go by recent results, there is no question that Meyer deserves to be the highest paid coach in the SEC.
Recently I was putting together my list of top five coaches in the nation recently and I actually think you could separate two guys from everyone else in todays discussion. Pete Carroll (Southern Cal) and Urban Meyer are the two best coaches in college football today. From there the list would go on to include Bob Stoops (Oklahoma), Jim Tressel (Ohio State) and Mack Brown (Texas).
So who is number one?
Lets begin with the obvious, category which coaches are measured by --- wins. Both coaches ironically began their head coaching careers in 2001. Carroll is 88-15 since then with all his wins at Southern Cal. Meyer is 83-17 over the same span but his resume includes stops at Bowling Green and Utah before he arrived at Florida. Meyer has two BCS titles and while Carroll has one along with a controversial national championship awarded by the Associated Press. Carroll is 6-2 in bowl games while Urban Meyer is 5-1. Meyer put together his only unbeaten season in 2004 at Utah, which coincidentally is the same year that Carroll had an unbeaten record at USC. Pete Carroll won the Home Depot coach of the year award in 2003, while Urban Meyer won the same award in 2004. Remarkably neither guy has won the coach of the year award when there teams won the BCS title.
Statistically these guys are very close with regards to wins and losses. The stat that stands out to me most is these guys are 11-3 in bowl games and between the two of them they are 9-1 in BCS games. Meyer is 3-0 in the BCS while Carrolls only loss was at the wire to Texas in the national championship game in 2005. Its hard to compare conference records or final rankings because the SEC is so much tougher. However give Pete Carroll his due because Southern Cal has either won or tied for first in the Pac-10 all but his first season at USC. Meyer has finished first in his conference four times in eight seasons as a head coach and twice in the last three years at Florida. Both guys have coached Heisman Trophy winners and both guys are top recruiters.
Honestly this thing is a draw if you look at great offenses, great recruiters, conference championships and national championships. In eight years these guys have done as much to galvanize college football as any two coaches. Carroll has revived a proud program and made the Trojans the team everyone loves to hate. Meyers offense elevated his teams to BCS bowls and two national championships. Both of them even have daughters that play volleyball. Carrolls daughter plays for Southern Cal while Meyers daughter Nikki is heading to Georgia Tech on a scholarship.
To top it off both guys worked as assistants under Lou Holtz and Earl Bruce. Carroll worked for Holtz at Arkansas and Bruce at Ohio State while Meyer worked for Holtz at Notre Dame and for Bruce at Colorado State and Ohio State.
In my opinion its Meyer #1 and Carroll #2, but I am sure you could find many a writer put that in reverse order, especially on the west coast. Really, the only way to decide who is the better coach is on the field. January 7 is the BCS Championship Game in Southern Cals back yard at the Rose Bowl. Thats where both these teams have targeted for their postseason destination. there is only one way to decide who the better coach is, on the field. I dont know about you but give me Florida versus USC right now and I will book my ticket to Pasadena. Now that would be the ultimate tiebreaker.
