The Wall Street Journal, in its online and print editions (August 19-20), published a fascinating article about the coaches in college football. Are they good against tough competition?
The newspaper did some research and looked at the coaches’ competition against the Associated Press Top 25 opponents. It came up with a list of coaches’ overall career record vs. Top 25 teams as well as their Top 25 record at their current university.
The WSJ list shows that UK mentor Mark Stoops did not fare as he compiled an 0-5 mark against Top 25 teams during his first season as the head coach in 2013. His famous brother, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, had the most impressive record with 50-23 against top competition.
Two of UK’s coaching rivals at Tennessee and Louisville didn’t fare very well. UT’s Butch Jones has a career record of 1-11 against Top 25 teams (1-6 while at Tennessee) and Louisville’s Bobby Petrino posted a 14-17 career worksheet versus Top 25 opponents.
Like Bob Stoops, Alabama’s Nick Saban (pictured below) did very well with a career 50-35 mark against Top 25 squads.
Photo Credit: Alabama Media Relations