šŸ“” AL.com All-Access: Which coach will join the national champions club next?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kevin Scarbinsky |
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Kevin Scarbinsky |

With Bob Stoops retiring, only four active FBS head coaches have won a national title: Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Dabo Swinney and Jimbo Fisher.

The retirement of Bob Stoops meant a lot of things to a lot of people. It also meant the exclusive club of active college head coaches who've won a national championship dropped from five to four.

Those four: Nick Saban with five, Urban Meyer with three and Dabo Swinney and Jimbo Fisher with one each.

In an interesting twist, Fisher, Meyer, Saban and Swinney have captured the last four national titles in that order.

That small number helps demonstrate just how hard it is to win it all. So does another fun fact. There are only three active college head coaches who've led a team to the national championship game but have yet to win it.

That list:

Auburn's Gus Malzahn lost to Fisher and Florida State after the 2013 season. Notre Dame's Brian Kelly lost to Saban and Alabama after the 2012 season. Ohio's Frank Solich, as the head coach at Nebraska, lost to Larry Coker and Miami after the 2001 season.

That's it. Of the 130 current Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches, only seven have led a team to a national championship game, and only four have won one.

So who's got next? Which coach is most likely to join the elite company of Saban, Meyer, Swinney and Fisher?

Will Malzahn or Kelly recapture their magic, return to the big game and finish the job this time? There's a lot of preseason buzz about Auburn and quarterback Jarrett Stidham.

Will one of the young coaching guns such as Kirby Smart at Georgia, Tom Herman at Texas or Clay Helton at USC take that giant leap toward greatness? Will a veteran winner such as Michigan's Jim Harbaugh, Washington's Chris Petersen, Stanford's David Shaw, Miami's Mark Richt or Louisville's Bobby Petrino put together a season to remember?

Or will Saban, Meyer, Swinney and Fisher keep the big rings among themselves for the foreseeable future?

My prediction: The national champions club won't add any new members for years to come.

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Will one of the young coaching guns such as Kirby Smart at Georgia, Tom Herman at Texas or Clay Helton at USC take that giant leap toward greatness? Will a veteran winner such as Michigan's Jim Harbaugh, Washington's Chris Petersen, Stanford's David Shaw, Miami's Mark Richt or Louisville's Bobby Petrino put together a season to remember?
Petersen was the first name that came to mind reading this. I'd say he's got a far better shot than any other name listed.
 
I think Richt or Harbaugh. Richt will continue to recruit well and Harbaugh will eventually catch a down Ohio State team and win the rest of a weak conference

Brian Kelly can suck a fat one. Malzahn doesn't have Carl Lawson, so he's done.
 
I like Clay Helton's chances of making it to the big game. Based on talent he has to recruit and the state of the PAC 12, I would think he has the best chance of making it to the play off and possible championship appearance.
 
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