Great players win games, but great coaches win championships. The Pac-12 always has plenty of great players and is littered with future first-round draft picks. The conference has also had coaching legends like Pete Carrol, John McKay, Terry Donahue, and Don James. Despite a rich history and tradition, the PAC-12 has never had a coaching roster as good as the upcoming 2018 season. From top to bottom, the conference is now full of some of the best coaching minds. Only the Big Ten (Meyer, Chryst, Franklin, Harbaugh, Dantonio, etc) can rival the coaching lineup the Pac-12 now has in its arsenal. Six of these coaches are in their first or second year at their schools, but all are making noise on the recruiting trail and creating a footprint on the college football landscape. Over the next 2-3 seasons, the Pac-12 collectively will have it’s highest finishes on the recruiting trail.
Despite last year’s abject failure as a conference, the future of the Pac-12 conference is extremely bright and will soon claim multiple national championships.
On to the coaches:
12. Oregon State- Jonathan Smith
Jonathan Smith is the biggest unknown of all the Pac-12 coaches. He put up big numbers as the offensive coordinator at both Washington and Montana. The best news for Smith is that there is nowhere to go but up for the Oregon State Beavers. They haven’t won one conference game in two of the last three years. The bad news for OSU is that is Smith is successful he won’t be in Corvallis long.
11. Colorado- Mike MacIntyre
To say that Colorado has struggled since joining the Pac-12 would be an understatement. MacIntyre took over the program in 2013 and has only been able to win more than 5 games once. In his defense, the university absolutely mishandled a powerhouse of a program and burned it to the ground before he got there. The school has not made a commitment to winning, and until they do the Buffaloes will continue to be Pac-12 bottom feeders. There are few coaches who could do better given what MacIntyre has had to work with.
10. Arizona State- Herman Edwards
The Herm Edwards experiment at Arizona State is either going to be feast or famine. Herm was a good NFL coach and is an excellent leader. But, he has never been a college head coach and hasn’t coached football in 10 years. It initially felt wrong ranking him this low, but their recruiting class wasn’t particularly special and he wasn’t able to retain his offensive and defensive coordinators. If Herm does well, re-ranking the coaches at the end of the season is going to be a nightmare.
9. California- Justin Wilcox
Cal finished 5-7 last year but they were much improved from the year before. The team was much more competitive in all their games since Justin Wilcox took over the program. In 2017 the Bears made a significant improvement defensively. It will be interesting to see if the team can make another significant jump. If Wilcox can get this team to a bowl game he will jump up a few spots on this list!
8. Oregon- Mario Cristobal
Of all the Pac-12 coaches, Mario Cristobal has the most to prove this year. The players rallied around him and would have led a coup against the athletic department if he didn’t get the head coach job. He did a magic trick by keeping most of the staff together and has done a fantastic job recruiting. Cristobal performed admirably in this only other stint as head coach (FIU). He led an upstart program to its lone conference championship. The Ducks are in good hands.
7. USC- Clay Helton
Despite winning 10 and 11 games in the last two seasons respectively, it seems that the jury is still out on Clay Helton’s coaching status within the Pac-12 conference. Trojans’fans consistently question Helton, but that just goes to show the pressure and expectations that come along with coaching at USC. The Trojans regularly boast the most talented roster in the Pac-12, so Helton is judged more on coaching adjustments and in-game operations than any other coach in the conference. He has the opportunity to silence all doubters this year.
6. Arizona- Kevin Sumlin
Arizona gets instant credibility with Kevin Sumlin taking over in Tucson. In his 10 years as head coach of Houston and Texas A&M Sumlin’s teams won at least 8 games in all but two seasons. He will be able to recruit Texas and California which will be critical for raising the status of the Wildcat program. Expectations should remain relatively low because Arizona’s roster is not exactly “stacked”.Of every team in the Pac-12, I am most excited to watch Sumlin coach Khalil Tate.
5. Utah- Kyle Whittingham
Only Mike Leach can rival Kyle Whittingham for the “coach who has done more with less”award. It is extremely difficult to recruit and win in Utah. His .665 winning percentage at Utah is impressive, but not nearly as impressive as his career 11-1 bowl record. His team’s identity matches his own, tough, hard-nosed, and relentless. Whittingham also guided the Utah football program through the transition from the Mountain West to Pac-12 conference.
4. Washington- Chris Peterson
It’s hard to believe that the wide receiver coach while I was playing at Oregon would turn out to be such a good college football coach. Peterson literally but Boise State on the college football map and led them to two undefeated seasons and four top 10 finishes. In his latest miracle, Peterson has resurrected the Washington Huskies program from the college football graveyard. The fact that Peterson is #4 on this list just emphasizes how strong the coaching in the Pac-12 is.
3. Washington State- Mike Leach
Leach is awkward and can be an acquired taste for some, but he is one of the most brilliant offensive minds in all of football. He has turned Washington State, which was ranked as the worst power-five conference job in college football, into a good football team. Teams from every conference fear the “air raid offense”. With 9 wins in two of the last three seasons, it is clear that Leach’s Cougars are a legit threat in the Pac-12 north. It would be scary what would happen if Leach coached at a premier program that could attract 5* recruits.
2. UCLA- Chip Kelly
Chip Kelly gets such a high ranking for two reasons. 1. He was absolutely dominant and crushed the conference when he was Oregon head coach. 2. He has been an innovator and consistently ahead of the college football curve. UCLA put together a solid recruiting class, and there is little doubt that UCLA will arrive at the promised land sooner than later. Sidenote: Remember that time anonymous Oregon boosters wanted Kelly gone?
1.Stanford- David Shaw
David Shaw is the clear-cut #1 coach in the Pac-12 coming into the 2018 season. Stanford has averaged over 10 wins per year since Shaw took over from Jim Harbaugh. His team has won Pac-12 titles, is often in the national championship discussion, and has had a lot of players drafted. The thing that makes Shaw’s success and consistency so impressive is that Stanford is NEVER one of the most “talented” teams.