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Athlon Sports Ranks All 130 CFB Head Coaches for 2019

July 1, 2019
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Steven Lassan of Athlon Sports went to work and ranked all 130 head coaches in college football for the upcoming 2019 season and Baylor head coach Matt Rhule made the list just outside of the top 25. 

Lassan mentioned Rhule’s success at Temple and his 6-game turnaround in Waco as a big reason for landing on the list where he did, but also mentioned he expects the Bears to take another step forward this fall in year three if history is an indicator. 

Rhule is considered the No. 6 coach in the Big 12, trailing Matt Campbell (22), Tom Herman (15), Mike Gundy (14), Lincoln Riley (7) and Gary Patterson (6). 

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Here is what Lassan had to say about Rhule:

34. Matt Rhule, Baylor

Baylor took a big step forward in Rhule’s second year and the upward trend of this program is likely to continue in 2019. The Bears finished 1-11 in 2017 but made a six-game jump in wins last fall to finish 7-6. Additionally, Rhule’s team closed the year on a high note by beating Vanderbilt in the Texas Bowl. Rhule got the job in Waco after an impressive 28-23 stint at Temple. His tenure in Philadelphia also started slow (8-16 in his first two years) but showed marked improvement (20-7) over the next two seasons. Rhule played his college ball at Penn State and had a stint with the Giants as an assistant coach in 2012. The New York native has popped up for openings in the NFL over the last two offseasons.

Question: Would a 9 or 10 win season in 2019 be enough to elevated Rhule into the top 25 nationally and ahead of any of his Big 12 counterparts?

 

Discussion from...

Athlon Sports Ranks All 130 CFB Head Coaches for 2019

9,525 Views | 11 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by Grizz Air
historian
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10:07a, 7/1/19
To answer the final question: it should but since all such rankings are very subjective your guess is as good as mine.

If Baylor ends up beating all the other coaches listed above Rhule, then he should jump up significantly. Of course that's a very big if (& very unlikely) and still no guarantee of anything.
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”
Psalm 119:36
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ShooterTX
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10:18a, 7/1/19
If we get 9+ wins, then Rhule will at least be the #3 in the Big12. It would definitely put CMR above Herman & Riley, who have never had to overcome much, and both have had automatic elite talent available.
The only challenges would be from Campbell, Gundy and Patterson. All of them have built their programs from nothing. It really depends upon how their 2019 seasons play out. If they barely get to a bowl, then CMR is rated above them. If one of them also gets to 9+, then their past track record might trump the recent success of coach Rhule. I think if Campbell gets to 9+ wins, then he rightly deserves to be ranked the #1 coach in our conference.
If Patterson does the same... maybe not. If Gundy does it... probably gets to #1 or at least #2.

There is no reasonable excuse for UT & OU to slip out of the top two positions in the Big12 this year. So if anyone else gets into the #2... it's going to show just how strong some of these new coaches are in our highly competitive conference. It would be SO sweet to see the Big12 championship between Iowa State and Baylor! That would be a fun game to watch. Bring on the Blue Blood tears!!
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Nick Nolte
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10:35a, 7/1/19
Dabo should be #1. Army's Jeff Monken should be higher than 28. He has basically done for Army what Briles did for Baylor.
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CHP Bear
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In reply to ShooterTX • 10:54a, 7/1/19
ShooterTX said:
If we get 9+ wins, then Rhule will at least be the #3 in the Big12. It would definitely put CMR above Herman & Riley, who have never had to overcome much, and both have had automatic elite talent available.
The only challenges would be from Campbell, Gundy and Patterson. All of them have built their programs from nothing. It really depends upon how their 2019 seasons play out. If they barely get to a bowl, then CMR is rated above them. If one of them also gets to 9+, then their past track record might trump the recent success of coach Rhule. I think if Campbell gets to 9+ wins, then he rightly deserves to be ranked the #1 coach in our conference.
If Patterson does the same... maybe not. If Gundy does it... probably gets to #1 or at least #2.

There is no reasonable excuse for UT & OU to slip out of the top two positions in the Big12 this year. So if anyone else gets into the #2... it's going to show just how strong some of these new coaches are in our highly competitive conference. It would be SO sweet to see the Big12 championship between Iowa State and Baylor! That would be a fun game to watch. Bring on the Blue Blood tears!!
As for me, I'll take the second game vs ISt and give up the first if need be.
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historian
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In reply to ShooterTX • 10:55a, 7/1/19
ShooterTX said:
It would be SO sweet to see the Big12 championship between Iowa State and Baylor! That would be a fun game to watch. Bring on the Blue Blood tears!!
It would be great for the Big 12 Championship to be between Baylor and anyone BUT OU or Texas. I agree that Iowa State would probably be the best match up with the current makeup of the conference.

I dream of the playoffs with no blue bloods. I know that will never happen but I'd settle for one without Alabama or even better, without the SEC. That's when the clamor for a 6 or 8 team playoff will begin.
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”
Psalm 119:36
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Aberzombie1892
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10:57a, 7/1/19
Short of an undefeated season, there is no way that Rhule could be moved above Riley, Patterson, Gundy, Campbell or Herman.
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historian
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11:02a, 7/1/19
Gundy or Campbell maybe. Almost certainly none of the others.
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”
Psalm 119:36
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Aberzombie1892
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12:27p, 7/3/19
The issue here is that the coach rankings are resume rankings that have a recency bias, and, because that is the case, it would be difficult for one season to have a huge impact unless a team dramatically exceeds expectations 2018 Texas was a perfect examples of this - 10 wins, a win over Oklahoma, a P5 title game appearance, a CFP selection game win over the SEC title game loser that was in the conversation for the #4 CFP slot, and a top 10 AP finish. Any coach that achieves that will get a nice boost in the rankings unless that coach is already near the top.

Given Matt Campbell is the closest ranked coach to Rhule and has produced ISU's first back to back 8+ win seasons in history with a high chance of making back-to-back-to-back 8+ win seasons with the potential of a Big 12 title game appearance, it would be difficult to put Rhule above him unless Rhule does something insane like 2018 Texas.
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PartyBear
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12:37p, 7/3/19
Riley stepped into the cock pit of a jet at cruising altitude on auto pilot.
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ShooterTX
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In reply to PartyBear • 1:12p, 7/3/19
PartyBear said:
Riley stepped into the cock pit of a jet at cruising altitude on auto pilot.
Exactly!

Tom Herman had a bit of a worse situation, except that he had top 10 recruitment classes sitting in his locker room, and he was able to get top 10 classes every year since his arrival... so yeah... it's so freakin' amazing that Herman had a good year. LOL He's just OH SO amazing, that he could get to #2 in our conference, when he had #2 level of talent to work with all along. In reality, Herman and Riley are just barely meeting the expectations of the talent on hand. Give me a break. Just look at all the close games UT had last season.

Lost to Maryland - how could I not mention that!
Beat Tulsa at home by 7
Beat Kstate by 5
Beat OU by a miracle 3 points
Beat Baylor at home by 6 w/ the help of some UT refs
Lost to OSU
Lost to WVU at home
Beat Tech by 7
Beat Kansas by 7

With all of their talent over the past years in recruiting... how is this impressive?? Beat Tulsa by 7? Beat Kstate by 5? Beat Kansas by 7? WTH??

Campbell, Rhule, Gundy and Patterson are examples of actually exceeding the expectations of recruited talent. They are also examples of building a program from nothing, and recruiting above expectations.
I'm sorry, but I'm just not impressed with either Herman or Riley. If either of them had built their programs from zero, then maybe... but that didn't happen.
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Grizz Air
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2:07p, 7/3/19
And then he poached the best dissatisfied QBs from other schools. A brilliant strategy, really. But what else would you expect from a school that named it's mascots after cheaters?
2022 Adopt-a-Bear: Mark Milton #3 CB
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