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Rating the MWC coaches

Ah why not, we've rated everything else this off season. Might as well rate the coaches, too.

1. Gary Patteron (7 seasons, 54-20).
Best Wins: Oklahoma in 2005, Louisville in 2001.
Patterson took over TCU after Dennis Franchione brought them out of the depths of mediocrity and then bolted for Alabama. In 7 seasons, he's guided the Horned Frogs to 10 or more wins four times, three of which were 11 wins and has gone 22-3 since joining the Mountain West in 2005.

2. Joe Glenn (18 seasons, 159-66; @ Wyoming, 4 seasons, 21-26).
Best Wins: UCLA in 2004.
I think Glenn is an underrated coach, who has the near impossible task of winning in Laramie. So while his win total doesn't look impressive, he's established a decent program in Hoth North. And even though he probably won't dominate the Mountain West, Wyoming will always be a tough opponent. All thanks to Glenn, because the Pokes were terrible before he took over.

3. Sonny Lubick (14 seasons, 105-65).
Biggest Wins: Arizone in 1994, Louisville in 2000.
While obviously Lubick is past his prime, you can't ignore what he's accomplished in Fort Collins. He took over a horrible CSU program and in one short year had them in the top-25 and winning 10 games. He's won 10 or more games 4 times since taking over in 1993 and has only had 3 losing seasons, 2 of which happened in the past three years.

4. Bronco Mendenhall (2 seasons, 17-8).
Biggest Win: TCU in 2006.
Though he hasn't been at BYU long, Bronco has already wrapped up an 11-win season, an undefeated conference season and gave the school its first top-25 finish since 2001. Oh and the Cougars dominated Oregon in the Las Vegas Bowl. Bronco's coaching ability will be put the test this year as we'll see if he can really coach, or lucked out and rode a senior laden team to success.

5. Kyle Whittingham (2 seasons, 15-10).
Biggest Wins: TCU in 2006, Georgia Tech in 2005
Kyle, like Bronco, has a lot to prove. Unlike Bronco however, he still hasn't had an impressive season. Winning only 60% of your games won't cut it over the long haul and if the Utes continue toiling in mediocrity, Kyle won't be this high on the list for long...if he's on the list at all.

6. Rocky Long (9 years, 52-57).
Biggest Wins: Texas Tech in 2004, Utah in 2003.
Rocky Long seems stuck in the mud with the Lobos. He's decent enough to guide New Mexico to about 6 or 7 wins a season, but not good enough to take them to the next level. Which explains why, since 2001, the Lobos are averaging only 7 wins a season. Long has also failed to win a conference championship, or a bowl game. It doesn't take 9 seasons to build a program and if the Lobos haven't won a championship under Long yet, I doubt they will in the future.

7. Chuck Long (1 year, 3-9)
Biggest Win: None
Long is only here because Sanford sucks and Calhoun of Air Force hasn't coached a down. Maybe Long has a great turnaround and the Aztecs finish with 7 or 8 wins, but I don't think that's likely. It appears Long is in over his head and won't be able to bring SDSU up from their three decade long funk.

8. Mike Sanford (2 years, 4-19)
Biggest Win: None
Sanford took over UNLV talking about how they were going to win conference championships and have an exciting offense. Well after two years, neither has come true and UNLV is destined for another terrible season. My guess is that Sanford will be fired either after this season or next.

Troy Calhoun of Air Force is the only coach I won't rank, since he's not coached a game yet. Though I'm willing to bet he's better than Chuck Long and Mike Sanford, but we'll wait and see.

And that's the list, hopefully this time next year we're ranking Kyle at #2 and not #5.

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Recruiter?
Jazzy,
In your mind, which of these coaches is the best recruiter?

by Adam on Jun 19, 2007 9:24 AM MDT   0 recs

That's a tough question.
Since I think obviously it's far easier to recruit to some places (SDSU, UNLV, Utah and BYU) than it is others (New Mexico, Wyoming and CSU). I would have to say Joe Glenn, only because it's Wyoming and if he can get good players there, he's doing one hell of a job.

by JazzyUte on Jun 19, 2007 12:06 PM MDT to parent up   0 recs

UNM
I know that this is a Utah-obsessed blog, but I don't think that the 2003 win over Utah was THAT big of a win.  Sure, Utah was conference champ that year, but the win over Missouri a few years ago was as big and probably bigger.

You keep doubting the Lobos, but outside of 2003 and 2004 the only real difference between UNM and Utah is that Utah wins its bowl games and UNM doesn't.  You give Rocky Long far too little credit for what he's done.

by matt on Jun 19, 2007 6:01 PM MDT   0 recs

I think it was a big win.
Because Utah went 10-2, finished in the top-25 and won the conference. That Missouri team the Lobos beat in 2005 only finished 7-5 and it nearly got Gary Pinkel fired. In fact, he essentially saved his job by beating South Carolina in the Independence Bowl.

As for Utah being no different than the Lobos, I disagree. They've had a better winning percentage, not only within conference, but overall. Have more BCS wins than New Mexico and, as you've said, have more bowl wins. And don't ever underestimate the power of a bowl win.

I think Rocky is an adequate coach, but he reminds me too much of Ron McBride without the conference championships and bowl victories. Utah football is very thankful with what McBride did, but we realized after 2000 (most of us anyway) that he was not going to be the coach to take us to the next level. Rocky has built a nice foundation, but you're not going to do better than 6-6 or 7-5 with him as your coach. That's my problem with him, because frankly I think the Lobos have the talent to WIN a conference championship, but they almost always lose a game they really shouldn't. Hell, just look back to 2003 and that win against Utah. The Lobos would have had a share of the conference championship, but they went and lost to UNLV at home, a game they had no business losing.

But maybe you're right, maybe Whittingham will turn out to be a coach that keeps Utah on the New Mexico level, but if that does happen, I'm willing to bet he doesn't get 8 years here like Long has gotten with the Lobos.

by JazzyUte on Jun 19, 2007 8:28 PM MDT to parent up   0 recs

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