Not that I disagree, since Whittingham has only coached four seasons. However, his list seems to include coaches who have A) started their career after Whittingham and B) haven't done anything remotely close to what Whittingham has accomplished at Utah.
Let's first look at his rankings:
1. Gary Patterson, TCU
2. June Jones, Hawaii
3. Chris Petersen, Boise State
4. Paul Johnson, Ga. Southern-Navy
5. Brian Kelly, Grand Valley State-Central Michigan
6. Howard Schnellenberger, Florida Atlantic
7. Larry Blakeney, Troy
8. Todd Graham, Rice-Tulsa
9. Jeff Bower, Southern Miss
10. Pat Hill, Fresno State
Ok, Gary Patterson at No. 1 isn't hard to explain. He's been the most successful and consistent head coach at the non-BCS level for the past decade. That I can deal with.
But June Jones second? The same Jones who's coming off a 1-11 season? Really? Sure, he guided Hawaii to the Sugar Bowl and did manage a few solid seasons prior to that run, but is that really worthy of the second spot? I'm not so sure.
I don't have much issue with Chris Petersen's ranking, even though he's coached one year less than Whittingham. Which again has me wondering why he isn't even mentioned. Like Petersen, Whittingham owns a BCS bowl berth. Unlike Petersen, though, he did it mostly with his players (Petersen guided the Broncos the Fiesta Bowl in his first season, so they had been recruited and groomed by Dan Hawkins years earlier).
Outside that, though, I'm at a loss as to why any of these other coaches made the list and Whittingham didn't.
Paul Johnson did a good job at Navy, but they were only decent and never truly great.
Brian Kelly didn't even really stay all that long at Central Michigan and had his greatest success at Cincinnati.
Howard Schnellenberger guided Florida Atlantic to two-straight bowl games, but that's about it. Surely he isn't being rated this high because of a championship won 26 years ago, right?
Larry Blakeney has had some success at Troy, but it's Troy. Who the hell knows anything about Troy football? Just because he's been coaching there for 18 years does not automatically mean he deserves to be ranked.
Todd Graham, who? Oh, that's right. The guy who's only been coaching three years. Sure, he's produced three good teams, but how many conference titles does he own? How many top-25 finishes? Has he ever coached in a BCS bowl or gone undefeated?
Yet he's rated higher than Whittingham why?
Jeff Bower was good, but never had a ten-win season at So. Miss and was fired after a rather mediocre 7-6 campaign in 2007. We're actually going to put a guy that doesn't even coach anymore above a coach who guided his team to a 13-0 season and number two finish nationally (the highest non-BCS finish since BYU finished first in 1984)? Really?
Finally, Pat Hill. I could see putting him on this list three years ago, but not now. Fresno has struggled greatly and still hasn't managed an outright conference championship.
So to recap:
Chris Petersen and Todd Graham have coached less seasons than Whittingham, yet make the list and he doesn't.
Every other coach not named Chris Petersen has failed to go undefeated and win a BCS bowl.
But they make the list and Whittingham doesn't.
Hell, I'd even make the case for Bronco Mendenhall making the list over the last few.
And yes, I do realize this deals with the past ten years. But that does not explain Petersen, Graham or even Brian Kelly. Especially when you consider what Whittingham has been able to accomplish in his first four seasons at Utah.
Does anyone have an idea why Whittingham was left off this list?