Head Coach Rankings: Bowl Season Top 60
60. Mike Neu, Ball State
Camellia Bowl
Georgia State 51, Ball State 20
The running game never got gong, the defense went bye-bye after halftime, and the offense pressed and bad things happened. Georgia State went on a 51-6 run and the Cardinals couldn’t adjust and get it back in a disastrous third quarter. Ball State shouldn’t have been rocked this badly.
59. Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
Capital One Orange Bowl
Georgia 34, Michigan 11
Michigan ran into a buzzsaw. It didn’t play Georgia. It played the team that was playing like it needed to get some work in before dealing with Alabama. Michigan was better than it showed, but no one was beating the ultra-focused, rested eventual national champion that had to sit on the SEC Championship loss for over a month. Still … Michigan was never in it, and it should’ve been.
58. Jason Candle, Toledo
Bahamas Bowl
Middle Tennessee 31, Toledo 24
He doesn’t have a whole lot of luck in bowl games. He won his first one after taking over the gig, and lost four straight ever since. His offense only turned it over once – MIddle Tennessee was a killer at taking the ball away – the ground game was fantastic, and Toledo lost because it couldn’t hold on. Why is Candle so low? The running attack was amazing, and the staff didn’t stick with it.
57. Brad Davis, LSU
Mercari Texas Bowl
Kansas State 42, LSU 20
There was NOTHING he could’ve done. His team fought hard and gave it a go, but he didn’t have any players. Give Davis credit for getting the Tigers who were still around fired up to give it the old college try.
56. Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame
Playstation Fiesta Bowl
Oklahoma State 37, Notre Dame 35
The good days are going to come, but this was a rough start for Freeman and the coaching staff in the collapse. The Irish were up 28-7 before giving up 30 straight points in a disastrous third quarter. There were several questionable moments and decisions to try stopping the avalanche, but Oklahoma State was really, really good.
55. Shawn Clark, Appalachian State
RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl
WKU 59, Appalachian State 38
This was a strong Mountaineer team that never figured it all out. The offense came up with over 600 yards, the running game was great, the passing attack was terrific, and … the four turnovers were a killer. That was a problem. The bigger issue was the defense that didn’t have a prayer of stopping the WKU attack.
54. Greg Schiano, Rutgers
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
Wake Forest 38, Rutgers 10
Rutgers got to play in a bowl game it shouldn’t have been in. Schiano’s team gave it a shot, but this is what happens when a team goes bowling based on academics over on field production. It was a bad situation to be thrown into, but give Schiano credit for getting his team together enough to play.
53. Sean Lewis, Kent State
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Wyoming 52, Kent State 38
At least the Lewis offense was on-brand. Kent State came up with well over 300 yards passing, well over 300 yards rushing, and the defense wasn’t even close to stopping Wyoming QB Levi Williams. Everything worked offensively, and yet the D couldn’t get that one big stop.
52. Neal Brown, West Virginia
Guaranteed Rate Bowl
Minnesota 18, West Virginia 6
The Mountaineers weren’t as good as the Gophers and were supposed to lose, but there wasn’t anything happening offensively. There were chances there for the taking – the defense did a good job in the second half – but the O was a total dud against a D that was good, but it wasn’t next-level special.
51. Charles Huff, Marshall
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Louisiana 36, Marshall 21
That was a strong Ragin’ Cajun team the Herd faced, Huff’s team couldn’t hold on. Marshall just couldn’t get the offense going in the second half to take over. It wasn’t playing all that well offensively, and the defense struggled, but the team was up 21-16 going into the fourth – and then it all fell apart.
Bowl Season Coaching Rankings
1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51-60 | 61-70 | 71-76