Ryan Day as the No. 6 overall coach in the college football
What We Say
We wouldn’t have a problem with this aside from one glaring issue with these rankings. How in the name of all things scarlet and gray did the panel decide to move Jimbo Fisher (No. 5) above Day? We’ve got the complete rankings according to The Sporting News still to come for you, but if Fisher was behind Day before last season (he was at No. 8), and Fisher did not out recruit Day (he didn’t), win a conference championship (he didn’t), and make the College Football Playoff (again, no), then how does he get credit for moving up ahead of Day who did all of those things better?
Also, I’m not sure Brian Kelly (No. 4), or Lincoln Riley (No. 3) should be considered better coaches either, but at least that’s a little easier pill to swallow. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, longevity does not equate to quality coaching. It’s clear Day is still fighting the “he’s too green” to be a good coach perception, even though his record over the last two seasons is better than any other head coach not named Nick Saban.
Don’t worry. Wait just another year or two and we feel pretty confident about Day easily being in the top five and more.