Tag: head coach power rankings

Rutgers football’s Greg Schiano makes a big jump in CBS Sports’ head coach power rankings

Rutgers football head coach Greg Schiano has seen his stock go up.

Following a season where he took Rutgers football to a winning record and an impressive bowl win, Greg Schiano’s stock is on the rise.

In fact, in the ranking of college football head coaches from Power Four conferences by CBS Sports, Schiano’s strong season with Rutgers saw him make a big leap. Schiano moved up 10 spots this past year, due in large part to a 7-6 record and a win over Miami in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.

Schiano is now the No. 40 head coach in the Power Four.

The ranking puts him one spot above Maryland head coach [autotag]Mike Locksley[/autotag] and one spot behind Minnesota head coach [autotag]P.J. Fleck[/autotag].

Also noticeable in the ranking is Miami head coach Mario Cristobal at No. 35. The ranking gap is interesting since Schiano’s Rutgers beat Cristobal’s Miami this past December and the Hurricanes are a shell of their former glory.

Here is what CBS Sports college football insider Tom Fornelli wrote about Schiano’s jump of 10 spots in the ranking:

“Rutgers has never been an easy job, and it only became more difficult when it joined the Big Ten at a financial deficit to the rest of the league in one of the most difficult divisions in the country. But Schiano finds a way to build this program up, and the Knights enter the season as a wild card in the conference.”

Rutgers enters this season with a wealth of returning experience on both sides of the ball and continuity among the key positions on the coaching staff. Both coordinators are back, which is important for a still-rebuilding team.

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Off the field, things are progressing for Rutgers, including a recruiting class that is ranked No. 29 in the nation.

Another winning season with a bowl appearance could see Schiano shoot up a few more spots in this ranking this time next year.

Lifetime at Rutgers, Schiano is 87-95.

SI ranks Urban Meyer near the middle of the pack among new HCs

Meyer ranked fourth out of the seven new hires on Sports Illustrated’s power rankings.

Jacksonville coach Urban Meyer certainly has had his fair share of doubters since the Jaguars chose to bring him on this offseason. Meyer was a legendary coach at the college level, winning national championships at Florida and Ohio State.

But the 57-year-old has never coached at the NFL level before, even as an assistant, and he’ll have his work cut out for him as he inherits a Jags team that is coming off the worst season in franchise history in 2020. Given the spotty track record of first-time NFL head coaches, it makes sense that Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr ranked him near the middle of the pack among new head coaching hires.

To be fair to new hires who haven’t had the chance to prove anything yet, Orr ranked all seven of them separately on his coaching power rankings. Among those coaches, Meyer ranked fourth.

4. Urban Meyer, Jaguars
Staff strength: 7
Playoff chances: 25%

Meyer’s staffing has been fascinating thus far. Credit him for taking a leap at the NFL after establishing and solidifying himself as one of the greatest head coaches in NCAA history. That said, his time in the NFL will be far more restrictive than he’s used to and his staff will be shouldered with the task of bringing Meyer up to speed. Trevor Lawrence helps, but also hinders. If the franchise quarterback’s development stalls, the finger points at the head coach … unlike college.

Meyer is below Los Angeles’ Brandon Staley, New York’s Robert Saleh, and Atlanta’s Arthur Smith on these rankings, but he comes in above Philadelphia’s Nick Sirianni, Detroit’s Dan Campbell, and Houston’s David Culley.

There will be a learning curve for Meyer, and being a leader for highly paid professionals is a lot different than leading unpaid 18 to 22-year-old college students. But he has surrounded himself with a staff of highly touted NFL assistants like offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, and he has a franchise quarterback to help him along — something Nick Saban, who Meyer has drawn some comparisons to, never had during his stint with the Miami Dolphins.

Meyer has a lot to prove and a lot of people to prove wrong at the NFL level, but he also has all the tools he should need to find success.