Just how appealing is the job of head coach at Notre Dame? It’s a big time job but clearly not for everyone, even the great ones.
Remember the video game, “NCAA Football” that was put together by Electronic Arts?
I miss that game. I miss starting as a head coach at a small school and working my way up the ladder to the more prestigious football programs.
In that game each football program would be given a star rating in terms of the caliber of job it was. The truly elites like Alabama, Ohio State, USC and a few others, usually Notre Dame included, got the maximum star rating.
Adam Rittenberg of ESPN put together a similar ranking recently as he put the FBS head coaching jobs in different tiers based on their level of appeal for a head coach.
In those rankings, Notre Dame didn’t reach the highest of tiers as that was reserved for Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Texas.
If it’s based on recent accomplishment I’d have a problem with it but it’s not. It’s a ranking built on the job and the difficulty, or lack-there-of to win big with regularity. Everything from assistant coaches pay to practice facilities and the amount of local talent to recruit are factored in.
With that in mind it’s nearly impossible to have an issue with any of the eight teams he listed in the highest of tiers. Just because teams don’t win big doesn’t mean their programs aren’t in a great spot to succeed.
Notre Dame came in ranked in tier-two. Joining them were Auburn, Florida State, Michigan, Oregon, Penn State, Texas A&M and Washington.
I’d actually argue that Auburn and Texas A&M should be in tier one based on endless resources in regards to facilities, home-base recruiting and boosters with deep pockets.
If you’re ranking the jobs that bring the most attention, no doubt Notre Dame is on the shortest of lists. When you discuss the most-appealing though, it’s clear that it’s not a place that your standard good college coaches are going to have major success.
