Ranking the SEC Coaches: the preseason SEC Power Poll

by Joel on Aug 19, 2008 7:00 AM EDT in College Football Comment 9 comments

Time for the preseason SEC Power Poll, brainchild of Garnet and Black Attack. Rather than rank the teams in the preseason, we're ranking the coaches. As Kyle points out, these things are relative. If you're a coach in the SEC, you're good, even if you're last.

Not many words from me. Mostly numbers:

Coach	NC	SEC Title	SEC Div. Title	Other Con. Title	Other Con. Div.	Wins	Losses	Ties	Win %
Steve Spurrier	1	5	2	1	0	163	56	2	74%
The Papa	1	1	3	0	0	147	45	0	77%
Nick Saban	1	1	0	1	0	99	48	1	67%
Les Miles	1	0	1	0	0	62	27	0	70%
Urban Meyer	1	0	0	2	0	70	16	0	81%
Tommy Tuberville	0.5	0.5	4	0	0	105	53	0	66%
Mark Richt	0	2	2	0	0	72	19	0	79%
Houston Nutt	0	0	3	2	0	111	70	0	61%
Bobby Petrino	0	0	0	2	0	41	9	0	82%
Bobby Johnson	0	0	0	2	0	80	86	0	48%
Rich Brooks	0	0	0	1	0	114	146	4	44%
Sylvester Croom	0	0	0	0	0	17	30	0	36%

Okay, so maybe some words, but mostly in the form of explanations and caveats:

All data from Wikipedia. Yes, I recognize the hazards in this, but I'm relying on peer review here. The table is sorted first by NC, then by SEC Title, then by SEC Division Title, then by winning percentage, then by other achievements in other conferences.
If a coach is credited for a national championship, he is not also credited for lesser-included achievement. Said another way, all of the numbers in the titles columns are in addition to the numbers to the left of them. Said yet again because I can't seem to get it right: Steve Spurrier had five SEC Titles in addition to the one he won during his National Championship season. And so on and so on.
I gave Tommy Tuberville credit for half a national championship for two reasons: (1) he was undefeated in 2004 and denied an opportunity to even play for the national championship, and (2) I wanted to bump him ahead of Richt just to make Kyle's red blood boil. Hi, Kyle Who Hates Auburn! Kyle, who hates Auburn, ranked Richt first, but it seems to be in anticipation of the Dawgs winning the national championship this year. If he does that, that table up there would spit him out as second.
This method rewards longevity over recent performance. I think this is only right, as I consider consistency to be a necessary component of success and something that is best proven over time.
I really didn't expect to see The Papa up at No. 2. I think I like him even more than I did an hour ago.

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Interesting Stuff

The Papa’s Resume should really speak for itself, he’s not an offensive mastermind and I don’t see any NFL teams filling up his voice mail anytime soon but I think a large part of Fulmer’s success is that he knows and loves Tennessee. That has helped him recruit top talent on the field and on the sidelines. He’s a great ambassador for the school and would probably make a great AD some day.

by Getoffmyvols on Aug 19, 2008 10:40 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Resume

Perhaps my eyes are playing tricks, but do you have Meyer with zero Conference and Divisional titles? How else would UF had won a national title? We’re not UGA and think second place in the division is good enough to play for the crystal ball.

mlmintampa
UF C/O 06

by mlmintampa on Aug 19, 2008 12:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Credit only for the NC

If a coach gets an NC he doesn’t get more credit (in the table anyway) for a lesser-included achievement. The numbers in the titles columns are for other titles in addition to anything to the left of them.

Go Vols!

by Joel on Aug 19, 2008 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Stated another way (again)

Conference and division titles are assumed where there’s an NC, and division titles are assumed where there’s a conference title. One credit for the highest achievement in each season.

Go Vols!

by Joel on Aug 19, 2008 12:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

SEC Titles

Am I missing something, or has Fulmer not won 2 SEC titles – 1997 and 1998?

by fitzsimm on Aug 19, 2008 1:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

SEC Titles

Ahhhh… now I get it. I will try reading the entire post next time.

by fitzsimm on Aug 19, 2008 1:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just out of curiosity...

If Georgia had slipped past LSU in the polls and had beaten Ohio State in the BCSMNC, would you have subtracted 1 from the SEC champ and division champ columns to make the numbers worked out? Or would you have opted for exploding neurons and mad cow disease?

by hooper on Aug 19, 2008 3:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs