National Championship Winning Coaches

Bob Stoops has been a BCS mainstay.

When did coaches win their national championships at their school? I was interested in looking at the years in which coaches won a national championship to see if any trends would emerge. Since 1997, there has been an interesting trend emerge between coaches and the years they had coached at the school when winning a national title. I looked at data as far back as 1980 and included split national titles (1990, 1991, 1997, 2003). Below is a list of the national title winning coaches, their school, their championship and how many years they had been at the school, and how many years they coached at that school. My findings are below the list.

1980 - Vince Dooley, Georgia, 1st national title in 17th season at school (coached 25 seasons)
1981 - Danny Ford, Clemson, 1st national title in 4th season at school (coached 12 seasons)
1982 - Joe Paterno, Penn State, 1st national title in 17th season at school (entering 46th season)
1983 - Howard Schnellenberger, Miami, Fla., 1st national title in 5th season at school (coached 5 seasons)
1984 - LaVell Edwards, BYU, 1st national title in 13th season at school (coached 27 seasons)
1985 - Barry Switzer, Oklahoma, 3rd national title in 13th season at school (coached 16 seasons)
1986 - Joe Paterno, Penn State, 2nd national title in 21st season (entering 46th season)
1987 - Jimmy Johnson, Miami, Fla., 1st national title in 4th season (coached 5 seasons)
1988 - Lou Holtz, Notre Dame, 1st national title in 3rd season (coached 11 seasons)
1989 - Dennis Erickson, Miami, Fla., 1st national title in 1st season (coached 6 seasons)
1990 - Bill McCartney, Colorado, 1st national title in 9th season (coached 13 seasons)
1990 - Bobby Ross, Georgia Tech, 1st national title in 4th season (coached 5 seasons)
1991 - Dennis Erickson, Miami, Fla., 2nd national title in 3rd season (coached 6 seasons)
1991 - Don James, Washington, 1st national title 17th season (coached 18 seasons)
1992 - Gene Stallings, Alabama, 1st national title in 3rd season (coached 7 seasons)
1993 - Bobby Bowden, Florida St., 1st national title in 18th season (coached 34 seasons)
1994 - Tom Osborne, Nebraska, 1st national title in 22nd season (coached 25 seasons)
1995 - Tom Osborne, Nebraska, 2nd national title in 23rd season (coached 25 seasons)
1996 - Steve Spurrier, Florida, 1st national title in 7th season (coached 12 seasons)
1997 - Tom Osborne, Nebraska, 3rd national title in 25th season (coached 25 seasons)
1997 - Lloyd Carr, Michigan, 1st national title in 3rd season (coached 13 seasons)
1998 - Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee, 1st national title in 7th season (coached 17 seasons)
1999 - Bobby Bowden, Florida St., 2nd national title in 24th season (coached 34 seasons)
2000 - Bob Stoops, Oklahoma, 1st national title in 2nd season (entering 13th season)
2001 - Larry Coker, Miami, Fla., 1st national title in 1st season (coached 6 seasons)
2002 - Jim Tressel, Ohio St., 1st national title in 2nd season (coached 10 seasons)
2003 - Nick Saban, LSU, 1st national title in 4th season (coached 5 seasons)
2003 - Pete Carroll, USC, 1st national title in 3rd season (coached 9 seasons)
2004 - Peter Carroll, USC, 2nd national title in 4th season (coached 9 seasons)
2005 - Mack Brown, Texas, 1st national title in 8th season (entering 14th season)
2006 - Urban Meyer, Florida, 1st national title in 2nd season (coached 6 seasons)
2007 - Les Miles, LSU, 1st national title in 3rd season (entering 7th season)
2008 - Urban Meyer, Florida, 2nd national title in 4th season (coached 6 seasons)
2009 - Nick Saban, Alabama, 1st national title in 3rd season at school (entering 5th season at school)
2010 - Gene Chizik, Auburn, 1st national title in 2nd season (entering 3rd season)

From 1980 to 1989, there were 10 national titles awarded without a coach with repeat national titles. Five of the coaches won in their 5th season or less, and five of the coaches won a national title after more than 13 years at their school. Only Joe Paterno won a national title after more than 20 years on the job, winning his second national title in 1987 in his 21st season.

From 1990 to 1999, there were 13 national titles awarded, with one coach winning two titles (Bobby Bowden) and another winning three titles (Tom Osborne). Six national titles were won by coaches with more than 15 years at a school, with Osborne and Bowden accounting for five of those championships, and Don James accounting for the other. Four coaches won a championship in less than five years, and three coaches won a championship between their sixth and tenth years.

From 2000 to 2010 (11 seasons), there were 12 national titles awarded. Three coaches won two national titles (Pete Carroll, Urban Meyer, Nick Saban). Of the 12 national titles, not a single coach was at their school more than 10 years when they won. In fact, of the 12 national titles, 11 of them were won by coaches in their 4th season at a school or less. The lone exception was Texas' Mack Brown who won in his eighth season at the school.

Since 1997 - a span of 16 national titles - only two titles were won by coaches with more than 10 years at their school, and both coaches have now retired (Osborne and Bowden). Not a single coach has won between their 10th and 20th season coaching since 1993 when Bowden won his first national title in his 18th season at Florida St. Since 1986, only two coaches have won a national title between their 10th and 20th seasons at a school; the aforementioned Bowden and Washington's James who won in his 17th season.

I think this speaks for how competitive college football has become and how quickly a coach, given the resources, can comprise a national title team. I think it also speaks for the constant grind of the job and how difficult it is now to stay in coaching with one school like the Switzers, Dooleys, Bowdens, Osbornes, Fulmers, Paternos, Edwards' and James' of the coaching world. Of the teams in Phil Steele's preseason top 40, only seven coaches have been at their schools for 10 or more years. Perhaps newer coaches have an advantage over more experienced coaches in that they are innovating the way the game is being played.

Bob Stoops is now entering some rarified company as he begins his 13th season at Oklahoma, as is Texas' Brown as he enters his 14th season. For whatever reason, however, the odds are stacked against them that they will win a title between now and their 20th season, which makes sense since the field is stacked against them.

I would give Stoops the best chance of becoming the first coach with more than 10 years of experience to win a title since Bobby Bowden did it in 1999 in his 24th season. Stoops has become one of college football's innovators which has allowed him to appear in four BCS Championship Games in 12 seasons.