I only considered those who currently serve as coordinators, so head coaches who also call plays (e.g. Lincoln Riley) don’t count.
I looked at a bunch of different factors, and I included a brief explanation for each of my choices. Please feel free to share your two lists, and any other thoughts/comments below. This is obviously pretty subjective so I’d be interested in reading some differing opinions.
TOP-5 OFFENSIVE COORDINATORS:
1. Kevin Wilson (Ohio State)
Between winning the Broyles Award, his accomplishments during his time at Oklahoma, his overachieving offenses at Indiana, and his role in turning OSU into an offensive powerhouse, his resume speaks for itself.
2. Tony Elliott (Clemson)
He’s won the Broyles Award, 2 National Championships, and Clemson’s offenses under him have been consistently near the top.
3. Joe Moorhead (Oregon)
He had good offenses during his time at Fordham, and I think he deserves most of the credit for turning Penn State into 10+ win program again after seeing the way he transformed their offense. I didn’t agree with Mississippi State’s decision to fire him.
4. Steve Sarkisian (Alabama)
He’s fielded good offenses in college as both a Head Coach and an OC. His 2019 offense at Bama finished #6 nationally in YPG, and they performed well in their last few games even after Tua got hurt.
5. Kirk Ciarrocca (Penn State)
He helped PJ Fleck build both Western Michigan & Minnesota. The offensive improvement at Minnesota while he was there was impressive, and he was nominated for the Broyles Award in 2019. I’m selfishly hoping he doesn’t do as well at Penn State.
TOP-5 DEFENSIVE COORDINATORS:
1. Brent Venables (Clemson)
This was the most obvious choice on either list. He’s won a Broyles Award, 3 National Championships as a DC, and he’s been fielding great defenses since his Oklahoma days.
Dabo Swinney was 29-19 at Clemson before hiring Venables. Since Venables has been there, Clemson is 101-12.
2. Jim Leonhard (Wisconsin)
In his 3 years as DC, Wisconsin’s defense has finished #2, #29, and #6 nationally in YPG, and he’s been nominated for the Broyles Award twice. I think Wisconsin’s defense will be one of the best in the country as long as he’s there.
3. Kevin Steele (Auburn)
Steele has fielded a lot of great defenses over the years, and his 2019 defense held LSU to their season low of 23 points. He’s also been nominated for the Broyles Award twice during his career (most recently in 2019).
4. Morgan Scalley (Utah)
Utah’s defense has improved every year since he became DC. In 2019, they finished 2nd nationally in YPG, and he was a Broyles Award finalist.
5. Chris Ash (Texas)
He had good defenses at Wisconsin, and he helped improve our defense tremendously after the disaster we saw in 2013. Even though he was technically the Co-Coordinator with Fickell, I think he deserves a lot of credit for the defensive improvements we saw in 2014 & 2015.
