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Re-ranking the length of FBS coaching tenures from 1-to-128

Jan 22, 2016 • 12:28 pm

With every job FBS and the NFL filled, the head coaching carousel has taken its final spin for -- presumably -- the next 10 months or so.

Which means it's time for me to update the list I shamelessly stole faithfully continued from originator Patrick Stevens for now the fourth annual look at the length of all 128 FBS head coaching tenures.

Before we get to the list, a few notes.

- Obviously, the headline is Frank Beamer's retirement has ceded the top spot to Oklahoma's Bob Stoops. Beamer held the Dean of FBS coaches crown for four seasons before stepping away at age 69. Stoops, fresh off his 17th season and entering what could be something resembling a mid-career renaissance thanks to a new staff headed by offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley, is only 55.

- By the time the 2017 season kicks off, Stoops' tenure will be older than Oklahoma's incoming freshman class.

- The 2015 saw a high level of attrition of college football's previously attrition-proof coaches. Gary Pinkel (No. 4), George O'Leary (No. 7) and Steve Spurrier (No. 8) retired, Mark Richt (No. 6) got fired and Bronco Mendenhall (No. 10) left for another job. That's five of the top eight and six of the top 10 gone in one year.

- Through it all, Bill Snyder remains. The true Dean of Coaches with 24 seasons under his belt, Snyder's second Kansas State tenure is now in the top sixth of longest current coaching tenures at No. 21.

- When Stevens began this project in January 2013, Kentucky's Mark Stoops, hired Nov. 27, 2012, was the longest-tenured fresh hire at No. 97. He's now No. 43, in the top third of his peers.

- The first hire of the 2013-14 cycle? Chuck Martin of Miami (Ohio) at No. 71. 2014-15? Neal Brown of Troy and Chad Morris of SMU, checking in at No. 87. This cycle? Not counting interims, it's Hawaii's Nick Rolovich at No. 104.

- The median hire date is Dec. 17, 2012, shared by San Jose State's Ron Caragher, Western Michigan's P.J. Fleck, Kent State's Paul Haynes and Temple's Matt Rhule.

- Nick Saban will never fully shake free of his career mercenary reputation, but his Alabama tenure now checks in at No. 12, longer than nearly 91 percent of his peers.

- Urban Meyer, The Ohio State Years, is now more entrenched than nearly 75 percent of the rest of FBS. And he's still only lost four games in Columbus.

- We talk of the pressure to win in the Power 5 conferences, but Ohio's Frank Solich and Middle Tennessee's Rick Stockstill are the only Group of 5 coaches in the top 10. In the mid-majors, it's often move up or move out.

1998
1. Bob Stoops, Oklahoma - Dec. 1
2. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa - Dec. 2

2000
3. Gary Patterson, TCU - Dec. 8

2004
4. Kyle Whittingham, Utah - Dec. 9
5. Frank Solich, Ohio - Dec. 17

2005
6. Les Miles, LSU - Jan. 2
7. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State - Jan. 3
8. Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee - Dec. 12

2006
9. Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern - July 7
10. Mark Dantonio, Michigan State - Nov. 27
11. Troy Calhoun, Air Force - Dec. 22

2007
12. Nick Saban, Alabama - Jan. 3
13. David Bailiff, Rice - Jan. 19
14. Bobby Wilder, Old Dominion - Feb. 13
15. Art Briles, Baylor - Nov. 28
16. Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech - Dec. 7
17. Ken Niumatalolo, Navy - Dec. 8
18. David Cutcliffe, Duke - Dec. 15

2008
19. Joey Jones, South Alabama - Feb. 15
20. Dabo Swinney, Clemson - Oct. 13
21. Bill Snyder, Kansas State - Nov. 24
22. Dan Mullen, Mississippi State - Dec. 11

2009
23. Jimbo Fisher, Florida State - Dec. 1
24. Brian Kelly, Notre Dame - Dec. 11
25. Doc Holliday, Marshall - Dec. 17

2010
26. Kevin Wilson, Indiana - Dec. 4
27. Mark Hudspeth, Louisiana-Lafayette - Dec. 12

2011
28. Rocky Long, San Diego State - Jan. 12
29. David Shaw, Stanford - Jan. 13
30. Brad Lambert, Charlotte - March 1
31. Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia - June 11
32. Bob Davie, New Mexico - Nov. 17
33. Rich Rodriguez, Arizona - Nov. 21
34. Urban Meyer, Ohio State - Nov. 28
35. Mike Leach, Washington State - Nov. 30
36. Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss - Dec. 5
37. Larry Fedora, North Carolina - Dec. 8
T-38. Jim Mora, UCLA - Dec. 10
T-38. Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M - Dec. 10
T-40. Todd Graham, Arizona State - Dec. 14
T-40. Tim DeRuyter, Fresno State - Dec. 14
42. Terry Bowden, Akron - Dec. 22

2012
43. Mark Stoops, Kentucky - Nov. 27
44. Trent Miles, Georgia State - Nov. 30
45. Dave Doeren, N.C. State - Dec. 1
46. Rod Carey, Northern Illinois - Dec. 2
47. Paul Petrino, Idaho - Dec. 3
T-48. Steve Addazio, Boston College - Dec. 4
T-48. Bret Bielema, Arkansas - Dec. 4
T-48. Gus Malzahn, Auburn - Dec. 4
T-51. Sonny Dykes, California - Dec. 5
T-51. Darrell Hazell, Purdue - Dec. 5
T-53. Butch Jones, Tennessee - Dec. 7
T-53. Willie Taggart, South Florida - Dec. 7
55. Tommy Tuberville, Cincinnati - Dec. 8
T-56. Sean Kugler, UTEP - Dec. 10
T-56. Mike MacIntyre, Colorado - Dec. 10
58. Todd Monken, Southern Miss - Dec. 11
59. Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech - Dec. 12
T-60. Skip Holtz, Louisiana Tech - Dec. 14
T-60. Scott Satterfield, Appalachian State - Dec. 14
T-62. Ron Caragher, San Jose State - Dec. 17
T-62. P.J. Fleck, Western Michigan - Dec. 17
T-62. Paul Haynes, Kent State - Dec. 17
T-62. Matt Rhule, Temple - Dec. 17
66. Matt Wells, Utah State - Dec. 20

2013
67. Ron Turner, Florida International - Jan. 4
68. Brian Polian, Nevada - Jan. 7
69. Mark Helfrich, Oregon - Jan. 20
70. Doug Martin, New Mexico State - Feb. 1
71. Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio) - Dec. 3
72. Chris Petersen, Washington - Dec. 6
73. Craig Bohl, Wyoming - Dec. 8
74. Dave Clawson, Wake Forest - Dec. 10
T-75. Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan - Dec. 11
T-75. Bryan Harsin, Boise State - Dec. 11
77. Bob Diaco, Connecticut - Dec. 12
78. Charlie Partridge, Florida Atlantic - Dec. 17
79. Blake Anderson, Arkansas State - Dec. 19
80. Jeff Monken, Army - Dec. 24

2014
81. Charlie Strong, Texas - Jan. 5
82. Bobby Petrino, Louisville - Jan. 9
83. Jeff Brohm, Western Kentucky - Jan. 10
84. James Franklin, Penn State - Jan. 11
85. Mark Whipple, Massachusetts - Jan. 14
86. Derek Mason, Vanderbilt - Jan. 17
T-87. Neal Brown, Troy - Dec. 1
T-87. Chad Morris, SMU - Dec. 1
T-87. Lance Leipold, Buffalo - Dec. 1
T-90. Jim McElwain, Florida - Dec. 4
T-90. Mike Riley, Nebraska - Dec. 4
92. David Beaty, Kansas - Dec. 5
93. Gary Andersen, Oregon State - Dec. 10
T-94. Philip Montgomery, Tulsa - Dec. 11
T-94. Tony Sanchez, UNLV - Dec. 11
96. Tom Herman, Houston - Dec. 16
97. Paul Chryst, Wisconsin - Dec. 17
98. Mike Bobo, Colorado State - Dec. 23
99. Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh - Dec. 26
100. Jim Harbaugh, Michigan - Dec. 30

2015
101. John Bonamego, Central Michigan - Feb. 8
102. Bill Cubit, Illinois - Aug. 28
103. Tracy Claeys, Minnesota - Oct. 28
104. Nick Rolovich, Hawaii - Nov. 27
T-105. Matt Campbell, Iowa State - Nov. 29
T-105. Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech - Nov. 29
107. Clay Helton, USC - Nov. 30
108. Scott Frost, Central Florida - Dec. 1
T-109. Jason Candle, Toledo - Dec. 2
T-109. D.J. Durkin, Maryland - Dec. 2
111. Barry Odom, Missouri - Dec. 3
T-112. Bronco Mendenhall, Virginia - Dec. 4
T-112. Mike Norvell, Memphis - Dec. 4
T-112. Mark Richt, Miami - Dec. 4
T-115. Dino Babers, Syracuse - Dec. 5
T-115. Seth Littrell, North Texas - Dec. 5
T-117. Kirby Smart, Georgia - Dec. 6
T-117. Will Muschamp, South Carolina - Dec. 6
119. Chris Ash, Rutgers - Dec. 7
120. Mike Jinks, Bowling Green - Dec. 8
121. Willie Fritz, Tulane - Dec. 12
122. Scottie Montgomery, East Carolina - Dec. 13
123. Matt Viator, Louisiana-Monroe - Dec. 14
124. Kalani Sitake, BYU - Dec. 19
125. Tyson Summers, Georgia Southern - Dec. 20