We’re reseeding the College Football Playoff field based on the best coaching staffs in 2015.
There’s already an upset at the top: Nick Saban and his Coke bottle are going to have to wait:
1. Michigan State Spartans
Head coach
In the interests of full disclosure, Mark Dantonio was my choice for coach of the year. The Spartans had been inching closer to the sport’s top tier -- and the year they reached the playoff coincides with the worst injury fortune they’ve had in recent memory. Arguably their biggest win, at Ohio State, came with veteran quarterback Connor Cook sidelined.
Coaches echo the notion that there’s no better coach than Dantonio when it comes to leveraging the underdog role.
Including that victory in Columbus, Michigan State has won nine of its past 13 games as an underdog. It’s 6-1 in the past seven games against top-five teams.
Playing Alabama, the biggest brand going in college football? Already being installed as a nine-point ‘dog? It’s all ideal for Dantonio and the Spartans. He’ll have a month to drill that sentiment into his players’ brains.
The other side of Dantonio’s core is his calm. Remember the postgame reaction to the bizarre, miraculous win over Michigan in October? It might as well have been a 50-point rout of an FCS team.
Extrapolate that to Saturday’s game-winning touchdown march against Iowa -- all 22 plays, 82 yards and nine minutes of it. The Spartans maintain their poise with the game on the line because they look over to the sideline and see a coach whose resting heart rate really might be in the 60s.
That’ll play well in the playoff, even if MSU is a playoff newcomer.
Staff
Much credit is due to co-DCs Harlon Bennett and Mike Tressel for maintaining a high level of play following the departure of longtime coordinator Pat Narduzzi, who is now at Pitt.
There were questions about them at times during the year, but the past month proved those were injury issues as much as anything. MSU’s past four opponents averaged 12.5 points and 276.8 yards -- including the domination of Ohio State, which finished with 132 yards and five first downs.
Mark Staten is the best offensive line coach in the country, many in the coaching community say. He proved it this year, having to shuffle key players all season due to injury. That included All-America types Jack Conklin and Jack Allen.
2. Alabama Crimson Tide
Head coach
Nick Saban, another master of leverage, will use last season’s semifinal loss to another Big Ten champ (Ohio State) as ammo for December’s playoff prep.
Saban is often associated with the “process,” but other coaches do not think he is credited enough for the adaptation of said process. In particular, the Lane Kiffin hire was more creative than it was risky.
Saban bemoaned the rise of spread and tempo offenses -- “Is this what we want the sport to be?” -- but he wasn’t going to be left flat-footed as the game evolved. Kiffin’s offensive IQ is off the charts, and that has shown in his ability to keep the chains moving with what coaches and NFL scouts assess as two average quarterbacks in his two seasons as offensive coordinator.
Bama is in another playoff in large part because Saban has made solid hires, and he’s been willing to change something when it isn’t working -- whether it’s scheme or personnel. There are many, many coaches who see their programs regress because of reluctance to make staff changes.
Staff
Kiffin’s success could very well net him an NFL OC job, many in coaching circles believe. An SEC defensive coordinator told me last week that facing Kiffin’s offense is the most frustrating matchup he can remember in recent years.
“He finds ways to exploit you, no matter what you do,” the coach said. “They’ve got a matchup advantage somewhere, always.”
Kirby Smart is headed to Georgia after the playoff, but he’s had one of his best seasons in years. By no coincidence, it has come after Saban moved Smart back to coaching linebackers, and hired Mel Tucker from the NFL to guide the secondary. The Tide has not been nearly as leaky in the back end as a result. Cook had better be healthy for Michigan State to have a shot against Bama.
3. Oklahoma Sooners
Head coach
It’s a common theme here, I know, but Bob Stoops also loves the underdog card. These coaches are among the best at it, and they’re all in the playoff. Coincidence?
With Baylor and TCU favored in the Big 12, he motivated this OU team by reminding it how poorly it closed the 2014 season. Now the Sooners get a rematch with Russell Athletic Bowl opponent Clemson, which wiped out OU in short fashion despite the Tigers being without star quarterback Deshaun Watson.
These Sooners are not those Sooners.
Staff changes are a huge reason why. Stoops was one of those coaches who was slow to make changes, and it pushed him closer and closer to the hot seat. One hire, in particular, vaulted OU back into the spotlight.
Staff
I do not have a Broyles Award vote, but mine would go to first-year OC Lincoln Riley. Despite being just 31 years old, Riley proved he was ready for a big job.
Oklahoma’s offense had struggled to establish consistency -- and an identity -- since Kevin Wilson left in 2011 to be Indiana’s head coach.
Riley inherited a hell of a situation, with quarterback Baker Mayfield eligible after transferring to go with studs at running back and receiver. But Riley put the pieces in place for success. Coaches have told me for weeks that they’d least like to face OU in the playoff because of the backs, Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon. Riley has used them well, and often at the same time.
Mike Stoops likewise had a bounce-back year. Illustrating that, the Sooners’ takeaways are up nearly 40 percent from a year ago.
4. Clemson Tigers
Head coach
You might have heard that the Tigers that had a big pizza party Sunday at Death Valley. That’s a Dabo Swinney move if you’ve ever heard one.
He’s as folksy -- and genuine -- as they come in this modern era of college football. It’s refreshing, and it also works with his players.
Swinney told me in the summer of 2013 that he wanted to build a program that was consistently in the top 15, one that sometimes had a chance to be in the national title discussion. Check and check. Not bad for a guy who was in commercial real estate 15 years ago.
Swinney shows that there are all sorts of roads to success. He had never been a coordinator when he was promoted to interim coach and then the full-time guy at Clemson. Coaches dinged him for years about a lack of X’s-and-O’s knowledge -- it mystified Steve Spurrier, in particular -- but now peers are lauding him for his organizational skills and eye for talent when it comes to recruits and assistants alike. The CEO-model coach works and works well for Swinney and Clemson. After all, he’s the ACC’s Coach of the Year in 2015. He’ll net some votes in national award races as well.
Staff
If Riley doesn’t win the Broyles Award, DC Brent Venables should. Despite losing All-America-level linemen Grady Jarrett and Vic Beasley, Venables plugged new pieces into the Clemson front and got similar results. The linebacker position might have been upgraded, despite losing several veterans such as Stephone Anthony.
Venables deserves a shot at a head job.
Swinney made up his mind long ago that he would elevate Tony Elliott if and when Chad Morris left. Elliott had a solid season as a first-time play-caller. His star will be on the rise. Elliott and co-OC Jeff Scott put Watson in great positions all season.