Mountain West Football: Ranking the best place to be coach

By Jeff Caves-Sports Radio 93.1Fm 1350 Am The Ticket

Boise, Idaho

@jeffcaves on twitter

We love to compare who the best coaches are in a given conference but how about where is the best place to coach? The Mountain West Conference has some of the best places to live and play like Honolulu, San Jose, Las Vegas and San Diego. And, they have places that need some explaining like Laramie, Logan and Fresno.

But which is the best place to work.

When hot coaches look at which jobs are good ones or bad ones in the MWC, I think they consider some of these things below. Coaches measure things like pay, budget, recruiting, winning tradition and attendance amongst other things. I can’t measure intangibles like athletic director relationships, alma maters or if they have relatives in the area.  I ranked the schools 1-12 in each category below. Here are the categories, which schools were #1 and #12 and my overall ranking. Lowest totals led to the best overall rank. Leave me your thoughts on twitter @jeffcaves.

Revenue:

Very tricky. I used the 2014-15 athletic department revenue numbers reported to USA TODAY. Here are all the reasons why it’s tricky to get these numbers.  It is mpossible to get accurate football only revenue numbers across the board.

#1 Air Force- tremendous subsidy program! Only James Madison is higher in the country?????

#12 Nevada-the money is being bet on UNLV who is getting $10 million more in subsidies.

Ladder:

When a coach takes a job in the MWC is he coming down or going up the career ladder? When he leaves, is he going to be a Head Coach at a Power 5 program or was he fired? I looked at the last 2-3 coaches at a program.  Schools that have had coaches in the recent past move on to Power 5 schools ranked higher.

#1 Boise State- Last three coaches left to be Power 5 head Coaches. Only MWC school who hired a FBS Head Coach in Bryan Harsin.

#12 UNLV- Last few coaches has been fired and Tony Sanchez came from high school.

Win %:

Last 10 years win % for each program.

#1 Boise State-they also led all of FBS football.

#12 UNLV-Has had 1 winning record in 10 years and 2 in last 15.

Recruiting:

The most recent 247Sports composite ranks schools by a 4 year recruiting cycle. The more 3 and 4 star recruits the better the rank.

#1 Boise State- Houston was the highest ranked Group of 5 at #40 overall. Boise St was #67.

#12 Wyoming-The Cowboys did move up from #115 to #111 overall.

Attendance:

Home attendance as reported by the MWC.

#1 Boise State-FBS average was 43,496. Boise St. is 10,000 back of that.

#12 San Jose State- 10 FCS schools have better home attendance then the Spartans.

Top 12:

1. Boise State

The numbers speak for themselves. The budget lags behind, I don’t trust those numbers anyway, but is very respectable. Though, Bryan Harsin is only the 3^rd best paid coach in the MWC behind #2 Mike Bobo at Colorado State and #1 Tim DeRuyter at Fresno St. who made $1.4 million last season. Boise St. Coaches can use private charters to recruit, hand out $5100 full cost of attendance checks,  #1 in the MWC , and provide summer school. Not to mention the 2 year old football facility, an indoor practice facility, the most ESPN regular season annual appearances of any MWC school and 3 Fiesta Bowl trophies in nine seasons to show off.

2. San Diego State

Rocky Long has a great place to live, a good budget, and fertile recruiting grounds. The Aztecs attendance is good for the MWC but gets lost in a 70,000 seat pro stadium. It looks 60% empty. Long has the program winning plenty in conference but has not appeared in a better bowl game than the Poinsettia Bowl, which is a home game. Still, Hoke proved you can get to Michigan from here. I expect Long to retire here and preserve the position as very desirable.

3. Air Force Academy

Troy Calhoun left the NFL for his homecoming job. The program has money to operate, great fan support in Colorado Springs and elite academics to sell. They also usually have a winning record. I would have moved the job down the list because of the lack of coaches who have moved on to better jobs, the recruiting limitations and the disciplined lifestyle. The lack of talent forces Air Force to run a triple option based scheme but Calhoun has plenty of other offensive formations he throws at defenses. Great place.

4. Colorado State

Mike Bobo left the SEC to replace Jim McElwain who got a SEC job at Florida. He is the 2^nd highest paid coach in the MWC and has a new stadium to sell in 2017. The recruiting is heating up at CSU and has expanded to Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. The revenue will change with the stadium and the dark 2009-12 seasons of 3-4 wins per year seemed to have turned around.

5. Fresno State

Fans still show up to support the Bulldogs compared to the rest of the MWC but California budget challenges and the lack of Power 5 jobs that come out of there have tarnished the job. It isn’t the best of living situations for a coach but I can’t believe they are not higher up the food chain in recruiting. 4 losing seasons in their last 10 years, constant staff turnover and musical chairs at QB make for a tough environment for the top paid MWC coach Tim DeRuyter. Coaches seem to go to Fresno to win a lot at times, but lose a bunch at the end and retire or get fired.

6. Utah State

I broke the 3 way tie here based on the better recruiting opportunity in Utah and the fact the last coach got a Power 5 job at Wisconsin. From 2010-2105, 180 Utah high school players  were offered FBS scholarships That’s a lot of in state talent. Utah St. will likely have 10 players on NFL squads next season which is good for 3^rd in the MWC. They also just spent 36 million on updating their stadium.

7. New Mexico

When Coach Davie took UNM the way of Air Force and went to the option it seemed like he was waving the flag. It would take a long time to get better recruits to talent poor New Mexico he stated publicly. The losing tradition is hard to ignore as is the lack of coaches ever being promoted out of UNM. But, Davie may have turned the corner. A road win over Boise State, a bowl game appearance and improving fan support makes this a better job than when he found it.

8. Hawaii

Even at their peak when UH when to the Sugar Bowl, then coach June Jones ripped the lack of resources in paradise. Practice facilities, stadium and locker rooms were abysmal. They still are and things have gotten so bad players have slept on cots in gyms and had scholarships checks be late. Coaches’ pay is low, expenses are high but you never know when the local kids stay home and the place goes back to its glory days.

9. UNLV

The athletic department doesn’t lay claim to the 3^rd largest budget in the MWC. The Athletic Director and USA TODAY need to talk. The resources seem slim to me but at least there has been a recruiting uptick with Sanchez. The fact that UNLV has become a coaching burial ground is difficult and, to me, an NFL team in town would further push the Rebels down the food chain for locals.

10. Nevada

Coach Ault did a lot at Nevada without a lot of resources. He usually won. So, it can be done. But, the budget hasn’t grown, the wins aren’t coming, the town has changed and attendance is terrible. Even the 2010 dream season team only attracted 19,000 fans per game. How are they going to top that? Las Vegas gets the better resources and Reno casino revenue is off 26% since 2007. 

11. San Jose State

The recruiting promise of the bay area has provided some decent talent at times for SJSU but not enough collectively to win championships or even threaten. The high cost of living, paltry pay and resources make it a real tough spot to sell to assistant coaches as well. The fans just won’t show up either. But, the last coach got a Power 5 job so anything is possible in San Jose.

12. Wyoming

The remoteness of Laramie, climate and living at 7220 feet contribute to make this the last place a coach wants to be in the MWC. But, the lack of recruits in the state and fans in the stands also make it a tough sell. But, the state supports their only FBS school with matching development funds and they are on their way to a $44 million dollar addition to benefit all WYO athletes.