27th? You have to be kidding. CBSSports.com. This week the sports website ranked all 65 of the Power 5 football coaches and Dino Babers didn’t crack the top 25. This is clearly a case of brand recognition, because anyone who knows intimately where the program was before Dino took over understands what a miracle job he’s done turning it around.
Here’s CBS’ analysis:
Dino Babers¬†is one of our biggest climbers this season, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise. I mean, the man just led Syracuse to a 10-3 season, and that doesn’t happen very often. In fact, the last time Syracuse had won 10 games in a season was in 2001. The Orange didn’t even do it when they had Donovan McNabb for four seasons, and — no offense to anybody on the team last year — there weren’t any McNabbs on the roster last season. So when you mix success with a fun brand of football, you’re going to see your stock rise.¬†2018 rank: 48 (+21)
It’s nice that Babers was one of the biggest risers, but even 27th isn’t high enough. Dino took the wreckage of the Scott Shafer Era, which was still meandering through much of the mess Groobers left behind more than a decade ago, and brought it to national relevance. He’s recruiting. He’s filling the Dome. He’s in the postseason. That’s a fairytale compared to what it was before.
#26 UVA’s Bronco Mendenhall: He hasn’t had to do as much heavy lifting as Dino
#25 Nebraska’s Scott Frost: He went 4-8 last year. Let’s see him get Nebraska back to major bowl games.
#17 Texas’ Tom Herman: Wait, are we sure he’s a very good head coach?
#15 Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh: You can make the case Harbaugh has underachieved big time with his talent.
#14: UCLA’s Chip Kelly: This is clearly about what he did a decade ago.
#7 ND’s Brian Kelly: I’m not saying Dino should be this high, but no way is Kelly a top 10 coach in America.
#4 OU’s Lincoln Riley: Uh, premature much?
There’s no way you can say Dino is not a top-25 coach. He’ll win again this year, and this ranking will look silly in hindsight.
