NCAA FB

Several coaches deserve more credit

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Updated Dec 7, 2009 4:30 PM ET
     
 
It is easy to see which college football coaches have done outstanding jobs this season, but there are some that are coaching under the radar and have also done terrific work. They just happen to be coaching in tough or rebuilding situations. Here are some of the coaches in college football that have done some of the most overlooked coaching jobs this season. Larry Blakeney, Troy - All this guy does is win. He has now won four straight Sun Belt Conference championships and his team was 8-0 in league play this season. Blakeney will take the Trojans to the New Orleans Bowl on Dec. 20. Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern - This is one of the more difficult jobs in the Big Ten. Fitzgerald represents a lot of things that are good about college football . His teams play competitively week in and week out, and they do so for an incredible university with good students and classy kids. David Cutcliffe, Duke - The Blue Devils are not going to a bowl game. In fact, they did not finish the season well. But, anyone that has seen Duke play this season realizes the Blue Devils are much improved and headed in the right direction under Cutcliffe, the former Ole Miss oach. Butch Jones, Central Michigan - Jones may not be overlooked for long. He had the Chippewas in the Mid-American Conference title game and will be mentioned for other jobs around the nation. It is not easy to follow Brian Kelly, but the former West Virginia assistant has continued the success at CMU. June Jones, SMU - It has only taken two seasons for the former NFL quarterback and Hawaii coach to have an impact at SMU. He will be taking the Mustangs to their first bowl game since 1984. The SMU program should only get better under Jones' watch. Doug Martin, Kent State - It is almost impossible to win at Kent State. Only Don James and Glen Mason have done so. Under Martin, the Golden Flashes don't always win, but they are usually competitive. He has also given the program stability. Dan Mullen, Mississippi State - The former Florida offensive coordinator is only in his first season in Starkville, one of the two toughest jobs in the nation's best conference. But, he won five games, came close to upsetting Florida and also beat rival Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl. Bo Pelini, Nebraska - The Big12 North does not get as much publicity as the Big 12 South, but the Cornhuskers are in the conference title game today against Texas. More importantly, the tough and passionate Pelini has given Nebraska its identity back as a hard-nosed, physical football team. Mike Riley, Oregon State - Coaching in Corvallis is one of the toughest jobs in the Pacific-10. The Beavers have not played in the Rose Bowl since 1965. Under Riley, the Oregon State program has improved every year. Riley is one of the most respected men in coaching among his peers. Mike Stoops, Arizona - He is the younger brother of Oklahoma's Bob Stoops - and he is proving to be a good coach in his own right. Arizona had become strictly a basketball school when he went there, but he has brought a lot of juice to the Wildcat football program. Kanawha Valley native Frank Giardina, a veteran of more than 30 years in college football play-by-play, is host of Sports Spectrum and calls games for ESPN Regional Television and ESPN360.com.
Tagged: Kent State, Duke, Boise State, Oregon, Florida, Oregon State, Nebraska, Arizona

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