With over 129 college football coaches in the FBS, there is room for some to shine. However, some of these coaches don’t get enough credit for what they do for their respective program. These can be coaches that get no praise or some who are on the brink of making it big. We will now look at some of the most underrated coaches in the FBS as of now:
David Cutcliffe, Duke
Coach Cutcliffe has been around, as a head coach, since 1998. During this time, David Cutcliffe had been the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels where he only had one losing season. This might sound a tad bad, but with his overall record at Ole Miss being (44-29) there is little room to critique coach Cutcliffe. Since then, Coach Cutcliffe has moved over to coach the Duke Blue Devils were he has been rough at points, but glorious in others. Now we are seeing what he can do as he has only had one losing season in the past five years, with a combined record of (38-27). Look for Duke to surge in the next couple of years and become a respected ACC team.
Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
When you think of Big Ten Football you don’t really think of Northwestern off the bat. However, this team has been heading down a bright path under head coach, Pat Fitzgerald. In 2005, Northwestern was done with their head coach, who got them nowhere, and decided to promote Fitzgerald up to head coach. At first this team struggled a record of (4-8) and didn’t see another losing season until five years later with a bowl loss as the deciding factor. Fitzgerald boasts a (93-69) record at Northwestern and plans on getting to 100-wins soon.
David Shaw, Stanford
For not having a single losing record in the PAC-12, David Shaw shows how most coaches should handle business. Even after a loss, Shaw’s Stanford squad seems to finish off strong and finish respectably. As Stanford’s head coach, Shaw has gone (79-26), which is outstanding among most FBS head coaches. He also raises the bar with 7-straight bowl appearances in every year he was coached. Look for Shaw to get this program to the top consistently.
Chris Petersen, Washington
Just like his PAC-12 counterpart David Shaw, Chris Petersen hasn’t had a losing record at his current school. But, to make this even more impressive, Petersen has NEVER had a losing record. This stretches back to his days at Boise State where they transitioned from the WAC to the MWC. Even through all the changes, Petersen showed that he can continue to win under any circumstance. Petersen’s overall record as a head coach sits at (136-32) and has made 12 straight bowls.
Dan Mullen, Florida
Shifting from one conference team to the other can be tricky, especially in the SEC. However, this meant nothing to Dan Mullen as he continued his winning ways from Mississippi State to Florida. Mullen has had only two losing seasons at Mississippi State (one by bowl-loss and one by bowl ineligibility). Ever since then, Mullen has had a good slate of winning seasons and has had an impressive first year at Florida, where he currently sits at (7-3). Expect Mullen to capture a SEC division title soon.
Photo Credits: https://www.ruleoftree.com/2016/5/20/11722668/10-things-you-probably-didn-t-know-about-stanford-coach-david-shaw
