One of the questions for college football when it returns is what the postseason will look like. Will we still have a playoff if the season is modified or cut short in any way? One would think the postseason would still be on as it's a cash grab for power conferences. If that's the case, a new coach may go the way of one Edward James Orgeron Jr. and win his first national title. Who will that coach be? Our college football staff takes their best educated guess below.
You'll notice that all five selections coach at traditional blue-blood programs. That's not terribly surprising seeing as recruiting is the lifeblood for title contenders, but all of the coaches listed below have shown they're tremendous game-planners as well. Of the ones picked, who will win a title first?
Chip Patterson: James Franklin, Penn State
Since the start of 2016, Franklin has led Penn State to 42 wins, three top-10 fishes and three New Year's Six bowl appearances. Only four other active coaches have 40 or more wins at their current position since the start of 2016, and two of them are the ring-toting Nick Saban and two-time title-winning Tiger Dabo Swinney. One area where Franklin and Kirby Smart -- another member of this elite club of recent success -- can relate is the thin margins that have kept their teams from title contention. While Penn State hasn't made it to overtime of the national championship game, they've been one point away from beating Ohio State twice in the last three years in games that could have titled the rugged Big Ten East in their favor. When you combine the uptick in recruiting under Franklin, any conversation about the next team to break through has to start with Penn State.
Now, if you are a Penn State fan, you probably want to stop reading here. The other angle to picking Franklin is the notion that if a championship-caliber job opens anytime soon he is going to be on the list of candidates. Picking Franklin not only backs up the work he's done at Penn State but recognizes the success from his time at Vanderbilt and what he could do quickly if, I don't know, a certain Pac-12 program with elite talent and championship history were to woo him away from State College. I'm high on Penn State to break through as a playoff team soon, but "MYSTERY TEAM" potential with a 48-year-old coach on the rise adds intrigue to Franklin as the next first-time title winner.
Tom Fornelli: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Of the college football coaches who have yet to win a national title, and there are a lot of them, none have come closer to winning one than Georgia's Kirby Smart. It was Smart's Georgia team that won the SEC title in 2017 but lost the title game in overtime to Alabama as Tua Tagovailoa launched his legacy with the Tide. Georgia is yet to win another SEC crown or return to the playoff since, but came close to making the final four again in 2018.
In Smart's first five seasons in Athens, the Dawgs haven't had a recruiting class ranked lower than sixth nationally and have finished atop 247 Sports' Composite rankings twice. It's a program that recruits at a national championship level, and this year it's going to try running an offense built for the 21st century. Like Alabama and LSU, Georgia plans to shake up its offense and open things up a bit in 2020. It brought in Jamie Newman as a transfer QB and he'll be running Todd Monken's offense. Now, that doesn't mean Georgia is winning a national title this season, but with the way it's been recruiting and now that it's showing a willingness to change, it's only a matter of time.
Ben Kercheval: Dan Mullen, Florida
Tom made a Smart choice -- ugh, sorry -- because, based on recruiting and results, it would appear Georgia coach Kirby Smart is this close from winning a national title. But I'm going to go right across the Florida-Georgia Line -- ugh, sorrrrry -- and state a case for Mullen. Like Smart, Mullen is recruiting at a level necessary to win a national championship; he's on his way to three straight top-10 classes, a benchmark for title contention. He's also won a lot -- 21 games in his first two seasons in Gainesville with two New Year's Six bowl wins and top-10 finishes. Before that, he took Mississippi State to the absolute peak of the college football mountain by getting the Bulldogs, briefly, to No. 1 in the inaugural College Football Playoff Rankings in 2014. The man can flat-out coach, and while Georgia has been the top team in the SEC East lately, I don't believe the gap between the Bulldogs and Gators is all that wide. If Florida gets out of the SEC Championship Game under Mullen, it would have every reason to be the favorite for a national title run. Based on just two successful years in Gainesville, that run could come a lot sooner than most anticipate.
David Cobb: Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma
The case for Lincoln Riley is simple: he has the least competition of the big-name coaches who are on the cusp of their first title. With Texas still finding its way and Baylor transitioning to a new coach in Dave Aranda, the Sooners' challengers in the Big 12 are not all that daunting. Plus, the man can coach. In his first head job, the 36-year-old former Texas Tech quarterback is already 36-6 with three College Football Playoff appearances. It's only a matter of time before Riley breaks through.
Barrett Sallee: Ryan Day, Ohio State
The second-year Ohio State coach made the College Football Playoff in Year 1 and gets superstar quarterback Justin Fields back for another run at it. On top of that, the Buckeyes have offensive weapons galore, a roster that is loaded with high-caliber players and a schedule that includes a possible statement game in Week 2 at Oregon. Day could get his first national title as soon as this year. If not, he has shown that he has what it takes to keep Ohio State a major player at the national level.
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May 02, 2020 at 12:21AM
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Staff Picks: College football coaches next in line to capture first national championship - CBS Sports
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