Sun Belt Coaching Rankings

1.      Hugh Freeze, Arkansas State

Hard to argue with the success Freeze as had this year at Arkansas State.  He has been a winner everywhere he goes and look for him to move quickly up the “hot” coaches list.

2.      Larry Blakeney, Troy

No one has won more games in the Sun Belt than Blakeney as his Troy program has won at least a share of the Sun Belt five times.  This has been a down year for the program but look for Troy to re-emerge in the future.

3.      Mark Hudspeth, Louisiana-Lafayette

Another young hot name in the college coaching world that had done a tremendous job in his first year at Lafayette scoring more points than anyone else in the conference.

4.      Dan McCarney, North Texas

Old school coach who is just what North Texas needs to re-emerge in the conference as a contender.  Has won four games this season while it took Todd Dodge four seasons to win a total of eight.

5.      Mario Cristobal, Florida International

Former Miami assistant who is young and an up-and-coming coach, however, he has been largely inconsistent since taking over the program.  He has recruited very well but has not taking advantage of the fertile recruiting grounds in regards to the on the field play.  I do believe Cristobal is an excellent coach, but he needs to win more to gain ground on Hudspeth and Freeze.

6.      Willie Taggart, Western Kentucky

Taggart could be much higher on this list considering his turn around this season after only winning two games in his first season.  He is a Harbaugh disciple (is there a hotter name in coaching right now than Harbaugh?) who knows how to win and is really winning battles in recruiting.  He has recruited Florida better than most ACC, Big 10, and Big East schools.  I believe Taggart will sky-rocket up this list with another season.

7.      Howard Schnellenberger, Florida Atlantic

Schnellenberger is a legendary coach from his time at Louisville, Miami, and Oklahoma but the end of the road is near.  There is no excuse for a school in Florida to be 0-9 on the season; however it was very difficult to put someone who has had so much success in his career this low.

8.      Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee State

Stockstill has had one exceptional season in 2009, but after losing multiple assistants in the last few years, he is struggling to keep it together.  No one recruits harder and more aggressively than Stockstill but his program is really struggling this season.

9.      Todd Berry, Louisiana-Monroe

Puzzling hire when Berry was named the head coach after the 2009 season.  He had some success at Illinois State but really struggled at Army and hasn’t exactly put up great numbers as an offensive coordinator since.  He has a lot of work to do at Monroe whom continues to be a bottom dweller in the weakest conference in the bowl subdivision.