Few things in sports are as clear cut as who the best college football coach of all time is. Bear Bryant owned every single one of the legitimate best coaches of all time that he had to face (Paterno, Bud Wilkinson, Woody Hayes, Jon Vaught, etc., etc.) he owned all of them. Except Bear didn't inherit any good teams anywhere he went (like several of these coaches did..which I'll touch on in a bit). He had to rebuild every program he took over from the ashes, and he had to do it WITHOUT the benefit of black players for a long time at Alabama. Bear Bryant integrated the SEC.
Several of these coaches don't even belong on this list, Jimmy Johnson doesn't belong, Frank Beamer doesn't belong, Bo Schembechler doesn't belong, and Mack Brown is debateable, but he deserves some credit for all those 10 win seasons at Texas, and what he accomplished while at UNC.
Bo Schembechler has ZERO perfect seasons, ZERO national titles, and a 5-12 bowl record that includes a 2-8 record in the Rose Bowl.
Jimmy Johnson has no business on this list. He won a national championship. Well, so did Bobby Ross. So did Bill McCartney, and neither one of them are on the list. Jimmy INHERITED a good team and a good program from Howard Schnellenberger, and then handed off a corrupt program to Dennis Erickson. Why isn't Erickson on the list? He only won TWICE as many national titles as Jimmy, played for 2 more, and rebuilt Oregon St. and Arizona St. Not that Erickson is an all time great, he's not...
The coaches who should replace those guys are Bob Neyland, Wallace Wade, Bob Devaney, and Eddie Robinson. Even Bear Bryant himself once said that Eddie Robinson was the greatest college football coach of all time in his opinion (paying him a compliment).
Bear is in a class all by himself, but Knute Rockne is the only one even close to Bear's neighborhood. Rockne died in a tragic plane crash when he was only 43 years old, what he was able to accomplish in that time is incredible, most coaches don't even get going good until they're 43.
Lou Holtz has won everywhere he's been. The man took William & Mary to a bowl game. He took Minnesota to a bowl game. Won a national title with the Irish in only his 3rd year following the darkest period in Notre Dame history post-WW2. Turned South Carolina from an SEC East doormat into a respectable foe, and setup Spurrier's success there. Holtz took dead programs and made them winners in 2-3 years every time.
Speaking of Steve Spurrier, he revolutionized SEC football with his offenses, but it always seemed to me that his teams tended to underachieve in big games. Somehow his 1992 team with Shane Matthews lost FOUR TIMES, including a rout to Miss St. His 1994 team blew a 31-3 lead on FSU in the final 11 minutes, and then lost to those same Noles in a bowl game. His 1995 team was considered the best in the land and got pulvarized by Nebraska in the NC game. It's not that they lost- they didn't even show up. In 1996 they lost their one IMPORTANT regular season game to FSU, afterwards Spurrier was whining about hits on his QB. He somehow lost to a mentally distracted Alabama team in 1999...TWICE, including a rout in the SEC title game. Even his national championship was only gained because Nebraska somehow managed to lose to an overwhelmed Texas team. Spurrier's Game****s didn't even bother to show up against Auburn in the SEC title game last year, nor their bowl game against FSU.
Tom Osborne would be included on my list of duds with Jimmy, Frank Beamer, and Bo Schembechler if he hadn't managed to put together that great 4 year run at the end. Osborne notoriously lost every single big game Nebraska played in until Tommie Frazier (best college quarterback I've ever seen) came along. He blundered away the 1983 national title against an overmatched opponent.... lost a rematch with Oklahoma in the late 70's... couldn't beat Bobby Bowden to save his life in 4 bowl games.... got shut out by Miami in an Orange Bowl.... somehow lost to Iowa St. in 1992, who hadn't beat Nebraska in three decades... blew a shot at a three-peat by getting shutout by Pat Tillman's Arizona St. team... and then bungled away the first ever Big-12 title game. Not to mention pioneering the use of steriods in college football, despite INHERITING a gift of a program from Bob Devaney.
Bud Wilkinson was even before my time, but he created the 3-4 defense at Oklahoma in the 1940's...
Bobby Bowden's 14 consecutive top 5 finishes ESPECIALLY in the 80's and 90's is insane. But he did it.
Nick Saban in 5 years could potentially separate himself and be in Knute Rockne and John McCay's neighborhood by the time it's over with.
Off of that list they have there, I'd rank 'em...
1. Bear Bryant (.7800 winning pct., 6 National Titles, 13 Conference Titles)
2. Knute Rockne (.8811 winning pct., 5 National Titles)
3. John McCay (.7486 winning pct., 4 National Titles)
t4. Bud Wilkinson (.8258 winning pct., 3 National Titles)
t4. Barry Switzer (.8368 winning pct., 3 National Titles)
5. Woody Hayes (.7594 winning pct., 3 National Titles)
6. Darrell Royal (.7490 winning pct., 3 National Titles)
7. Tom Osborne (.8355 winning pct., 3 National Titles)
8. Joe Paterno (.7468 winning pct., 2 National Titles)
9. Bobby Bowden (.7431 winning pct., 2 National Titles)
10. Nick Saban (.7154 winning pct., 2 National Titles)
11. Urban Meyer (.8189 winning pct., 2 National Titles)
12. Lou Holtz (.6508 winning pct., 1 National Title)
13. Steve Spurrier (.7165 winning pct., 1 National Title)
14. Mack Brown (.6692 winning pct., 1 National Title)
15. Jim Tressel (.7516 winning pct., 1 National Title)
I'm not ranking any of those other coaches, as they don't belong. Bob Neyland, Wallace Wade, Bob Devaney, and Eddie Robinson would be on there and it would round out my top 20.