Evaluating the great college coaches

[MartyClark]

Wow, I miss college basketball. I can't wait for next season to start.

I was considering the issue of who is the greatest college coach of alltime. The top three have to be John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, and Coach K.

John Wooden - coached 1946 to 1975 with a record of 664 and 162. Ten national championships in a twelve year period.

Adolph Rupp - coached 1930-1972 with a record of 876 and 90. Four national championships.

Coach K - we all know the stats.

How do we even compare these coaches given the different eras? It seems to be more difficult to win a national championship now but I am curious for your conclusions and reasoning.

[MartyClark]

Correction - Coach Rupp was 876 and 190.

[CDu]

Wow, I miss college basketball. I can't wait for next season to start.

I was considering the issue of who is the greatest college coach of alltime. The top three have to be John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, and Coach K.

John Wooden - coached 1946 to 1975 with a record of 664 and 162. Ten national championships in a twelve year period.

Adolph Rupp - coached 1930-1972 with a record of 876 and 90. Four national championships.

Coach K - we all know the stats.

How do we even compare these coaches given the different eras? It seems to be more difficult to win a national championship now but I am curious for your conclusions and reasoning.

There isn't going to be any easy measure of comparison. These coaches (as well as Bobby Knight, Dean Smith, and others) competed in different eras and had different contributions/strengths as coaches. It's easier to just say they were all great coaches. People have an opinion as to which one is best, and you're not likely to sway that either way.

[Daniel tosh]

Come on I know most of dont like him(but we respect him)but you gotta put Dean Smith on the list.

[CEF1959]

You'd better start by asking, "What makes a college basketball coach 'great'?"

[JasonEvans]

Come on I know most of dont like him(but we respect him)but you gotta put Dean Smith on the list.

Bobby Knight too.

-Jason

[slower]

Come on I know most of dont like him(but we respect him)but you gotta put Dean Smith on the list.

This is the list of the top 3 coaches of all time.

No way Dean (or The General) surpasses Wooden. Probably not Rupp, either. And, I'd argue, not K. So I'm good with the original premise.

One more chip for K and I'd say there's no arguing that only Wooden's ahead of him (especially if you're from the school of "it's all about the championships" that idolizes Bill Russell - and, to a slightly lesser degree, MJ - as the GOAT).

Of course, if you want to argue about the SIGNIFICANCE of these coaches, it might be a slightly different story. Or maybe not.

[brevity]

This is the list of the top 3 coaches of all time.

No way Dean (or The General) surpasses Wooden. Probably not Rupp, either. And, I'd argue, not K. So I'm good with the original premise.

Ah, but you've chosen to share that premise with the rest of us.

This is your thread, so you may as well put forth your best argument (more than stats) that establishes why these three men top your list and why no other will be crashing the medal platform anytime soon. Then you can try to compare and rank these three as you please, inviting others to chime in on their opinions.

There are many, many threads on greatness and college coaches. (Too many, in my opinion.) If you wanted yours to be any different, you need to put a little more of yourself into it. Otherwise, this is a conversation best left to you and your mirror rather than a message board.

[slower]

Ah, but you've chosen to share that premise with the rest of us.

This is your thread, so you may as well put forth your best argument (more than stats) that establishes why these three men top your list and why no other will be crashing the medal platform anytime soon. Then you can try to compare and rank these three as you please, inviting others to chime in on their opinions.

There are many, many threads on greatness and college coaches. (Too many, in my opinion.) If you wanted yours to be any different, you need to put a little more of yourself into it. Otherwise, this is a conversation best left to you and your mirror rather than a message board.

This is NOT my thread. Perhaps your observational powers are dimming. :)

[4decadedukie]

This is the list of the top 3 coaches of all time.

No way Dean (or The General) surpasses Wooden. Probably not Rupp, either. And, I'd argue, not K. So I'm good with the original premise.

One more chip for K and I'd say there's no arguing that only Wooden's ahead of him (especially if you're from the school of "it's all about the championships" that idolizes Bill Russell - and, to a slightly lesser degree, MJ - as the GOAT).

Of course, if you want to argue about the SIGNIFICANCE of these coaches, it might be a slightly different story. Or maybe not.


In my opinion, if the germane criteria includes more than just wins versus losses, National Championships, and so forth -- and it should, student-athletes and collegiate sports certainly should also reflect achievements in academics and character development -- then Wooden, K, and Smith receive extra credit, Knight does too (but is sullied by his vitriolic episodes) and Rupp earns negative points for blatant racism.

[brevity]

This is NOT my thread. Perhaps your observational powers are dimming. :)

Wow, I totally missed that salient point.

You sounded so defensive of the original post that I never bothered to check identities. I probably shouldn't have cared either way, but I do find these threads extremely annoying. Comparing coaches of different eras is a pointless endeavor, even within the context of message boards.

Apologies.

[Welcome2DaSlopes]

Wow, I totally missed that salient point.

You sounded so defensive of the original post that I never bothered to check identities. I probably shouldn't have cared either way, but I do find these threads extremely annoying. Comparing coaches of different eras is a pointless endeavor, even within the context of message boards.

Apologies.

This and who has the most swagger, screams out basketball season is over.