College football's top 24 jobs

ACC schools noted.

Clearly, even the top 3 in the ACC have work to do.  The real question to me is, how do UNC, Va Tech, UVA, and Ga Tech NOT make this list?  The natural resources these schools have....IMHO, all should be on this list....or close to it (and maybe some are).  I am least forgiving of UNC/UVA.  These schools are loaded and in great locations.  It is merely a reflection of lack of effort for them to not be on this list.



College football's top 24 jobs

"23. Miami (Fla.) A number of coaches, especially those in the ACC, are down on Miami. "It's a s---- job," one coach said. Well, all right then. One thing that particularly sticks out to rival coaches is a lack of atmosphere for Miami's home games. Unless the opponent is Florida State, it's a ghost town. It makes sense, of course. The Hurricanes are playing 30-60 minutes from campus, depending on traffic, and in a part of town that has little else going on. What do you expect? "The Orange Bowl was awesome," a coach told me last fall. "How they didn't do something on that site, I'll never know. They're hurting now." Upgrades are on the way for Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphin/Dolphins/Land Shark/Sun Life Stadium -- but will that really bring in new or existing Miami fans? It's something the school is going to have to address if it's serious about growing the football program and not merely leaning on the past.

But that past does mean something. The history of "the U" is something that resonates, but more with adults than recruits. Having survived the NCAA's recent investigation, Miami now must do some soul-searching if it truly intends to reinvent itself. On the bright side, there is so much talent within a 100-mile radius of campus. Coach Al Golden has signed as many as any ACC Coastal program, and yet he hasn't done a whole lot with it. Miami is not completely broken, but it's in desperate need of repairs."


"16. Clemson There is no way around the fact that Clemson has underachieved in the past 10 to 20 years, especially in the time that Florida State wobbled. It failed to take full advantage of the Bobby Bowden transition years, and now the Seminoles are again rolling. But make no mistake that coaches would line up to take this job if it were open, because the support and resources are there to be competitive at the highest level.
Put it this way: Clemson has an SEC mentality and SEC facilities -- but it plays an ACC schedule. And in the ACC, there's FSU, a gap to Clemson at No. 2 -- and then a gap to the rest of the league. Going back to the conversation about South Carolina leaning hard on in-state talent for high-end success, it is not as necessary for Clemson. The Tigers have had a better presence in Florida for years, and they fare well in Atlanta, too. Dabo Swinney and former coach Tommy Bowden have worn their faith on their sleeves. They've sold recruits on Clemson being an extension of their own family. The school has also shown that it has deep pockets for assistant coaches' salaries. The fact that it shelled out $1 million-plus to hire and keep former offensive coordinator Chad Morris was eye-opening to coaches.

The city is a quaint, clean college town with nearby mountains and lakes, boosts for both leisure and scenery. Fan support is fervent. The tailgate scene rivals any in the SEC, or anywhere in the country. Memorial Stadium was beginning to show its age, but the WestZone project about a decade ago was a fountain of youth. Additional phases are in the works to continue upgrading that end of the stadium. The school also completed an indoor facility in 2012. As far as a total setup for success, there isn't a whole lot more a coach could ask for than what Clemson currently has."


"7. Florida State Two or three coaches thought we had FSU way too low. One thought it deserved to be in the top three, if not No. 1. He thought it was well on the way to replacing Alabama as the dynasty du jour in the sport. "With the way you can recruit there, it's the best job in the country," he said. To his point, the Seminoles have had 36 ESPN 300 recruits in the past three classes -- and 26 of them were Floridians. With Florida struggling, FSU has again become the "it" school in the state. So what held it back from a higher ranking in our poll? It was likely the sense from coaches that its facilities and assistants' pay appeared to be lagging. That's an evolving perception, however. There's a $250 million plan on the books to update Doak Campbell Stadium between now and 2018. That includes the outdated-looking offices and training areas in the south end zone of the stadium. Also, an indoor facility adjacent to Doak Campbell was completed in 2013. Another reason FSU isn't in our top five? Tallahassee, while it's the state's capital city, is bland and average. It is at least relatively close to the Panama City and Destin beaches. Florida State has been trending up for the past three or four years. It's back to where it was at Bobby Bowden's high point, more than one coach has said."