Shawn's Favorite Five: College Football

     Shawn's Favorite Five will be a series that looks at my five favorite coaches from a sport that isn't my choices for the five greatest or best coaches; it's a list of my five favorites.

College Football is the focus of this version of our series. 

1: Barry Switzer, Oklahoma

Switzer is one of three coaches to win a national championship and a Super Bowl (Jimmy Johnson and Pete Carroll are the others) and is responsible for making Oklahoma the top program of the seventies.

Switzer's Sooners may not have invented the Wishbone offense (Texas did in the late sixties). Still, they perfected it, winning three national titles and numerous Big Eight championships with an unstoppable offense unless forced to pass.

Switzer always played the part of the lovable rogue, and his Sooners may have been the first team that was a "love or hate" team on a national level.

I had no problems loving them.

2: Woody Hayes, Miami, Ohio, and Ohio State

Hayes was brought to Ohio State over former Buckeye coach ( and two-time Hall of Fame inductee) Paul Brown, and then became the most controversial coach of his tenure.

Woody's comments and behaviors were always controversial, and his offenses gave the term "three yards and a cloud of dust" a synonym for dull. Still, his manner of dealing with the rivalry with Michigan is largely what has made it the biggest in college football, if not all sports.

During Hayes's tenure, Ohio State may not have been a love them or hate them team, but Woody Hayes certainly was as a coach.

3: Jim Tressel, Youngstown State and Ohio State

Tressel combined the love of keeping recruiting based around the state of Ohio with a surprising gambling streak for someone who appeared so straight-laced.

Tressel loved basic football, and I'm not sure if he would have been as effective in the current game, but he represented Ohio State well.

Plus, it was Tressel who reestablished Ohio State's domination of Michigan after John Cooper ran the series into the dirt for Buckeye fans!

4: Chris Petersen, Boise State and Washington

Known for bringing Boise State to national prominence, Peterson's trick plays and innovative offense made the Broncos a fun team to watch.

Petersen also rebuilt the Washington program, taking them to the BCS and laying the foundation for the team (under Kalen DeBoer) that would make the national title game in 2023.

5: Bill Snyder, Kansas State

Snyder took one of the country's worst programs and turned it around-TWICE!

Snyder took "Futility U" almost to the verge of a national title. After retiring, K-State fell back to the bottom under Ron Prince before Snyder returned for another decade to rebuild the program back AGAIN!

Barry Switzer once said of Snyder  and the job that he did at Kansas State, "He's not the coach of the year or the decade, he's the coach of the century!"

Shawn's Favorite Five: Pro Football

     Shawn's Favorite Five will be a series that will look at my five favorite coaches from a sport that isn't my pick for the five greatest or best coaches; it's just a list of my five favorites in no particular order.

Pro Football will be the center of this version of Shawn's Favorite Five.

1: Buddy Ryan, Philadelphia and Phoenix 

The irascible and downright hilarious master of the "46" defense, Buddy Ryan, built one of the best defenses ever with the 87-90 Eagles, and it was Ryan who gave the Cardinals their first non-losing season (8-8) in the first of his two years in Arizona.

A terrific judge of talent, Buddy Ryan only had one problem as a head coach- he didn't like offenses, and it often hurt his teams in the clutch.

Ryan was 0-3 in the playoffs for Philadelphia, and his teams were known for playing up or down to their competition.

Still, I loved Buddy Ryan and his willingness to take on anyone ( he called Eagles owner Norman Braman "The Guy In France" and as the Houston Oilers defensive coordinator, he punched coaching staff member Kevin Gilbride during a game) and in his own way, Buddy Ryan was "Stone Cold" Steve Austin a decade before telling off your boss was cool.

Except that Stone Cold eventually won the championship.

2) George Allen, Los Angeles Rams, Washington, USFL Chicago, and Arizona

Known for his fanatical obsessions in looking for every advantage and his willingness to stretch the rulebook (Allen once traded draft picks that his team didn't own), Allen despised younger players lacking the patience to develop them for the future, famously uttering the phrase "The Future is Now!"

Allen traded draft picks like kids trading sports cards and usually obtained players near the end of their career, building a franchise with veterans known as "The Over The Hill Gang".

The vaunted Dallas-Washington rivalry was one created by Allen, who emphasised the games against the Cowboys to a manic level, and his greatest victory came versus Dallas, Washington's 26-3 victory in the 1972 NFC Championship.

Allen's clean-cut but intense style made him wear out his welcome in his NFL stops in Los Angeles and Washington, and when he received a second chance in Los Angeles in 1978, Allen lasted only two preseason games and would never coach in the NFL again.

3) Jerry Glanville, Houston Oilers and Atlanta.

Glanville's star blazed quickly through the NFL as he led the Oilers to multiple playoff berths and even the Falcons to a playoff victory, but "The Man in Black" would never coach in the NFL again after the Falcons fired him after consecutive 6-10 seasons following the 1992 season.

Glanville's teams were known for his quick wit, dressing in all black, and were known for their "aggressive" defensive play.

After being fired by Atlanta, Glanville worked in NFL media until 2005, when he returned to coaching as Hawaii's defensive coordinator under former Glanville assistant June Jones.

Glanville's post-Atlanta coaching stops include head coaching stints at 1-AA Portland State, and minor league TSL Conquerors (The Spring League), and the Alabama Airborne (Major League Football), and defensive coordinator positions with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (CFL), Tampa Bay Vipers (XFL) along with his current job at Division II Northwestern Oklahoma State.

4) Dan Reeves, Denver, New York Giants, Atlanta

A winner at all three stops, Reeves's teams always ran into better teams in the Super Bowl.

A Tom Landry protégé, Reeves was a bit more fiery than Landry and won with both great quarterbacks (John Elway), very good quarterbacks (Phil Simms), and average quarterbacks (Chris Chandler).

Reeves coached iu four Super Bowls, three with Denver and one with Atlanta losing all four to better teams (Denver losing to the 86 Giants, 87 Redskins, and 89 49ers, Atlanta losing to the 98 Broncos).

Reeves's teams may have fallen short in the Super Bowl, but they were usually reliable in big games other than the biggest games.

5) Bum Phillips: Houston, New Orleans.

"Bum", known for his cowboy hat for outdoor games that he wouldn't wear for home games because both teams that he coached played inside domed stadiums, took the Houston Oilers to their first three playoff appearances in the NFL, and two AFC championship appearances, and the start of the "Luv Ya Blue" Oilers behind the power running of Earl Campbell.

Phillips was surprisingly fired by Houston after the third playoff appearance in 1980, and after a few unsuccessful seasons with the New Orleans Saints, he retired from coaching.

The folksy Phillips was perfect for two southern franchises and helped to make his teams easy to root for, even for fans without a dog in the fight.