Sports
Head coaches’ alma maters
New Georgia head coach Kirby Smart also played football in Athens.
As Kirby Smart takes over at Georgia, his alma mater, it begs the question: Does having an alumnus coach matter?
Former Maryland head coach Ralph Friedgen coached the Terrapins after being away for many years. For Friedgen, who no longer coaches at Maryland, the experience was mized.
“Basically if you don’t win – and hell, I went 9-4 my last year and won coach of the year and got fired — it really doesn’t matter much in the end whether you’re an alumnus or not,” Friedgen said.
Here's a look at the alma maters of the head coaches around the SEC and the country.
SEC
| SCHOOL | HEAD COACH | ALMA MATER |
| Alabama | Nick Saban | Kent State |
| Arkansas | Bret Beilema | Iowa |
| Auburn | Gus Malzahn | Henderson State (Arkansas)* |
| Florida | Jim McElwain | Eastern Washington |
| Georgia | Kirby Smart | Georgia |
| Kentucky | Mark Stoops | Iowa |
| LSU | Les Miles | Michigan |
| Ole Miss | Hugh Freeze | Souther Miss |
| Mississippi State | Dan Mullen | Ursinus (Pa.) |
| Missouri | Barry Odom | Missouri |
| South Carolina | Will Muschamp | Georgia |
| Tennessee | Butch Jones | Ferris State (Mich.) |
| Texas A&M | Kevin Sumlin | Purdue |
| Vanderbilt | Derek Mason | Northern Arizona |
* Malzahn spent his first two seasons at Arkansas
ACC
| SCHOOL | HEAD COACH | ALMA MATER |
| Boston College | Steve Addazio | Central Connecticut |
| Clemson | Dabo Swinney | Alabama |
| Duke | David Cutcliffe | Alabama |
| Florida State | Jimbo Fisher | Samford |
| Georgia Tech | Paul Johnson | Western Carolina* |
| Louisville | Bobby Petrino | Carroll College (Montana) |
| Miami | Mark Richt | Miami |
| North Carolina | Larry Fedora | Austin College (Texas) |
| North Carolina State | Dave Doreen | Drake |
| Pittsburgh | Pat Narduzzi | Rhode Island |
| Syracuse | Dino Babers | Hawaii |
| Virginia | Bronco Mendenhall | Oregon State |
| Virginia Tech | Justin Fuente | Murray State** |
| Wake Forest | Dave Clawson | Williams (Mass.) |
* Johnson did not play football at Western Carolina
** Fuente started playing career at Oklahoma before transferring
Other notable coaches
| SCHOOL | HEAD COACH | ALMA MATER |
| Baylor | Art Briles | Houston, Texas Tech |
| Kansas State | Bill Snyder | Missouri |
| Oklahoma | Bob Stoops | Iowa |
| Oklahoma State | Mike Gundy | Oklahoma State |
| TCU | Garry Patterson | Kansas State |
| Texas | Charlie Strong | Central Arkansas |
| Iowa | Kirk Ferentz | Connecticut |
| Michigan State | Mark Dantonio | South Carolina |
| Ohio State | Urban Meyer | Cincinnati |
| Penn State | James Franklin | East Stroudsburg (Pa.) |
| Notre Dame | Brian Kelly | Assumption (Mass.) |
| Arizona | Rich Rodriguez | West Virginia |
| Oregon | Mark Helfrich | Southern Oregon |
| Stanford | David Shaw | Stanford |
| UCLA | Jim Mora | Washington |
| Southern California | Clay Helton | Houston |
| Utah | Kyle Whittingham | BYU |
| Washington | Chris Petersen | UC-Davis |
| Washington State | Mike Leach | BYU* |
| Houston | Tom Herman | California Lutheran |
| Georgia State | Trent Miles | Indiana State |
| Colorado State | Mike Bobo | Georgia |
* Leach did not play football at BYU
