When asked about increasing criticism directed at coach Mark Richt, Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity took the safe and expected route, telling the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Mark Bradley, “I hear after the Arkansas and Missouri wins that it’s ‘the best coaching job ever,’ and then (after the Florida loss) it’s the worst.”
Can’t argue with that. The week of the Florida game, I wrote a column illustrating the remarkable job Richt was doing in Athens, navigating his team through injuries and the suspension of running back Todd Gurley to a 6-1 start and seemingly headed for a SEC title-game appearance. Five days later, Richt was outcoached by the soon-to-be-fired Will Muschamp, Georgia was flattened in Jacksonville and I proceeded to hit myself over the head with a mallet.
With few exceptions, this isn’t a great time for coaches in Atlanta and Athens. Stock prices: mostly down.
As a spinoff to my annual rankings of sports teams, I submit my inaugural ranking of pro and major college football, basketball and baseball coaches. Factors: ability, whether talent is being maximized and how a team is trending.
I anticipate debate. Otherwise, this wouldn’t be any fun:
1. Mike Budenholzer (Hawks): Kind of a slam dunk. The Hawks were only 38-44 in his first season after fizzling down the stretch, but then nearly upset No. 1 seed Indiana in the first round. The Hawks have a good, not great, roster, but they're 18-7 after dismantling LeBron James and Cleveland on the road. Budenholzer seemingly has made every player on his roster better and smarter, and the Hawks play better together, on offense and defense, than any other local team.
2. Ron Hunter (Ga. State basketball): The Panthers last season were 25-9, won the Sun Belt championship in their first season in the conference and nearly reached the NCAA tournament, which certainly puts Hunter ahead of his counterparts at Georgia Tech and Georgia. Blowing a nine-point lead late in the Sun Belt title game against Louisiana-Lafayette eliminated NCAA hopes. But Hunter's frenetic, pressing style on the court and his personality off the court has invigorated a sleepy program that could be hamstrung by playing in an antiquated facility.
3. Paul Johnson (Tech football): It's this simple: If Tech didn't accomplish something significant this season in the eyes of athletic director Mike Bobinski, Johnson would be gone. It was only after consecutive wins over Clemson and Georgia and a 10-2 regular season that Bobinski gave his coach a contract extension. The Jackets narrowly lost to unbeaten Florida State in the ACC title game but will play in the Orange Bowl for the second time in six years. Not bad for a seven-win program. Many don't like Johnson's option run-dominated offense, but this season has been affirmation it works when Johnson gets a quarterback (Justin Thomas) who can run it. Now he just needs to recruit a few more players on defense.
4. Mark Richt (Georgia football): I summed up the situation with Richt above. For all of the positive of this season, the team's performance in the Florida game will be a hangover that carries into next season. Georgia lost the SEC East in a year where the SEC East was there for easy taking. What that means is if Georgia relatively falters again in a game (or games) where it's expected the Bulldogs should win, McGarity may be forced with a difficult decision for the first time since early in 2011.
Equator: Trent Miles (Ga. State football): Miles is 1-23. So, yeah, that's only one more win than if you or I were coaching. But it's impossible to judge the man considering he's at young program with little talent and even fewer resources, he's surrounded by a student body that doesn't seem to care about football and he works for administrators who foolishly made the jump to FBS way too early. Conclusion: Miles is not eligible for rankings. But he serves as a nice dividing line at this spot.
5. Fredi Gonzalez (Braves): General manager Frank Wren was fired for poor roster construction, a declining minor league system and under-performing players, some of whom were drawing large salaries. But part of the blame for under-performance has to go on the manager. Few teams under-performed as much as the Braves last season (79-83, a drop from 94 and 96 wins the previous two years). It's difficult to project how competitive the Braves will be next season given John Hart and John Coppolella are in the midst of reshaping the roster, but Gonzalez needs to accomplish more with the players he's given.
6. Mike Smith (Falcons): The Falcons have been so bad over the past two seasons (9-21) that there's enough blame to go around. But here's where I draw the line on Smith vs. Thomas Dimitroff debate: While it's clear there have been mistakes in personnel decisions, it's even more clear Smith should have more than nine wins in the past 30 games. He was 4-12 last season and there was a point in the year when his players seemed to check out. He is 5-9 this season and blew potential wins with late-game decisions against Detroit and Cleveland, which in the NFC South is the difference between being 7-7 and holding a one-game lead over New Orleans and sitting in third place and one game back. Smith's stock price: Way down.
7. Open: I needed space here.
8. (tied) Mark Fox, Brian Gregory (Georgia, Tech basketball): Tech recently lost to South Carolina-Upstate. Georgia lost to Tech. Clearly South Carolina-Upstate is kicking everybody's butt in recruiting. Georgia had high hopes coming into the season with several returning players, but the sloppy performance in the opening loss to Tech and a 5-3 non-conference record don't project well for the SEC schedule. Tech is 7-2, but hasn't played a ranked team yet and the ACC schedule could be painful. It also didn't look good when Robert Carter Jr. decided to transfer. Gregory and Fox need significant progress, or they may be in trouble.
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