I purposefully waited until the coaching series was over to go back and dissect the numbers. When picking the
coaches in each category, I didn't want to be influenced.
Anyway, here is how it breaks down ...
• The big winners were the SEC and Big 10. Surprise! Eighteen of the 66 coaches chosen came from the SEC (27.2 percent). The Big Ten had 13 picks (19.7 percent). Only three of the coaches came from non-BCS leagues (two from Conference USA and one from the WAC).
• Another surprise (not). Nine of the 66 coaches came from schools in Florida.
• The Big 12 and Pac-10 each led with three coaches on the dream staff. Norm Chow (UCLA, offensive coordinator), Pat Ruel (offensive line, USC) and Pete Carroll (head coach, USC) came from the Pac-10. In the Big 12, there were Cale Gundy (running backs, Oklahoma), Bruce Walker (tight ends, Missouri) and Brian Cabral (linebackers, Colorado). The Big Ten and SEC each had two "bests".
• USC and Florida tied for the most coaches on the list, each with five. That means that more than half the staffs at those schools are among the best in the country. That would make sense since the schools have combined to finish No. 1 in the AP poll three of the last five years.
• Thirty-five total schools were represented, including at least two programs from all six BCS conferences. Notre Dame did not have a coach on the list. However, East Carolina, Hawaii, UNLV and Tulsa did.
• The only SEC schools not represented were Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Kentucky and Mississippi State.
• The only conferences not to have at least one coach on a list were the Sun Belt and MAC.
• Nine of the dream staffers have won a national championship. The only ringless member is Missouri tight ends coach Bruce Walker.
Coaches I wished could have made the list but didn't:
• South Florida defensive backs coach Troy Douglas (coached first-rounder Mike Jenkins and fifth-round Trae Williams in 2007).
• There were too many good offensive coordinators. Among those that deserve mention: Bryan Harsin, Boise State; Mike Locksley, Illinois; Joker Phillips, Kentucky; Jim Bollman, Ohio State; Steed Lobotzke, Wake Forest.
• How do you leave off defensive coordinators DeWayne Walker of UCLA and Wally Burnham of South Florida?• This has nothing to do with the coaching series but I found it interesting that Texas A&M's new president Elsa Murano isn't expecting much out of Mike Sherman in his first season.
"I have great expectations for coach (Mike) Sherman. Poor guy," Murano told the San Antonio Express-News. "We all think he needs to win the championship the first year, which of course cannot possibly happen. We need to give him a chance to rebuild.”
Cannot possibly happen? You've got to love Murano's candor.
