Who do you want coaching your college football team?

I'm a Western Pennsylvanian, and so I follow all 3 of my "local" teams, Penn State, Pitt and WVU. As Pitt is the only one getting a new coach this year... I'm going to go with MARVIN LEWIS.

I know, when I first heard that he showed interest in interviewing for the Pitt job I thought it was a joke. But, now that I think about it, he might be just the right coach to move the Pitt program forward.

I'll take Joe Paterno. Oh, he's already at my school so I guess I'm in good shape.

It's hard to argue with 401 wins, 24 bowl wins, 5 undefeated teams, and 2 national titles. Add on top of that the numerous "Coach of the Year" awards, induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, and being the first non-athlete as SI Sportsman of the Year.

But what has he done for his school? They've had to expand the stadium from 46,000 to 107,000 (and had record crowds over 110,000) during his tenure. His graduation rate (78% is higher than even his winning percentage (75%). He's personally given over $4 million to the the university and chaired the $13 million campaign for a library expansion. For all of this, he's not even in the top 50 highest paid coaches.

He's been offered jobs as a head coach in the NFL twice and at Michigan once but turned them all down.

I disagree. The coaches you mentioned are on top because they coach for schools that receive the most college recruitment funding for the entire NCAA. If you want a true top college coach, go to a team in those same conferences OTHER than OU, Alabama, etc. The best coach will make the most out of the least (which coaches like Stoops, Meyer, Saban, etc. dont have to worry about).

Gary Pinkel is a perfect example, he has completely turned around a nowhere Mizzou football team into a Top15 contender year after year.

I'll give Rich Rod a 3. Over two seasons he has gone 8-16 (.333) but you have to take into account the fact that he completely changed Michigan's offensive system. However, the defense has been disappointing. We've also lost to those Buckeyes twice now. On the bright side, he's finally got some players that fit the spread offense and last season about 70% of the team were freshmen/sophomores. All us Michigan fans can look to our bright future for comfort. Soon Michigan will show everyone why they have the most wins in FBS history.

I would take Jim Harbaugh of Stanford. He has brought them to national relevance within a couple of years, coached a Heisman Trophy candidates in Toby Gerhart and Andrew Luck, who will also likely be taken first in the NFL draft, and Stanford won 11 games for the first time in their history. A few years ago, Stanford was the worst Pac-10 team in California. Today, they're the best. Harbaugh arguably does more with less than any other team in the country.

I agree with you about Stoops. One of the best coaching jobs I've every seen was in 2006 when Bomar was kicked off in August, AD got hurt, and the refs stole a win from them at Oregon, and he still led them to a Big 12 championship. To the guy talking about Pinkel, did you see the sorry shape OU was in before Stoops got there? Hes taken them from nowhere to winning the Big 12 championship on average 3 out of 4 years and being in the national championship conversation all the time. Same thing with Saban, they werent doing too hot either. And, Pinkels one chance at a national championship, who stopped Mizzou not once but twice?

i've never really been the type of person who goes with the crowd, i don't usually think the same way that most people think. while i do admit that the 3 coaches you picked are very good choices my top 3 are: 1. Chris Petersen, 2. Gary Patterson and 3. Joe Paterno.

Al Golden

Give me a 45 year old Joe Paterno who's up to date and I'll take my chances!

Well, I played for Nick Saban at LSU and I wish he was still there.