Where Urban Meyer’s accomplishments rank in college football history
Is the Rose Bowl set to be Urban Meyer’s final game as a college football head coach? Meyer is stepping down from Ohio State after the game and offensive coordinator Ryan Day will take over as the team’s new coach.
If the Rose Bowl is Meyer’s final game he’s going to end his coaching career as one of the most prolific coaches in college football history. Here’s a snapshot of where he stands against head coaches across the top level of college football.
Career record: 186-32
Meyer is No. 28 overall among FBS coaches in total wins. Only 18 FBS coaches have more than 200 wins and Meyer can tie Jess Neely at No. 27 on the list with an Ohio State win over Washington in the Rose Bowl. Meyer would already be ahead of Neely if he didn’t miss the first three games of Ohio State’s season in 2018 because of his school-issued suspension.
Among coaches who were active in 2018, Meyer ranked No. 3 in wins behind Alabama’s Nick Saban and Kansas State’s Bill Snyder. With Meyer stepping down and Snyder retiring at KSU, Miami’s Mark Richt moves to No. 2 among active coaches.
Here’s what a top five list of winningest active coaches now looks like without Meyer and Snyder on it.
1. Nick Saban, 236 wins
2. Mark Richt, 171
3. Gary Patterson, 166
4. Frank Solich, 163
5. Kirk Ferentz, 151
.853 winning percentage
Meyer’s career record is one of the best ever for a head coach. Only three other FBS coaches have a better winning percentage.
Knute Rockne (105-12-5): .881
Frank Leahy (107-13-9), .864
Doyt Perry (77-11-5), .855
Meyer is third on the list behind Rockne and Leahy among coaches who have coached for at least 10 seasons.
No active head coach can come close to Meyer’s winning percentage. With Meyer’s retirement, the most efficient active coach will be the guy coaching against Meyer in his final game. Washington’s Chris Petersen’s winning percentage is .813.
Saban is No. 3 behind Meyer and Petersen with a .786 winning percentage among active coaches who have coached at least 150 games.
Only seven coaches have more national titles
Ohio State’s national championship after the 2014 season put Meyer in elite company. He’s just one of 16 coaches with three or more national championships.
Meyer, Walter Camp, Pop Warner, Percy Houghton Barry Switzer, Bud Wilkinson, Darrell Royal, Tom Osborne and Knute Rockne all have three national championships. Here are the coaches who have more:
Bear Bryant and Nick Saban: 6
Bernie Bierman, Howard Jones, and Woody Hayes: 5
Frank Leahy and John McKay: 4
Additionally, Meyer is the only coach to win two national championships at Florida and one of only four coaches to win a national title at Ohio State.
One of only 4 active coaches with a title
Meyer was one of just four coaches who have national titles to their name. Without Meyer on the sideline in 2019, just Saban, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher can call themselves title-winning coaches while out on the recruiting trail … along with North Carolina’s Mack Brown and Kansas’ Les Miles. Yes, they’re back in the game.
Only OSU coach to go undefeated vs. Michigan
Meyer will finish his Ohio State career with a 7-0 record against the Wolverines. He’s the only Buckeye coach to never lose against That Team Up North. Meyer beat Jim Harbaugh’s teams four times and Brady Hoke’s teams three times in his tenure at Ohio State.
– – – – – – –
Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
Follow @NickBromberg on Twitter
More from Yahoo Sports:
• Forde: Urban Meyer has one complicated, drama-filled legacy
• Wetzel: Urban Meyer’s Big Ten rivals finally have their chance
• 10 things to know about Urban Meyer’s Ohio State successor
• Here are the 10 biggest games of Urban Meyer’s career