The sudden head coach opening and ongoing NCAA investigation at Ohio State prompted an interesting question: Given the circumstances, where does coaching the Buckeyes fall on the list of most desirable college football jobs?
When I examined college football's destination jobs two years ago, Ohio State was in the highest echelon. If it wasn't the best job in America, it was a close second. So where is it now? Here's a hint: It will take a lot to make that job less desirable.
In compiling this list of America's best coaching jobs, I considered a few factors. Most important was proximity to recruits. Schools located in recruiting hotbeds have a prohibitive advantage over schools that must travel the nation to find players. Obviously, that isn't the only factor. If it were, South Florida coach Skip Holtz would have the best job in America. It also matters how recruits view a school. For example, Texas, Ohio State, Georgia and LSU got significant points because recruits consider them the dominant programs in their heavily stocked states. Conference affiliation matters as well. SEC and Big Ten programs generally have more money to spend, while Big 12 and Pac-12 programs are catching up thanks to their new television deals. I also considered how well the schools pay their coaches -- and their assistants -- and how programs make and spend money. Tradition factored in, and so did fan/booster support. Of course, if fans are a little too passionate and turn the job into a pressure-cooker, that might make a gig a little less desirable.
Remember, this isn't a ranking of the actual on-field product. If your favorite team is good and isn't on this list, it means your team's coach is excellent. If your team is on this list and isn't good, it means your team might need to hire a new coach soon. This is a ranking of which jobs, if they opened, would draw the most interest from coaches because they allow the greatest opportunity for success. Whether coaches take advantage of that opportunity is entirely up to them.
