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For the last half-decade, Nick Saban has unquestionably been the best coach in college football. Prior to Monday’s national championship, SDS ranked him as the No. 1 coach in the country still, despite two straight years with less-than-stellar bowl game performances.
With Ohio State’s win in first College Football Playoff Championship on Monday night, it’s reopened the question as to who truly reigns supreme. Urban Meyer won his third national championship, his first with Ohio State, and ran his bowl record to 8-2. He did it starting his third-string quarterback, defying expectations all season. In just three years at OSU, Meyer has 37 wins, including an undefeated first season during which the Buckeyes were on probation.
Who truly is the best coach in the country? It’s certainly subjective and you can’t go wrong with either. We break down their career accomplishments and let you be the judge.
Records
Overall — Saban: 182-59-1, Meyer: 141-26
Winning percentage — Saban: .754, Meyer: .844
Bowls — Saban: 8-8, Meyer: 8-2
Bowl winning percentage — Saban: .500; Meyer: .800
SEC — Saban: 78-23; Meyer: 36-12
SEC winning percentage — Saban: .772, Meyer: .750
Conference (all coaching stops) — Saban: 108-40-1, Meyer: 84-18
Conference winning percentage (all coaching stops) — Saban: .725, Meyer: .823
Head-to-head — 2-2
Championships
Conference titles — Saban: 6 (1 Mid-American, 5 SEC), Meyer: 5 (2 Mountain West, 2 SEC, 1 Big Ten)
Conference championship record — Saban: 5-1 (SEC), Meyer: 3-1 (2-1 SEC, 1-0 Big Ten)
National titles — Saban: 4 (1 LSU, 3 Alabama), Meyer: 3 (2 Florida, 1 Ohio State)
National championship game record — Saban: 4-0; Meyer: 3-0
BCS/New Year’s Six record — Saban: 5-3, Meyer: 6-1
A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.
