Winning is everything in college football. And since the inception of the CFP, even more of a premium has been placed on national titles — conference championships and bowl games just don’t really cut it anymore.
With that said, winning national championships is hard and there are a lot of great coaches that have yet to know what that feels like.
Earlier this week 247’s Brad Crawford ranked them from 1-to-10. And in the top spot is a coach that’s come close so many times, but has yet to raise the trophy. That would be Texas’ Steve Sarkisian.
“Consecutive trips to the College Football Playoff semifinals for Steve Sarkisian means the Longhorns are on doorstep of their first national championship in two decades next season if Arch Manning and a new crop of stars around him offensively can handle the SEC,” the analyst wrote.
“Sarkisian’s first test last season in the ultra-competitive league passed the eye test thanks to a roster that’s projected to produce several early-round NFL Draft picks,” he added. “Colin Simmons and Anthony Hill Jr. give the Longhorns two of the nation’s top defenders this fall.”
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Sark was joined on the list by Oregon’s Dan Lanning, LSU’s Brian Kelly, Penn State’s James Franklin and Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman.
Kalen DeBoer, Lincoln Riley, Lane Kiffin, Mike Norvell and UT’s Josh Heupel rounded out the top 10.
Clearly Steve Sarkisian is set up for a ton of success next season with Arch Manning taking ownership of the Longhorns’ offense. But will his team finally be able to rise to the occasion and deliver for the first time since the Mack Brown era?
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