70. Craig
Bohl
Career Coaching Record: 104-32 (.765 Winning Percentage)
This is one of my more controversial rankings given how high he is on the countdown, but let me justify where Craig Bohl is on this countdown. Bohl (recently hired as the Wyoming coach) has won three consecutive national titles. Yes, they were at the FCS level, but three straight titles. He has lost a total of 2 games in those three seasons. He led the North Dakota State Bison to wins over Minnesota, Colorado State, and Kansas State the past three seasons. The victory over Kansas State was over a team that had played in a BCS game just a year earlier. He has beaten 7 FBS teams in his 10 seasons at North Dakota State, including 4 straight seasons with a win over and FBS team. Kansas State even paid Norta Dakota State $350,000 for the game (which was the 2nd biggest in Wildcats history). He also led the 2006 Bison to a 10-1 record (only loss by 3 to Wyoming) in a year which the Bison were ineligible for postseason play (they were ineligible until 2007 when they joined a new conference). The Bison were a Division 2 team until Bohl took over in 2003. Since 2003 he has guided the Bison to a very successful run as an FCS program. The guy can flat out coach. People will realize how good he is when he turns Wyoming into the next mid-major force. Craig Bohl finally got his shot at coaching an FBS team and Wyoming will not regret it.
69. Mike Gillespie
Mike Gillespie is one of the most successful college baseball coaches of all-time. He would be much higher up the list if UC Irvine pulled it off at the College World Series this year. However, as it sits, he is right where he belongs. Through 2 very successful stints as a college baseball coach, Gillespie has won a championship and advanced to five other world series appearances. It is still a bit surprising that Gillespie and USC parted ways in 2006, but Gillespie was able to coach UC Irvine after taking the 2007 season off and has led the team to become a threat nationally. Gillespie is a guy that still has a lot left and could shoot up this list. However, with only one championship, he cannot go any higher than this.
68. John Madden
Career Coaching Record: 103-32-7 (.763 Winning Percentage)
67. Leo Durocher
Durocher was a very successful MLB manager that had winning stints with all four organizations he managed. His most successful stints were in New York with the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers. He was recently featured in the new Jackie Robinson movie "42" as a manager for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Durocher perhaps should be ranked higher simply because he was Robinson's manager and helped baseball to become integrated again. Those Dodgers would win one pennant although the '47 team with Robinson won the pennant while Durocher was suspended. He would win two more pennants with the New York Giants later in his career. The 1954 Giants with Willie Mays in Center Field was that best team that Durocher coached. That team would go on to win the World Series. Before he was done, he had above average stints with the Cubs and Astros, but Durocher will always be remembered for his link with Robinson and Mays, two of the greatest ever.
66. Lou Holtz
Lou Holtz now works as an analyst for ESPN, but was once one of the best coaches in college football. He is best known for his work at Notre Dame and for good reason, as he won their last National Championship in 1988 with the 12-0 Irish. He also had 100 wins for the Irish and only 30 losses. His winning percentage at Notre Dame was .769 and he was brilliant managing the country's most popular program. Lou also won more than 70% of his games at North Carolina State in the 70s though including an ACC title in 1973. Then he won 74% of his games at Arkansas following that stint including the SWC title in 1979. Finally, he took over a dreadful South Carolina program and put them back on the college football map. He left USC in a much better position than he inherited it. By the time he took over the Gamecocks, he was not the same coach, but he was still highly effective in leading their turnaround. Lou Holtz was a much better coach than most people give him credit for.
65. Jim Boehim
Career Coaching Record: 948-319 (.748 Winning Percentage)
Going into this list, I thought Boehim would be ranked much higher. He seems like an easy top 50 coach. However, Boehim only has one championship despite his impressive resume. That's right the Carmelo Anthony led 2003 team is Boehim's only NCAA title. That makes Boehim a perfect fit at 1965. 4 Final Four appearances and several Big East titles are awesome, but I was shocked to learn Boehim has that one title alone.
64. Dick Williams
Career Coaching Record: 1571-1451 (.520 Winning Percentage)
Dick Williams managed 6 different MLB teams in 21 seasons in professional baseball. He never stayed with any team for more than 5 years during his Major League career either. It is rather odd that he bounced around as much as he did given his success. His most successful stint by far was with the Oakland A's in the early 1970s when he won 2 World Series Titles. Those A's teams won 60% of their games and won 100 regular season games in the year he didn't win a World Series Title in Oakland. The A's played so well under Williams that he conceivably would be much higher if he coached them for more than 3 seasons. As it turns out though, Williams only had three years in Oakland. He did find success elsewhere though, winning pennants in Boston and San Diego as well. Total, Williams finished with 2 World Series Titles and 4 League Pennants.
63. Clair Bee
Dick Williams managed 6 different MLB teams in 21 seasons in professional baseball. He never stayed with any team for more than 5 years during his Major League career either. It is rather odd that he bounced around as much as he did given his success. His most successful stint by far was with the Oakland A's in the early 1970s when he won 2 World Series Titles. Those A's teams won 60% of their games and won 100 regular season games in the year he didn't win a World Series Title in Oakland. The A's played so well under Williams that he conceivably would be much higher if he coached them for more than 3 seasons. As it turns out though, Williams only had three years in Oakland. He did find success elsewhere though, winning pennants in Boston and San Diego as well. Total, Williams finished with 2 World Series Titles and 4 League Pennants.
63. Clair Bee
NCAA Football Career Coaching Record: 5-1 (.833 Winning Percentage)
NCAA Baseball Career Coaching Record: 78-24-4 (.755 Winning Percentage)
NBA Coaching Record: 32-110 (.225 Winning Percentage)
While Clair Bee bombed in two years coaching the Baltimore Bullets, there is no doubting his impressive coaching resume. This guy won at least 75% of his games in three different sports coaching. That is quite an impressive accomplishment at the major college level. That kind of success is unheard of. He is best known for leading Long Island to the National Championship of basketball in the 1938-1939 season with a 23-0 record. He was successful coaching Long Island in football and baseball as well. The pure fact that he was so successful coaching three different sports speaks for itself. This coach clearly belongs on this list for his versatility alone.
62. Red Holzman
Red Holzman led the New York Knicks to their only two championships in NBA history. The 1970 and 1973 titles are the only ever for the Knicks, which is hard to believe. That alone makes Holzman worthy of this list. It is quite impressive to think about when you think of the history of this franchise and the names that coached it. Pat Riley could not win in New York, but Holzman did. However, Riley's winning percentage in New York blew Holzman's out of the water. In fact, you take away Holzman's championships and his tenure in New York was below average. He did win those titles though and fits in perfectly at number 62.
61. Tom Flores
Tom Flores has a very similar resume to Red Holzman just before him. Flores won two Super Bowl titles, but had very little success otherwise. This guy was a complete failure in Seattle after he left Oakland, but you cannot discount the Oakland years. You also cannot discount the fact that he won multiple Super Bowl rings. There are not too many coaches with multiple Super Bowl rings. In fact, because that number is such lower than the number that have multiple in basketball, Flores was able to slip by Holzman for the number 61 spot. To me though, their resumes were almost identical.
-Noland
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