Oklahoma Continues to be One of the Most Underrated Gigs in Football

With the USC head coaching job opening up, a great offseason conversation starter has returned to the forefront of college football.

Which school has the most attractive head coaching job in the country?

Texas and USC generally dominate the conversation despite under performing the hype for the better part of 15 years.

Recently, The Athletic conducted an anonymous poll of over 100 coaches and various staff members throughout college football, concluding that Alabama is in fact the best job in the nation, followed by Ohio State, Georgia, Texas and LSU.

Somewhat surprisingly, Oklahoma landed in eighth, only receiving three first place votes for the top spot in the nation despite the success the program has experienced over the past 20 years.

Bordering Texas, the Sooners are a stone’s throw from one of the most fertile recruiting grounds in the country, though the job prospects in Norman are knocked due to OU not actually being located in Texas, as the Sooners cannot maintain their elite levels nationally purely recruiting their own state.

But the real success in Norman stems from another factor — the administration.

Athletic director Joe Castiglione is one of the best in the business, ensuring stability at the top of the program. Not only has he made two fantastic head coaching hires in Bob Stoops and Lincoln Riley, but he’s been around the entire time in lockstep with his coaches, giving them what they need to succeed both on the recruiting trail and in between the white lines on Saturday’s.

OU’s superior levels of coaching are not just a recent phenomenon, however.

From Bennie Owen to Bud Wilkinson to Barry Switzer and Stoops and Riley, the Sooners have consistently brought elite coaching to the table, allowing the program to out-develop those around them in much more fertile recruiting grounds.

Texas, Georgia and LSU, all jobs that were ranked above Oklahoma’s in the Athletic poll situated in some of the best recruiting regions in the country, historically have combined to win 10 claimed National Titles, just three more than OU’s seven.

Oklahoma have a proven track record of recruiting nationally, a trend which has continued under Riley, in an age of college football where it’s easier than ever to convince recruits to relocate across the country to come play for you.

On top of that, OU’s impending move to the SEC should only help the Sooners on the recruiting trail, allowing their roster to continue to get more and more talented as they take the step up in competition which comes with competing in the SEC on the field.

If the proposed College Football Playoff expansion becomes a reality, then there is no reason to expect that OU’s CFP appearances will dwindle after moving to the SEC, meaning a coach will be armed with an even more talented roster and a shot at playing for a National Championship, and historically those chances will come more often than they would at LSU, Texas, or Georgia.

The Sooners of course haven’t done themselves any favors on the field to bolster the perception of the job. OU is currently in their longest title drought since first being crowned the kings of College Football, having failed to reach the mountain top since 2000.

Additionally, Oklahoma has also yet to register a win in the CFP in four tries, and hasn’t played for a National Championship since 2008.

The 2021 season will provide a legitimate opportunity for Riley and the Sooners to buck that trend, and maybe then the OU job will start to get the respect it deserves, built on decades of winning. 

Want to join the discussion? Click here to become a member of the AllSooners message board community today!

Sign up for your premium membership to AllSooners.com today, and get access to the entire Fan Nation premium network!

Follow AllSooners on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest OU news.