In the SEC, I would have to say Beamer because of the way they ended the season. Beating Tennessee, followed by Clemson is a pretty good resume. With LSU losing to Jimbo, Kelly lost it.
Outside the SEC, talking about NCOTY, I would say either Riley at USC or Patterson at TCU. Both are 1st year coaches at their new schools and both most likely playing in the CFP. Mora compiled a 6-6 season which is pretty good considering they were 1-11 the year before but I don't think it's worthy of NCOTY.
Upon further review, Beamer should win it with a killer finish to the season. Beating two top-10 teams while being completely undermanned.
UConn has been bottom of the bucket bad. Winning 6 games is Herculean for them. But, no way he gets it; I see someone like Riley or Sonny Dykes getting it, like you said.
When was the last time UT had a 10 win season? 2007. Last 11 win 2001. Carolina has had 5 9+ win seasons since 2010. What Tennessee has done this year is much more rare than Carolina in the modern era
2010 is a relatively arbitrary year, which conveniently includes 3 of USC's best years in program history. A better comparison is to simply look back over the last decade, where each program has had four years of 8+ wins. An even better comparison would be recruiting the last few years. Tennessee was 15th this year, USC 28th. In 2021, UT was 20th, USC wasn't even in the top 50. 2020, UT was 11th....South Carolina was 19th. 2019, UT was 13th, USC was 23rd. You say what Tennessee has done is much more rare, but they have absolutely done it with higher ranked athletes. I think you can make an argument for either one, but the results over the last couple weeks definitely tilt the balance towards Beamer. UT beating Alabama and LSU weren't completely out of the realm of possibilities....unranked USC hanging 63 on Tennessee one week and then upsetting Clemson in Death Valley was a complete surprise to everyone.
Well Kelly, surprisingly to me, crapped the bed and took himself out of the race. I'd still give it to Heupel over Beamer, only 1 loss at UT is pretty impressive given recent performances. They rebounded nicely from the SC loss. Yea I know he lost to Beamer, but he beat everyone else, including Bama. 11-1 vs 8-4. Funny, nobody is talking about Smart. I guess you dont get credit for recruiting great players? Maybe 2 years in a row is too much tho. Nationally, I'd go with the TCU coach, Dykes
LSU had bad losses and is a pretty weak team to be in the sec championship. Usc? He’s just done what he’s done every year.. Hairball lookin pretty good and TCU if they could somehow win a playoff game would be incredible.