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ESPN includes 5 SEC coaches on list of coaches with best playing careers
By Paul Harvey
Published:
ESPN is dialing up some interesting offseason content with the doldrums of summer and the long college football preseason setting in. On Tuesday, that included an intriguing list from Adam Rittenberg.
The longtime college football writer put together his list of the coaches who had the best careers as a players. And it’s not really a spoiler alert, but Colorado head coach Deion Sanders took the No. 1 overall spot due to his standout career at both the collegiate and NFL levels, becoming a Hall of Fame player at both classifications.
However, the SEC had a strong showing on Rittenberg’s list with 5 of the top 30 spots hailing from the conference. So, which SEC head coach made the best player?
It was a close call coming down to a pair of former quarterbacks, though Rittenberg eventually gave the top SEC spot to Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel, who owns the No. 3 overall spot on the list. Heupel had a standout career for Oklahoma, then in the Big 12, including a runner-up finish for the Heisman Trophy while leading the Sooners to the 2000 national title.
Here’s what Rittenberg had to say about Heupel’s selection:
Heupel grew up in South Dakota and was the state’s player of the year in high school. But without a clear path to start for a major college program, he first went to Weber State, where he went through an ACL injury and appeared in only four games before transferring within the state to Snow College. Heupel earned junior college All-America honors there before transferring to Oklahoma. He immediately made his presence known in 1999 with 3,850 passing yards and 33 touchdowns. Heupel then led the Sooners to a national title in 2000, recording 3,606 passing yards and 20 touchdowns. He was named AP Player of the Year, won the Walter Camp Award and consensus All-America honors, and was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy. A sixth-round NFL draft pick in 2001, Heupel didn’t see time in the pros.
The coach Heupel just edged out for the top SEC spot is Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian. The head coach of the Longhorns started his collegiate athletic career as a baseball player, then as a JUCO QB, eventually having a standout career for BYU in the 1990s.
Here is every SEC head coach on Rittenberg’s list and their ranking:
- No. 3 — Josh Heupel, Tennessee (QB for Weber State, Oklahoma)
- No. 4 — Steve Sarkisian, Texas (QB for El Camino College, BYU)
- No. 15 — Kirby Smart, Georgia (DB for Georgia)
- No. 21 — Sam Pittman, Arkansas (DL for NAIA Pittsburg State)
- No. 23 — Kalen DeBoer, Alabama (WR and baseball star for University of Sioux Falls)
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
