Programming note: Click here and chat with former UCLA coach Terry Donahue at 9 a.m. (PDT) Friday. He’s ready to take your questions and comments!
Each week we’ll rank the Pac-10 coaches, based on how they and their teams are performing and developing.
On to the list:
1. Pete Carroll, USC: (Previous 1) I really, really, really wanted to put Chip Kelly in the top spot here, but this Carroll guy is too damn solid. He just coached USC to its third road win against a Top 25 team this season. No one in America can say that in 2009. (Ironically, the one road loss came against a non-Top 25 team, but hey, who’s perfect?) Carroll has his hands full during this three-game stretch: long-time rival (Notre Dame), huge revenge (Oregon State), possible Pac-10 Game of the Year (Oregon). If the Trojans go 3-0, I think they’ve got the Pac-10. Are you going to bet against Carroll? Stock: neutral
2. Chip Kelly, Oregon: (Previous 2) Another measuring stick in regards to Kelly the assistant coach compared to Kelly the head coach comes Saturday at Washington. When Kelly had two weeks or more to prepare as the Ducks’ offensive coordinator, here is the scoring his offense produced: 48, 53, 56, 44, 54, 65, 42. Over seven games, that’s an average of 52 points a game. Now we go Kelly’s track record with extra time to prepare as a head coach: Boise State, 8 points. I think that’s an aberration, but we’ll get a better idea Saturday in Seattle. Stock: neutral
3. Mike Riley, Oregon State: (Previous 5) Here’s another coach who knows what to do with a bye week. Since 2003, Riley is 11-0 coming off a bye week (2 full weeks) or time before a bowl game. I think USC is in for its fight of the season Saturday. Forget Ohio State and Notre Dame. The Beavers are the Trojans’ toughest opponent to date, largely due to what Riley brings to the sideline. Stock: up.
4. Mike Stoops, Arizona: (Previous 4) Sign of a good coach is someone who can get his team to forget a heartbreaking loss (Washington), and not give up when the next opponent is steamrolling (Stanford). It’s obvious the Wildcats have a lot of weapons in their second and third units, because names you’ve never heard of keep producing in crucial situations this season. Looks like Arizona is going to be around for a while as long as Stoops is running the Wildcats. Stock: up
5. Jim Harbaugh, Stanford: (Previous 3) Clearly Harbaugh knows what he’s doing with quarterbacks, as the growth of Andrew Luck is impressive. But something has got to give on defense, if the Cardinal ever want to return to this game called a bowl. In its past three road games, Stanford’s defense is giving up 6.9 yards per play. That’s right down there with the Washington States of the world. Stock: neutral.
6. Jeff Tedford, California: (Previous 8) Kudos for not allowing the hangover to continue at Cal, which hasn’t always been the case under Tedford. He stuck with Kevin Riley after two forgettable performances, made some adjustments, and the junior quarterback rewarded Tedford with a solid three-touchdown, no-pick performance against UCLA. Still, Tedford has much work to do. Such as? Getting some consistency from Jahvid Best is a good place to start. And giving up 448 yards to the Bruins punchless offense is asking for a ticket to no-bowlville. Stock: slightly up.
7. Steve Sarkisian, Washington: (Previous 6) For more than 58 minutes, Sarkisian put the Huskies in a position to beat Arizona State despite the team not playing all that well. They improved significantly during the second half, and at times, were dominating. But as the head coach, you’ve got to win the game. When it came time to do this, Sark failed miserably. We’ll give Sarkisian a pass this time, because he’s only seven games into his head coaching career. And he was at least accountable and explained his mistakes. Stock: down
8. Dennis Erickson, Arizona State: (Previous 9) At this stage of the season, the grade for Erickson remains incomplete. What have the Sun Devils proven, anyway? They won their three layups (Washington State, Louisiana-Monroe, Idaho State) and got by Washington on a fluke. Let’s see what Erickson’s Devils do with the second half of the schedule, a much tougher slate that includes Oregon, USC and Arizona. Stock: neutral.
9. Rick Neuheisel, UCLA: (Previous 7) I don’t think there’s a team in the Pac-10 will beat this season, but if there is, it’s UCLA. The Bruins are the league’s worst team on offense outside of Pullman, and can’t stop the run. I believe Neuheisel is good enough that he’ll get this rectified to some degree in time, but he’s not proving to be the quick-fix coach he was at Washington and Colorado. Stock: sliding.
10. Paul Wulff, Washington State: (Previous 10) I just don’t have it in me to pound on the Cougars again. Like WSU, I’ll take a bye week here. Stock: neutral
Nick Daschel covers the Pacific-10 Conference for Buster Sports, and can be reached at ndaschel@bustersports.com
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