There are plenty of important people in the college football ecosystem. We picked out who we believe to be the top 20 for the 2020 season. Here is a look at Nos. 6-10 as we count down to No. 1 in our new 20 for 2020 series this week:
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COUNTDOWN: Most important countdown, Nos. 16-20 | No. 11 - 15
CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
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10. Bill Moos - Nebraska athletic director
Moos, who was hired in October 2017, has shown no hesitation to make changes to the top programs at Nebraska as he sees fit, firing Mike Riley a few weeks after taking the job then later getting rid of basketball coach Tim Miles and bringing in former Iowa State and Chicago Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg. He finds himself in an interesting spot with coach Scott Frost, who many believed would return the Huskers to national prominence only to see two disappointing seasons in the rear-view mirror.
Nebraska went 4-8 in Frost’s first season and 5-7 this past year, the first time the Huskers have had back-to-back losing seasons since 1960-61. A new offensive coordinator in Matt Lubick has arrived and could spark the offense, but the Huskers definitely need a lot of help.
Frost is probably not on any serious hot seat yet but if the losses continue to mount, Moos could find himself in an uncomfortable position: Thinking about moving on from Frost, the hometown hero who still might be one of the hottest, young coaches in the game.
Farrell’s take: Frost is safe for now but Moos will be under fire if the Huskers don’t have a winning season and go to a bowl game. They threw everything they could at Frost to lure him back home and so far it’s been a slow roll especially considering expectations. What if Frost goes 4-8? Moos will be asked many questions.
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9. Justin Fields - Ohio State quarterback
In his first season as Ohio State’s quarterback, Justin Fields had a Heisman-worthy campaign with 3,273 yards with 41 touchdowns and three interceptions, and he also rushed for 10 more scores. He led an offense that averaged nearly 47 points per game and the former five-star led Ohio State to the College Football Playoff.
The discussion by media types now is whether Fields is the best quarterback returning to college football next season and that includes Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence. With another stellar season, there should be a ton of discussion whether Fields should be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
At Georgia, Fields was not used much and he left for Ohio State. The former five-star thrived in his first season with the Buckeyes and it might only get better from here.
Farrell's take: Fields might appear low on this list as he could win the Heisman next year and he has even more weapons this season. But as a one-year starter we are being a bit conservative. There is little reason to think he won’t have a massive season under Ryan Day and push his way up this list.
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8. Tom Herman - Texas head coach
In two seasons at Houston, Tom Herman lost a total of four games. He was arguably the hottest name in coaching circles, reportedly turning down a huge offer from LSU to take the Texas job. As that’s turned out, the Tigers are coming off a national title and the Longhorns are coming off a disappointing 8-5 season.
In three years at Texas, Herman’s team has lost four conference games twice. To be fair, a good portion of the Longhorns’ losses over the last three seasons have come by a touchdown or less. But there have been head-scratchers, too, like losing two games to Maryland and looking flat during some losses in 2019. After a huge win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl in 2018, Texas squandered any momentum heading into 2019.
Herman might not be on the hottest seat yet in college football but he hired new offensive and defensive coordinators for this season. That’s usually a first step to either showing results or being shown the door. Recruiting has been solid with Texas finishing No. 13 in the 2020 class led by five-star RB Bijan Robinson. The Longhorns are seventh in the early 2021 rankings with five of their six commits as four-stars early on.
Farrell’s take: This shows the power of football in Austin. Herman is on a mildly hot seat but with one breakthrough season he could be one of the hottest and most respected coaches in all of college football. That’s how things roll at Texas and why he’s a top-10 influencer even though he’s been a disappointment so far. It’s rare when you have an AD and a coach at the same school so close together and they aren’t winning yet.
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7. Chris Del Conte - Texas athletic director
Texas football is definitely not what it once was. One example is that the Longhorns have only won 10 games once in the last decade and in the 10 years before that they won at least 10 games in every year except one. But standards remain high in Austin and coach Tom Herman enters this season on at least a warm seat.
Herman’s 7-6 opening season gets thrown out since he took over coach Charlie Strong’s mess and then the Longhorns went 10-4 in 2018 which included a surprising Sugar Bowl win over Georgia. That victory was supposed to propel Texas into a massive offseason where expectations ran high – College Football Playoff high.
Instead, Texas slumped to an 8-5 season with losses to LSU, Oklahoma, TCU, Iowa State and Baylor. By no means is Herman on the chopping block yet but another average season will get a lot of people restless and Chris Del Conte could have a huge decision on his hands.
Farrell's take: Herman was supposed to be the perfect solution in Austin and was coveted by many programs. Texas was allegedly the perfect fit and I thought he would be winning Big 12 titles by now. Del Conte is under some pressure and will be pushed hard to make a change if Texas regresses any further. He already made Herman switch coordinators and we all know what comes if that doesn’t work.
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6. Lincoln Riley - Oklahoma head coach
Lincoln Riley has gone 36-6 in his first three seasons with three conference championships and three-straight trips to the College Football Playoff, of which Oklahoma has not won any of those games. He’s only 36, he runs one of the most-inventive offenses in college football and NFL teams are clamoring for his services if he ever wants to take the jump from big-time college football to the NFL.
In his first three years, Riley has five more wins and one fewer loss than Oklahoma legend Bob Stoops but let’s not forget in Year 2, Stoops led the Sooners to a 13-0 record and the national championship. Riley’s recruiting has been outstanding especially on the offensive side with QB Spencer Rattler, WRs Jadon Haselwood, Theo Wease, Trejan Bridges and others. Shoring up the defense could be the key to another title.
But will Riley stick around long enough to make it happen? He could be at Oklahoma forever or possibly try to prove himself at the highest level as numerous NFL franchises would want him.
Farrell’s take: Riley has been an amazing replacement for Stoops and those were huge shoes to fill. He will impact college football whether he stays and continues to push Oklahoma toward a national title or he heads off to the NFL and leaves a huge hole to be replaced. The thought process here is that he will win a national title unless he decides the NFL is his future.
