Three-Point Stance: Top 10 coaches; 2019 WR-TE combos; big commits

Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s thought-provoking Three-Point Stance is here with his top 10 coaches in college football, the best WR/TE recruiting for 2019 so far and the biggest commitments of the last week.

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Last week I named my top five underrated and top five overrated coaches so now I might as well do my annual pre-season top 10 overall. I’ll follow up on Thursday with the next 10, but for now you’ll see some obvious choices and perhaps some interesting omissions. I can tell you one thing, with guys like Chip Kelly back in college football and Kirby Smart such a rising star, this list is much harder to build than it was last year.

1. Nick Saban, Alabama – The king of college football is the undisputed No. 1 here. Make any argument you want, but Saban is arguably the best college football coach to ever wear a whistle.

2. Urban Meyer, Ohio State – Urban’s three national titles and the work he has done at Ohio State make him a slight winner over Swinney who is closing the gap. But Meyer is the only one who could make a case against Saban.

3. Dabo Swinney, Clemson – Swinney is the best of the younger coaches in college football and will one day sit atop this list. He’s that good.

4. Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M – FSU fans aren’t happy with Fisher and many think he’s overrated, but I disagree. He’s a great coach when he wants to be (and last season he was clearly out the door) and he will take Texas A&M to the next level.

5. Chip Kelly, UCLA – Oddly people think Kelly is overrated but his 46-7 record and 33-3 in conference mark are simply amazing. He may have failed in the NFL, but in college football he’s been amazing.

6. Chris Peterson, Washington – Peterson has taken Washington and turned them into a national power and a threat to win the Pac-12 every year. He doesn’t get the same due as others, but he’s a great coach.

7. Gary Patterson, TCU – My most underrated coach, Patterson moves into the top 10 this year on my list for good reason. Few coaches get more out of their talent than he does.

8. James Franklin, Penn State – 36-17 at Penn State dealing with depth issues the first few years and the job he did at Vanderbilt was even more impressive. This guy has been up against some obstacles and keeps coming out winning.

9. Kirby Smart, Georgia – After only two seasons at Georgia? Yep. When you turn the program into a national title contender so quickly and bring so much talent to Athens, you step into elite territory and he’ll continue to shoot up this list.

10. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State – Ahead of Lincoln Riley? Oklahoma fans won’t be happy but Gundy obviously has the resume and has been doing it longer. Riley will eventually surpass him, but Gundy is a very underrated coach.

I wrote about the best QB/RB combinations by school so far in 2019 so I’ll continue the series by taking a look at the WR/TE combinations with one school clearly ahead of the rest. Here are the top seven so far…

Oklahoma – With Theo Wease, Arjei Henderson and Trejan Bridges at wide receiver and Austin Stogner at tight end, Oklahoma is clearly the king at the wide receiver/tight end position.

Georgia – Jadon Haselwood and Dominick Blaylock are a great 1-2 punch and tight end Ryland Goede is a four-star so Georgia is clearly No. 2.

Oregon – Lance Wilhoite and Josh Delgado are two excellent receivers and tight end Patrick Herbert is a terrific athlete for his position.

Clemson – Frank Ladson is a potential five-star at wide receiver and Jaelyn Lay is a beast at tight end. Clemson also has Brannon Spector and Davis Allen.

Texas A&M – Kenyon Jackson and Kam Brown are two very good receivers and Chase Lane is no slouch. Baylor Cupp is just shy of a four-star tight end as well.

Alabama – John Metchie and Jahleel Billingsley are a really solid 1-2 combo at wide receiver and tight end.

Wake Forest – I have to give Wake a shoutout here with two awesome receivers in Nolan Groulx and Donavon Greene as recruiting is going as well at Wake as it has in years.

There weren’t as many commitments this past week as there have been in the last many weeks, but there were still enough big ones to rank the top eight or so. Here goes…

LB Nick Henrich, Nebraska – How does a high three-star get the nod over some four stars? Because I really like Henrich on film. I mean a lot. Granted, I haven’t been able to see him in person, but based on what I see on film, I think he’s going to be a star at Nebraska.

OL Saleem Wormley, Penn State – The big offensive guard can also play right tackle if needed and has very good feet and re-sets very smoothly. He’s also aggressive and will be a road grader for Penn State.

DB Trikweze Bridges, Oregon – The long, rangy safety has great instincts and excellent ball skills and should be a dangerous free safety for Oregon.

DB Jaden Davis, Oklahoma – He may not be the biggest cornerback out there but he plays bigger than his size, plays for an elite program and has gone against the best in Florida. This is a really nice pickup from the Southeast.

RB Isaiah Spiller, Texas A&M – The highest-ranked running back in Texas and a former Oklahoma commitment is a nice addition for the Aggies. He’s not a home run hitter at the next level, but he will move the chains and get better as the game wears on.

DT Elijah Simmons, Tennessee – A massive defensive tackle and run stuffer, Simmons will not get after the passer that much but he can crush the pocket and hold the line of scrimmage.

ATH John Ward, UCLA – A very good athlete with excellent size, he’s probably an outside linebacker at the next level but could play inside as well and as a quarterback, he plays with a high football IQ.

DB Chris Shearin, Missouri – Shearin has good length and a good frame to fill out and he’s very good at getting his hands on the ball. He’s also physical for his size, so he’ll be ready for SEC receiving talent.