The chances of another coach pulling a Joe Paterno-like 42-year run at one school are remote. And no coach is 100 percent fireproof in college football, where scandal is just one dumb move by a 19-year-old away. Still, these guys can probably keep their current jobs as long as they want them.
1) Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech (21 seasons, 167-85-2). The Hokies have been so good for so long under Beamer it’s easy to forget there was a time they weren’t. He’s also rewarded Virginia Tech’s loyalty with his own, turning down big-money suitors to stay in Blacksburg.
2) Bob Stoops, Oklahoma (nine seasons, 97-22). The upside of losing four BCS games in the past five seasons is getting to the BCS four times in the past five seasons. Stoops made Oklahoma matter again after a rough decade post-Barry Switzer. He won a national title in 2000 and has the Sooners on the short list of contenders almost every year.
3) Pete Carroll, Southern California (seven seasons, 76-14). What Stoops did in Norman, Carroll has done in Los Angeles, where the Trojans had slipped to former powerhouse when he arrived in 2001. The NFL calls ever year, and one day he might jump back to the pros, but USC isn’t letting him go without a fight.
3) Jim Tressel, Ohio State (seven seasons, 73-16). He’s lost the last two national championship games, and surely there are some in Columbus who are miffed about that. But the man in the sweater-vest owns Michigan, which builds a lot of goodwill in the Buckeye state.
5) Mack Brown, Texas (10 seasons, 103-25). For years Brown was dubbed “Coach February” for his sterling recruiting classes and annual losses to Oklahoma. But since he broke a 30-year national title drought for Texas in 2005 (thanks, Vince Young), the Longhorns seem quite content with the guaranteed 10 wins per season Brown provides.
6) Jim Grobe, Wake Forest (seven seasons, 46-39). The record is not overwhelming, but remember that Wake had never gone to a bowl game in consecutive seasons before Grobe took over. Now the Demon Deacons can actually be considered perennial contenders in the ACC. He’s also endeared himself by staying put when bigger schools, such as Arkansas last year, came calling.
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