More accolades for Jim Leavitt...

[CyberBull]

Monday Morning Quarterback

CollegeFootballNews.com

Want to know what coaches have really impressed me (or not) this season, and why? This will blend the realms of the obvious and not-so-obvious. Aside of Pete Carroll, Jim Tressel and Bob Stoops--who tower above their contemporaries in the coaching profession--let's look at everyone else who made an impression on the sidelines this year.

First, the obvious: **** Tomey, Todd Graham, Phil Bennett, Skip Holtz, Terry Hoeppner, Doug Martin, Rick Stockskill, Frank Solich, Urban Meyer, Jim Grobe, Ron Prince, Rich Brooks and Houston Nutt deserve to be lauded. All these coaches share the distinction of being able to uproot and overturn a culture of losing that had begun to seep into their programs. Any coach who can change a negative culture at his school has done something very significant.

Another set of coaches that deserves to be commended is as follows: Bill Callahan, Greg Schiano, Bronco Mendenhall, and Jim Leavitt. These four coaches deserve praise because they pulled off the particularly difficult feat of taking an already-solid program and making a leap to the next plateau. Going from seven wins to ten, or from middle-tier status in a conference to an upper-crust place in a league's pecking order, is a huge progression for any coach at any time at any school. You have to have some quality if you can do what the coaches of Nebraska, Rutgers, BYU and South Florida have done this year.

Bret Bielema and Chris Petersen demand special recognition in 2006 for

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