Big 12 Coach of the Year

As the 2006 seasons nears the end, it is a good time to look at who is in the running for Big 12 Coach of the Year. Coach Prince threw his name into the hat on Saturday night with an impressive win over #4 Texas but lets look at all the candidates and their 2006 accomplishments.

North:

Nebraska - Bill Callahan
Record: 8-3 Overall, 5-2 Conference
Biggest Win: 28-27 at Texas A&M
Worst Loss: 29-41 at Oklahoma State

Nebraska was picked to win the Big 12 North and clinched the North with a hard fought victory in College Station last weekend. They played Texas tough in Lincoln and should have won that game. Will the Big 12 Championship game be any different? If Callahan and the Huskers can manage to beat Texas or Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship game, Callahan could be the favorite to win the Coach of the Year in the Big 12.

Kansas State – Ron Prince
Record: 7-4 Overall, 4-3 Conference
Biggest Win: 45-42 against the University of Texas
Worst Loss: 3-17 at Baylor

Kansas State was picked to finish last in the Big 12 North and currently sit in second place, one game behind Nebraska. With a victory over Kansas on Saturday, the Wildcats will finish 8-4 overall with 5 conference victories. A considerable improvement over a year ago. Add to that a win over the 4th ranked team in the country and Ron Prince has a good case for Big 12 Coach of the Year.

Missouri – Gary Pinkel
Record: 7-3 Overall, 3-3 Conference
Biggest Win: 38-21 at Texas Tech
Worst Loss: 34-20 at Nebraska

Missouri started out strong and could finish strong. With games remaining against Iowa State and Kansas, Missouri should finish with a good overall record of 9-3. However, there were no marquee wins that MU can point to during the season. They played a very weak non-conference schedule and lost to the better teams in the Big 12. They have not had any letdowns against the weaker teams yet. If Missouri loses one of its remaining games, Pinkel has no shot, but if they win out, he deserves some consideration.

Kansas – Mark Mangino
Record: 5-5 Overall, 2-4 Conference
Biggest Win: 13-7 against South Florida
Worst Loss: 31-37 at Toledo

This has been a horrible year for the Jayhawks. KU gave a contract extension to a coach with a losing record and now they find themselves on probation for recruiting violations and likely to finish 2-6 in the conference.

Colorado – Dan Hawkins
Record: 2-9 Overall, 2-5 Conference
Biggest Win: 30-6 vs. Texas Tech
Worst Loss: 10-19 vs. D1AA - Montana State

Tough year for first year coach Dan Hawkins… Boise State remains unbeaten though!

Iowa State - Dan McCarney
Record: 3-8 Overall, 0-7 Conference
Biggest Win: 28-27 vs. Northern Iowa
Worst Loss: 16-33 vs. Colorado

Dan McCarney leaves the program as the after a tough year.

South:

Texas – Mack Brown
Record: 9-2 Overall, 6-1 Conference
Biggest Win: 28-10 vs. Oklahoma
Worst Loss: 42-45 at Kansas State

Texas found a replacement for Vince Young and looked to have a good shot at defending their National Championship until Josh Freeman and the Kansas State Wildcats defeated them last weekend. Texas had another great year and Mack Brown will get some consideration for Coach of the Year, however, the Longhorns were supposed to win all their games and they have lost two so far. Expectations are high in Austin and so is the talent level… 10-2 probably not enough to win the award for Brown.

Oklahoma – Bob Stoops
Record: 8-2 Overall, 5-1 Conference
Biggest Win: 17-16 at Texas A&M
Worst Loss: 33-34 at Oregon

If the Officials don’t hand Oregon the game against Oklahoma on September 16th, the Sooners are fighting for a spot in the BCS Championship game. OU should win out against Baylor and OSU and if Texas A&M can upset the Longhorns, OU will be playing in the Big 12 Championship Game. Given all the problems the Sooners have had losing Bomar and Peterson for the year, Stoops has done a great job this year. If the Sooners find a way into the Big 12 Championship game and beat NU, Stoops wins, if not, he still deserves some consideration.

Texas A&M – Dennis Franchione
Record: 8-3 Overall, 4-3 Conference
Biggest Win: 25-19 vs. Missouri
Worst Loss: 27-31 vs. Texas Tech

Coach Fran continues to struggle against the Big 12’s better teams. Against UT, OU, TTU, and NU Fran is 1-13 overall. He needs to worry about keeping his job, not the Coach of the Year award.


Oklahoma State – Mike Gundy
Record: 6-4 Overall, 3-3 Conference
Biggest Win: 41-29 vs. Nebraska
Worst Loss: 25-34 vs. Houston

Not a bad year overall for the Pokes but showed inconsistent play throughout the year.

Texas Tech – Mike Leach
Record: 6-5 Overall, 3-4 Conference
Biggest Win: 31-27 at Texas A&M
Worst Loss: 30-6 vs. Colorado

Disappointing year for the Red Raiders who cannot move from being a good team to a team that competes with Texas and Oklahoma every year.

Baylor – Guy Morriss
Record: 4-7Overall, 3-4 Conference
Biggest Win: 17-3 vs. Kansas State
Worst Loss: 66-24 at Oklahoma State

Another year at the bottom of the Big 12 South. Baylor needs to continue to improve as they have done the last few years.


The race for Big 12 Coach of the Year, in my opinion, comes down to three coaches. Bill Callahan, Bob Stoops and Ron Prince. Callahan and Stoops are both having great years and doing exactly what was expected of them. However, if you look at where Kansas State was picked to finish and where they are now, it is tough to argue that anyone is more deserving then Ron Prince.