‘Most Hated’ CFB coaches list names two from B1G

There’s always a coach or group of coaches that everyone hates. Sometimes having the same disdain for an individual is the only thing multiple fan bases can agree on.

Maybe a head coach wins too much, or perhaps steals all the best recruits. Maybe a coach comes across as arrogant or that he’s a little too good for the rest of the sport. Or there’s a chance that he has a really fake personality. Sometimes, it’s all those characteristics wrapped into one.

Recently, 247Sports came out with a list of the most hated coaches in college football. Believe it or not, there are two B1G names that were mentioned. You’d probably be able to guess who they were, based on the aforementioned traits.

Ohio State’s Urban Meyer and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh — two of the sport’s most recognizable figures — were listed at No. 1 and No. 3, respectively. Also making the cut was Alabama’s Nick Saban, Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly and FAU’s Lane Kiffin.

Here’s why 247Sports had Meyer on the list:

Admit it — your disdain for Meyer has very little to do with the mess he left at Florida or the situation earlier this year involving Zach Smith. Those are the talking points, sure, but the underlying reason Meyer warrants automatic eye-rolls when mentioned is his penchant for success. He never lost to Michigan while at Ohio State. He won the first College Football Playoff National Championship with a third-teamer at quarterback. And the guy went 54-4 against the Big Ten with an SEC-brand of football, recruiting speed, athleticism and first-round skill players in a league that struggled to catch up. For those that celebrated on the day Meyer announced his retirement, hold the party. One of the nation’s winningest coaches is getting promoted after the season to the program’s assistant AD position.

247Sports also provided some reasoning behind Harbaugh’s mention:

Maybe it’s the Dockers. Or the Football Guy bravado. Perhaps it’s the whimsical looks of bewilderment on the sideline when something goes wrong for his Wolverines. Whatever the case, Harbaugh nearly shook all the haters for good this season with a 10-game winning streak heading into The Game in the finale at Ohio State. Then, the wheels came off and his detractors predictably kicked their feet up and went to town. And remember the satellite camp stuff? Harbaugh worked 11 camps under the NCAA’s 10-day threshold in 2017. This quote from Harbaugh at the time was a direct shot at the SEC and didn’t sit well with fans in the South. “You’ve got a guy sitting in a big house, making $5 million a year, saying he does not want to sacrifice his time. That is not a kindred spirit to me. What most of these coaches are saying is they don’t want to work harder.” Bold.

Those are some pretty strong arguments.

Listing Meyer and Harbaugh is pretty appropriate. Outside of Columbus and Ann Arbor, there aren’t many fan bases that appreciate those two head coaches.

To see the full list and further explanation, you can view 247Sports.com.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB