Coach of the Year Runners-up

When Bob Stoops was hired at Oklahoma two years ago, school officials had high hopes. How high? How about No. 1 in the nation?

In two years, the former defensive coordinator at the University of Florida took the powerhouse team out of the pits and turned it back into the premier team in the nation.

This year's 12-0 regular season record not only earned the Sooners their first consecutive bowl appearance in seven years but the chance to play for the national championship.

The stunning turnaround came because Stoops wasn't shy about overhauling the program that seemed stuck in the past. Instead of using the wishbone formation and option running game that had led the Sooners to three national titles 20 years ago, Stoops instituted the wide-open passing attack that marked the success of teams that won national titles in the 1990s. Stoops didn't worry about alienating fans. "People will embrace anything as long as it works," he said.

And Sooner fans found out that it worked, well, perfectly. Stoops' undefeated season snared him Coach of the Year honors from the Associated Press and Football News, and, of course, a national title.

Bob Davie
Notre Dame
Record: 9-3
First major bowl bid in five years

It didn't take Bob Davie long to silence critics who were betting that his fourth year as head coach at Notre Dame would be his last.

On Sept. 2, the first game of the season, his unranked Fighting Irish rolled over 25th-ranked Texas A&M, 24-10. And the team didn't stop rolling until the end of the year, racking up a 9-2 record and snaring a berth in the Tostito Fiesta Bowl. Instead of getting fired, Davie got a five-year contract extension.

The obstacles facing Davie were sizeable. Not only was he coming off a 5-7 season, the school's worst in 13 years, but he faced one of the toughest schedules in the nation with a largely untested team. Further, he lost starting quarterback Arnaz Battle on the first play of the second game against No. 1 ranked Nebraska. Battle broke his wrist and was out for the season.

Despite the hurdles, the 46-year-old former defensive coordinator under Notre Dame legend Lou Holtz led his team to victories over five teams - Texas A&M, Purdue, West Virginia, Air Force and Boston College - that ultimately qualified for bowl games. The Irish did it by tying an all-time NCAA record for fewest turnovers (eight) and ended the reason ranked 14th nationally in rushing and 17th in passing efficiency.

Dennis Erickson
Oregon State
Record: 11-1
Pac-10 Co-champions

Sure the first year might have been a fluke. But Dennis Erickson proved it wasn't when he not only shepherded Oregon State to another winning season but to a more successful one than it had in 1999.

A year after Erickson, 53, arrived in Corvalis and helped Oregon State earn its first bowl bid in 34 years, he continued setting school records by leading the Beavers to a 10-1 record, a Pac-10 co-championship and a berth in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

Using the spread-the-field offense that he perfected while winning two national titles as head coach in Miami (Fla.), he put Oregon State on the map. Before this year, Oregon State had never won a Pac-10 championship, it had never scored 359 points during the regular season and and it had never been ranked higher than 7th in the nation by the Associated Press. It finished the year ranked No. 4 after stomping Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.

Erickson's success at Oregon State makes him the seventh winningest active Division 1-A head coach. With a career record of 131-46-1, he has a winning percentage of .737. Pac-10 conference officials, who, like battle-weary fans, once scoffed at Oregon State, rewarded Erickson by naming him coach of the year.

Gary Nord
University of Texas - El Paso
Record: 8-4
WAC Coach of the Year

When Gary Nord was tapped as head coach at University of Texas-El Paso, the football ranking czars yawned. They picked the Miners to finish at the lower rungs of the WAC ladder, and fans figured anything better would be a pleasant surprise. They got one - and more.

Not only did the Miners win the Western Athletic Conference title but their 8-3 season record earned them a spot in the Humanitarian Bowl, its first bowl since 1988.

While the turn-around was notable, it shouldn't have been totally unexpected - sleepy ranking czars be damned. During his three years as the Miners offensive coordinator, Nord took the offense from 97th in the country to 43rd, helping the team rack up more victories (five) than it had in 11 years.

This year, with Nord finding out what it's like to be a head coach, the Miners won their first seven games in conference play. The only teams to stop them - Oklahoma, Texas A&M and TCU - were all ranked in the Top 25.

Miner fans had a brief scare in late November when it appeared Nord, 43, would be offered the head coaching job at Louisville, his alma mater. He surprised them again by announcing he has no desire to go home to coach. No one yawned.