The Sporting News’ 50 greatest coaches of all-time released recently caused a lot of conversation on sports talk radio. They polled 118 ex-players, coaches, and other experts and pegged [tag]UCLA[/tag] great John Wooden as the all-time greatest coach.
Overall it’s a great list, but there’s definitely some names left off and some order problems (Don Shula number 5?) that have people talking. Austin American-Statesman writer Kirk Bohls thinks Texas legend Darrell Royal deserved to be on the list:
But Darrell K. Royal absolutely must be included.
Without question, he has become the most overlooked great coach in the history of the game. He won three national championships, and I don’t want to hear cracks about his UPI title before the Cotton Bowl loss to Notre Dame in January 1971 because he won it under the rules of the day. Think split national titles, LSU and USC.
“No question, Darrell should be on the list,” said former Texas A&M coach R.C. Slocum, one of Sporting News’ 118 voters. “It takes away from the credibility of the list. If Darrell Royal is not on there, it’d be a suspect list, and I’m on the panel.”
What do you think? Is Royal one of the greatest coaches of all time?
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