Longest Tenured Coaches without a BCS Bowl

Each year, we publish the list of the longest currently tenured coaches at a BCS Conference school that haven't guided their current program to a BCS bowl game.

This is the third year that we've published the list. The 2007 Champ was Houston Nutt (Arkansas), and the 2008 Champ was Tommy Bowden (Clemson). For 2009, we have a four way tie for first place.

Here's the 2009 Top 10:

1.(T) Mike Leach (Texas Tech) - 2001
1.(T) Al Groh (UVA) - 2001
1.(T) Greg Schiano (Rutgers) - 2001
1.(T) Gary Pinkel (Missouri) - 2001
5.(T) Bobby Johnson (Vandy) - 2002
5.(T) Jeff Tedford (Cal) - 2002
7.(T) Rich Brooks (Kentucky) - 2003
7.(T) Mike Riley (Oregon State) - 2003
9.(T) Randy Edsall (UConn) - 2004* (Joined Big East)
9.(T) Mike Stoops (Arizona) - 2004

Off the list this year:

1. Tommy Bowden - Formerly #1 on the list. Terminated.

2. Sly Croom - Formerly #10 on the list. Terminated.

Just off the list:

The guys closest to making the list joined their jobs in 2005. Or in Jim Leavitt's case, their school joined a BCS conference.
Jim Leavitt (USF) - 2005* (Joined Big East)
Mike Gundy (Ok State) - 2005
Steve Spurrier (SC) - 2005
Dave Wannstedt (Pitt) - 2005

Tom O'Brien and Houston Nutt aren't eligible for the listing above as they are both new to their current schools. If you look at their career body of work, they would rank first and second respectively among active coaches.

The Camel Club:

• Phil Fulmer was the winner of this award for several years as he had gone without a BCS trip the longest after having tasted success. Fulmer had Joe Tiller nipping at his heels during that run. However, both are now out of the picture. The new yardstick for frustration after success is Ralph Friedgen (Maryland). The Fridge's last trip to a BCS bowl came following the 2001 season.
  
  
• Kirk Ferentz (Iowa) is second on the list with his last BCS bid coming in 2002.

How Long Should Teams Wait?
Every school's situation is different, but how long should a program give a coach before making a BCS game? Over the past 11 seasons, 37 different BCS schools have made BCS appearances (38 if you count Notre Dame). There are only 66 schools in BCS conferences including ND.

PWD