Let’s say you’re an up-and-coming college football coach and, for whatever reason, every Power 5 job in America opened tomorrow.

Which would you covet? Which would you avoid?

With input and feedback from coaches, administrators and others in the industry, 247Sports this week will count down the power conference jobs, from No. 65 to No. 1.

Today we cast a spotlight on the programs that, if everything aligns just right, can make noise in conference title races every few years. They're intermittent contenders. Here are Nos. 45-36.



45. Missouri

Recent history is what Mizzou has most going for it, but the shine of consecutive SEC East titles (2013, 2014) is beginning to fade. Some coaches see the program starting to sink toward the rear of the league.

“It feels to me like that was mostly Gary Pinkel’s doing, the program that he had built in the Big 12,” one SEC coach told us. “I’m not sure what to make of (Missouri) in the future.”

Barry Odom, or any staff walking in the door, has his work cut out to compete in recruiting with the traditional powers. Odom’s staffs have finished next to last in the SEC the past two classes. That does not provide a rosy picture of what’s to come, unless the staff proves to be outstanding in development.

Add to that a toxic, university-wide culture that led the previous AD, Mack Rhoades, to decide that Baylor (!) would be a better place to work.



44. Colorado

The status of this job has risen significantly in recent years. It wasn’t long ago that CU football was an afterthought - not only in the college football world but internally, among the school’s administrators.

AD Rick George’s return in 2013 was vital in reshaping athletics’ place in the school’s larger picture, something visibly evident with the recent completion of a state-of-the-art athletics compound (price tag: $156 million).

Coach Mike MacIntyre flirted with the hot seat before demonstrating in 2016 that the Buffaloes can be competitive in the Pac-12, even without direct access to high-end recruiting talent.



43. Kentucky

Anyone dismissing Kentucky as purely a basketball school hasn’t been paying attention: The school put $120 million into renovations at Commonwealth Stadium and another $45 million into the construction of the Kentucky Football Training Center that opened last summer. That’s a healthy commitment to football, with a hat tip to AD Mitch Barnhart and UK’s administration.

So resources are no excuse for a prospective staff. Access to elite-level recruits is still a challenge, relative to the rest of the SEC. Credit Mark Stoops and the current staff for dealing well with that: In our 29th-rated class this year, just two of Kentucky’s 24 signees were from the state. The staff pulled in six recruits from neighboring Ohio and seven from Florida.

The new digs seem to be working, providing a roadmap for the Wildcats to be bigger factors in the wide-open division.



42. Arizona

Industry sources have been down on Zona in recent years, noting Rich Rodriguez’s desire to move on as an illustration. They’re only going to dislike the job even more now that affable, effective AD Greg Byrne is on his way to Alabama.

Those sources feel that it’s very difficult to remain consistently competitive in the Pac-12 South.

“It’s not a fair fight, not with what those (Los Angeles) schools have,” one of the sources said.

In reality, Arizona isn’t any worse positioned than Colorado; Colorado just happens to be on the uptick while Arizona is coming back down after Rodriguez won the division in 2014.



41. Utah

Pac-12 South schools are evidently popular in this range, with Utah embodying a college football success story that is often overlooked.

Piggybacking off Urban Meyer’s success, Kyle Whittingham has adeptly assimilated the program in the Pac-12. He isn’t given enough credit for that transition, other coaches say.

A $34 million football building was completed in 2013, and salaries are gradually improving. As with Colorado and Arizona, the issue with resources is that they’re compared within the division to USC and UCLA. And you’re then tasked with recruiting on their level.

Whittingham’s culture of physicality, developing the lines and the run game, has worked to offset the talent disadvantage. An incoming staff would be wise to continue leveraging the same developmental aspect.



40. Pittsburgh

The program shares a day-to-day building and a stadium with the Steelers. That’s is perceived in the sport as a mixed bag, but it's something the current staff ultimately uses as a recruiting chip. (“Work out with Le’Veon Bell!” ... even if you’re not actually in the same weight room.)

Narduzzi’s staff feels good about the recruiting turf, which also includes Ohio and New Jersey as a hub region. Two of the four four-stars that Pitt signed in 2017 were Ohioans. (One was in-state and the other was from Florida.)

The rub here is that coaching and administrative turnover has left the program in a bit of a spin cycle. Transition is almost constant. The trend continued in this offseason with another AD change.

“How many people can leave Pitt for supposed ‘dream jobs’?” one agent said.

Industry sources sense that Pitt being in a Power 5 league provides hope that stability is a more obtainable goal.



39. Georgia Tech

This is a job that coaches believe could be better, if only for the reason that it’s located in the heart of Atlanta.

Paul Johnson and his staff just landed the nation’s No. 46 class; that’s fairly in line with the program’s ranking here. But consider that the Yellow Jackets did not sign a single in-state pure skill player.

Georgia is a very crowded, competitive recruiting state, but there’s only one major Atlanta school.

The academic standard is obviously something to be figured in, but a sense remains that the option offense - and the stigma that it's stale and boring - has held back Tech from reaching its ceiling in this recruiting-fueled era.

“I’d like to have a crack at it and see what a little spread or tempo would do there,” one SEC assistant told us recently, laughing.



38. North Carolina State

Those in the sport believe this is legitimately the most difficult job in the ACC. It’s equipped enough to be moderately competitive, but that often inflates expectation to an unrealistic level - especially when factoring in that the Wolfpack share a division with ACC alphas Clemson and Florida State.

Industry sources feel as if this should be a program in which 7-9 wins - with cyclical success in the division - should be defined as success. And yet fifth-year coach Dave Doeren is squarely on the hot seat after winning 22 games the past three years.

The resources, including Carter-Finley Stadium, are above average. The recruiting region is likewise palatable, which makes State’s 52nd- and 48th-rated classes the past two years feel like flubs. The perception is that the program struggles with an identity crisis, fueled in large part due to out-of-whack expectation.



37. West Virginia

Fitting with the theme in this area of the rankings, those close to West Virginia feels as if expectations are also out of line.

“We’re not in the Big East and it’s like everyone expects you to win like you’re in the Big East,” one source close to the program told us.

A 10-win season in 2016 recused Dana Holgorsen from the hot seat, but some peers wondered whether he should have even been there in the first place as the Mountaineers adjusted to a Power 5 league. Holgorsen's teams have typically finished strong, as well.

Recruiting is a particular challenge in the Big 12, considering the rest of the conference’s proximity to Texas-based talent. West Virginia winds up more often finding players in New Jersey and Florida.

The facilities are adequate and improving, but they’re nothing that’s going to sway elite recruits from far-off areas. Finishing with this year's No. 57 class echoes the struggle; it creates a reliance on transfers and JUCOs.



36. Mississippi State

Even the lowest-ranked program in the SEC West has received a“Saban effect” trickle-down, with millions in facilities and salaries allocated in an effort to compete with Alabama. Former AD Scott Stricklin, now at Florida, deserves a great deal of credit for getting the money - and building projects - raised.

And Dan Mullen and his staff should be credited with turning off-field progress into wins, even though Starkville is an incredibly tough sell for recruits. With 25 wins the past three seasons and a seven-year bowl streak, they’re doing what they can with what they have.

In doing so, they’re creating a tough standard to uphold. The next staff will have its hands full competing at this level on a consistent basis, which is the key reason that Mullen has had an eye out for other jobs.

Previous tiers: 65-56, 55-46.