That conversation stuck with me: Why not create a ranking system of every Power 5 job? I enlisted four ESPN colleagues -- Chris Low, Brett McMurphy, Adam Rittenberg and Mark Schlabach -- to help poll coaches and industry sources and provide their insight.
The central question: If every Power 5 job came open tomorrow, which would be the most desirable? Which would be least appealing? And where does your team fall?
Though each person weighs things differently -- that's why it's such a subjective, hot-button topic for debate -- the criteria is roughly the same. It includes factors such as location, administrative stability, support from that administration, facilities, recruiting base, path to conference titles/playoff, sense of tradition, fervor of the fan base, too much fervor from the fan base ...
We hope and believe we have provided an intelligent and accurate overview of the Power 5 jobs in college football, from worst to best.
According to the writer, there was a lot of research that went into this. The opinions aren't his. They are the opinions of the coaches he polled. He just provides context for each location.