What's the criteria for this list? Seems mighty subjective to me.

Agree. This is beyond silly.

Albin wins 10 games again this season and like magic he's gonna be near top of Sporting News must-hire list.

Exactly. That's why I asked the question. It just looked "seat of pants" metrics to me.

I'll take the bait on debating the merits. Albin gets a lot of credit for one great season. I don't know why Chris Creighton isn't higher--nobody wins at EMU. I'd have Creighton ahead of Albin. I guess Jim McElwain doesn't get credit for past work but Chuck Martin gets a lot of love for a title + a bunch of mediocre years. Why is Linguist so highly regarded after a couple of underachieving seasons? Moorhead's record was bad, but they were in games and I think the program is headed in the right direction--I take him over Loeffler who got lucky last season.

I totally agree with all these points:
1. Creighton has quietly raised EMU from the bottom of the MAC to being a winning team, and deserves a lot more notice and credit than he receives. In his first two years, EMU was 3-21 overall, and 1-15 in MAC games. He has been to bowls 4 of the last 5 years, and tied for 1st in the MAC East last year (an unprecedented feat at EMU), but lost the tiebreaker to Toledo.

2.Martin strikes me as an outstanding recruiter, but one that seems to underperform his potential on the field. He, overall, wins more games than he loses, so he should be in the top half of the coaches. He is probably rated about right.

3. As for Candle, like Miami, in most years Toledo is at or near the top of MAC in recruiting, but he has only won the West once in the last 5 years, and even then, it was a tiebreaker with EMU. Overall he wins more games than he loses, so he should be in the top half of the coaches. I think it is significant that when I visited the Toledo board last fall, prior to the Ohio game, there were something like 7 separate "Fire Candle" threads, and few, if any posts supporting him.

4. Linquist, I think it is too early to tell, but I'd put him in the same group, as a good recruiter who is unproven in on-the-field results. Leipold was 17-4 in MAC games in his last three years, while Linquist is 7-9 since taking over. That's not a favorable turnaround. For now, I'd put him in the bottom half.

5. Jim McElwain had a bad year last year, but overall has a very good track record at CMU. I consider him to be one of the top coaches in the MAC.

6. What Moorhead accomplished in a single season at Akron was remarkable. They were far, far behind the rest of the MAC, the league patsy. They only won one game last year, but were in every game other than Ohio. He still has to prove he can get over the hump, but I think he should be closer to the middle. I would move him above Loeffler and Hammock.

If I were to rank them, my list would look like:
Kenni Burns, Kent State (new coach)
Lance Taylor, Western Michigan (new coach)
Scott Loeffler, Bowling Green
Thomas Hammock, Northern Illinois
Maurice Linguist, Buffalo
Joe Moorhead, Akron
Mike Neu, Ball State
Chuck Martin, Miami, Ohio
Jason Candle, Toledo
Tim Albin, Ohio
Jim McElwain, Central Michigan
Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan

BigGameBoomer, if you're unfamiliar with his work (160K on Insta + Twitter), he's a fun follow, does a lot of work around college athletics and rankings lists. I enjoy it because you would honestly think he went to a MAC school, because he's always giving us love. He has some of the best lists around, not just ranking popularity.

His bread and butter is often around "top" + "best of" type lists. Recently named Wigs 38th best WR in the country. Athens #1 college town. Keegan Wilburn as the 5th best returner. Bryce Houston 46th best LB.

Yesterday he did the "Top 50 Coaches Entering the 2023 Season" and named Tim Albin 47th.

His list today has Coach Isphording at 21st best OC, second highest ranked G5 coach on the list.
https://twitter.com/biggameboomer/status/1666841580152451...

Totally agree re: Isphording. He’s been at Ohio plus Toledo plus Eastern Michigan. And he’s coached both Rourkes to a ton of success at OU. Wouldn’t be surprised if he gets a shot at a MAC HC job after this year. Would wish him the best. Not sure Big Game Boomer knows what he’s talking about. Not sure I know what I’m talking about! But I could see someone so familiar with the MAC being a safe choice for a MAC East team. Cincy guy.

Better listen to SBH, he gets the inside scoop on nearly everything. He's even investigated the legendary Quinn Corna's family tree. I believe he may have placed a call to his great uncle in Toledo to ascertain certain hither to unknown facts about Quinn's athletic pedigree. When it comes to investigative journalism there's none better. Without his many insights BA would not be the best damn fan site in the MAC!