Danny Kanell Ranks Texas as No. 1 Job In College Football

As the college football offseason slowly trickles along, we have reached the point where podcasts discuss and create lists and rankings around some of the sports' age-old questions, and they frequently touch on the Texas football program.

On a Mar. 7 episode of the Cover 3 College Football Podcast, former Florida State Seminoles quarterback and longtime college football media personality Danny Kanell ranked Texas as the No. 1 head coaching job during a conversation regarding the top ten coaching jobs in college football.

Texas football regarded by Danny Kanell as the best job in college football

"Bud [Elliott] had me flip-flop my one and two because of what he mentioned about where you live. Give me Texas. Give me Austin. Resources galore, winning tradition, money ... deep, deep pockets," Kanell said when explaining his rationale behind his pick.

"You do have the redheaded step-child down the street in College Station, but I still think you get the better of them with recruits," he joked.

Kanell's co-hosts Bud Elliott, Tom Fornelli, and Chip Patterson also saw Texas as an upper-echelon job, but went different routes with their No. 1 spots.

Patterson had the Georgia job in his No. 1 spot, citing the Bulldogs' stranglehold on what is becoming an increasingly talent-rich high school football state, Fornelli put LSU in his top spot. "How many programs have had three different head coaches win national titles in the last 20 years?" he rhetorically asked.

Elliott rounded out the discussion with Ohio State in his No. 1 spot. "I'll go ahead and just say Ohio State to round it out because I really thought there were legitimately four answers that you could give for the best job in the country: Georgia, Texas, LSU, and Ohio State, in some order."

The quartet's factors for creating their rankings included resources, facilities, fan support, talent acquisition ability, recruiting footprint, job expectations vs. ability to meet those expectations (*cough* A&M *cough*), university alignment, location, and a winning tradition.

Texas routinely tops lists ranking the top revenue producers in college football. According to CollegeRaptor, Texas Football brought in over $161 million in revenue in 2023, six million more than No. 2 Georgia and one of just nine programs to surpass the $100 million mark.

Paired with the monetary resources, Texas has always been able to attract recruits (even during its lean years). Over the last six recruiting cycles (discounting the 2021 transition class), the Horns have signed five top-five and six top-ten classes.

That said, I believe the university alignment and on-field success have pushed Texas to the best job in the country over the past year. Since Chris Del Conte hired Steve Sarkisian in Jan. 2021, the university has had a perfect symbiotic relationship among CDC, Coach Sark, President Jay Hartzell, and the Board of Regents. Rarely are we seeing off-the-field issues that plagued this program through the 2010s.

In 2023, the fruits of Coach Sark's labor came to fruition when the Longhorns won their first Big 12 title since 2009 and reached the College Football Playoff. The 12-2 mark was the most wins Texas Football had reached in 14 years and gave credibility to what the coaching staff and administration had been building.

Other jobs mentioned on the Cover 3 Podcast included "Tier Two" jobs like Alabama, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Oregon; "Tier Three" jobs listed included Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Notre Dame, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and USC.

Watch the full episode below:

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