By: Ryan Moreland (@ryanmoreland)
It is that time of year when we look at the CFSL’s coaching trees. There wasn’t a lot of turnover this year, but we did get two new ADs, four new conference titles, and a new championship. Let’s dive in.
The Frosty Tree
Total Win Percentage: .575 (360-266)
National Championships: 6
Conference Championships: 12
The Frosty Tree is still the largest in the CFSL and the most successful. Speaking of success, 850Cane brought a National Championship to this tree. The Frosty Tree has the most championships of any coaching tree in the league and now their lead is even further.
Ware also added a conference championship to their tally after an undefeated season at Alabama. This tree also has the most conference championships, although one tree is starting to catch up. More on that later.
The future of this tree is strong. There are five active branches. However, losing a proven talent developer like 14rDavis does hurt. Time will tell if Ware and Gunn can develop more coaches or if Cane, Tiny, and Eugene can develop their first. This tree has the second most active members, making it the second healthiest tree.
The Grin Tree
Total Win Percentage: .540 (258-220)
National Championships: 1
Conference Championships: 10
While KadePadgett wasn’t able to add the second National Championship, however, he did win another conference championship for the tree. So did MucciMane at Virginia Tech. This was the first conference champion for both ADs. This made the Grin Tree the second tree to reach double digits in conference championships.
The Grin Tree also added two new branches, the only additions this season. Meezy is leaving Clemson to take over Iowa and Eugene left Virginia Tech for Kentucky. Eugene is now bringing Nebraska to the league.
This is the tree with the best-looking future because it is the tree with the most active branches. It also has five branches that are proven talent developers, including LoganWetzel and MucciMane, who both added their first branch this season.
The Clutch Tree
Total Win Percentage: .508 (269-261)
National Championships: 3
Conference Championships: 8
The Clutch Tree is one of the oldest active trees in the CFSL with a storied history. However, this was a bit of a stagnant year for this tree. They didn’t add any titles or new coaches. They lost one coach with Drake stepping down at Michigan State. However, I don’t predict this to be a continuing trend.
Dthall is coming off another solid season with Oklahoma, which has rebuilt into a power player in the Big XII. Wookie is rebuilding an LSU team that is now headed to the SEC. SilentNinja had a rough season with Notre Dame, but he has a young core he can build around and signs are looking up for the Irish.
The future of this tree depends on these three coaches (unless someone else comes back). Wookie is a proven talent developer, as you can see. Hall and Silent haven’t developed a coach yet, but could soon. This tree still has the third-best health with three active members.
The Houston Tree
Total Win Percentage: .542 (123-104)
National Championships: 2
Conference Championships: 6
Not much has changed in the Houston Tree this season. ThatGuy and RyanMoreland are still the only two active branches. Despite both of them finishing the season above .500, the tree still took a dip in win percentage. They still have the second-best winning percentage this season.
Despite the drop, there is a lot to like about this tree. ThatGuy has rebuilt Florida and this season proved that the Gators will be a force in the SEC from here on out. Moreland’s Longhorns finished with six wins for the third straight season, but they did get their first playoff win under Moreland.
The future of this tree depends on these two. ThatGuy is a proven developer, having Moreland under him. Moreland has yet to develop a coach under him. This is tied for the 4th most healthy tree in the league with Murph’s tree. We will see if this tree will continue to grow in the future.
The Mears Tree
Total Win Percentage: .439 (50-64)
National Championships: 0
Conference Championships: 1
Smitty is the only active branch and things didn’t go Penn State’s way this season. However, they put together a great young core to build off of. This rebuild could be very quick for the Nittany Lions.
The Mears Tree dropped from a .460 win percentage to .439 this season after Penn State finished 0 and 8. But this also sets this tree up for a major jump up with a big season next year. Time will tell if Smitty and his team can make that happen.
The future of this tree is on Smitty’s shoulders alone. While he hasn’t developed a coach yet, he has had a long and successful career. That has proven to be a recipe for success for ADs in the past. We will see if this tree can grow in the next few seasons.
The Konvict Tree
Total Win Percentage: .371 (26-44)
National Championships: 0
Conference Championships: 2
Triipz and his Ducks had a bounce-back season this year, even if it didn’t end the way they wanted it to. However, this was a big step in the right direction. As the only active branch on this tree, there is a lot of pressure on him.
This tree did take a hit in win percentage. They dropped from .406 to .371. Given how few total games this tree has, this number could skyrocket if Oregon has a great season next year.
Triipz has yet to develop a coach under him, but this could happen soon. However, any tree with one active branch is relying on one person to grow it. We will see if Triipz can get this tree some growth in the next few seasons.
The Murph Tree
Total Win Percentage: .442 (57-72)
National Championships: 2
Conference Championships: 1
This tree is the only tree in the CFSL that has no inactive branches. And they are headed in the right direction. The tree nabbed its first conference championship this season, thanks to Jacobb02 and his Trojans. Despite this, they still took a dip in win percentage.
West Virginia will be heading into the post-Gunner Rice era, but the opportunity to improve is there. Jaco failed to get the three-peat but has proven himself to be a great game planner and recruiter.
The future of this tree seems pretty good. Murph is a proven talent developer and Jacob has had a lot of success in the league, which is an indicator of future talent development. Time will tell when this tree grows its next branch.
