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Five Toughest NCAA Football 09 Dynasty Jobs

Each year, NCAA players try to pull off the impossible by bringing teams like North Texas and Eastern Michigan to the promised land after just a couple of seasons. Every NCAA gamer contemplates what the toughest jobs in college football are, and I am no different.

If you are looking for a tough challenge this year with the NCAA Football 09 Dynasty Mode, I want you to check out my list of challenging schools and then give me some feedback on which schools you think would be toughest to take over. So without further adieu, here are the top 5 toughest schools to actually turn into a powerhouse.

5. North Texas (Sun Belt)

Right off the bat, I am sure many of you are crying foul since North Texas has not only won its conference in recent memory, but the team also dominated Sun Belt play for a few years earlier this decade. How quickly things change in the Sun Belt. North Texas is now one of the worst teams in the worst Football Bowl Subdivision conference (for the uncool kids, this is the NCAA's new way of saying division I-A), and things do not look to be getting any easier.

Coming off of a 2-10 season, the Mean Green has to replace tons of starters while fielding a very young team. The out-of-conference slate includes Kansas State, Tulsa, LSU and Rice, all of which could very well be losses. The biggest positive about this team it its youth. You will be able to build for the future with sophomore quarterback Giovanni Vizza.

Some might consider recruiting to be an easy task since North Texas is located in the high school football capital of the world. However, when you are the worst team in the state of Texas, the best recruits are long gone before you get to them. Considering the youth, the tough schedule, and the tough recruiting challenges you will be faced with, expect North Texas to take a few years to make a comeback.

4. Utah State (WAC)

What do you get when you lose a bunch of key players off a really bad team in a really bad football state? You get a long and brutal road ahead for anyone who decides to take over the reigns at Utah State. Right now, the most experienced player on the Utah State offense is tight end Rob Myers and center Ryan Tonnemacher. Neither guy is going to have a very high rating in the final version of NCAA Football 09. In the end, expect a tough job ahead while rebuilding the Aggies.

"It does not help that the WAC is not an easy conference by any stretch of the imagination. Prepare yourself for frustration."


The first big concern you will have to deal with is the fact that you are going to have to try to surpass Hawaii, Boise State and Fresno State to achieve dominance. Climbing the mountain will not be easy considering the fact that Utah State has not won a conference crown in over 11 years. The recruiting trail should be rather tough as well since there is not that much in-state talent, and what little there is will go to cross-state rival Utah or BYU.

In all reality, getting Utah State above Boise, Fresno, Utah or Hawaii is going to be very tough. It does not help that the WAC is not an easy conference by any stretch of the imagination. Prepare yourself for frustration.

3. Syracuse (Big East)

The Orange not only sport some incredibly ugly uniforms, they also sport a program which is in dire straights right now. Right now the Orange are stuck in a position that has them looking way up at the current class of the Big East. Passing West Virginia, South Florida, Pitt and Rutgers in the Big East is going to be near impossible within a couple of years.

The good news is head coach Greg Robinson brought in a decent recruiting class, which features some skilled talent as well as some decent defenders. However, returning to the bad news, you are going to have to deal with the inevitable increased expectations of a program which has won in the past. The expectations to perform will be fairly high as the virtual Syracuse fans will be looking to relive the days of Donovan McNabb at the helm.

Your biggest plus will be being the biggest program in a very populous state, but your road to success will not be easy. Expect to lose for a year or two before starting to see a turnaround. But with the added expectations of a more prestigious school, you better have a great third year to stick around as the coach of the Orange in year four.

2. Idaho (WAC)

Idaho is a program that could be defined as the pit of college football coaching careers. The Vandals play in the smallest FBS stadium (Kibbie Dome at 16,000); they also call a bad football state home; and above all other things, it has been a decade since anyone has won a conference title at Idaho -- the team has won just 16 games since 2001. The Vandals last winning season? All the way back in 1999, when Idaho finished 7-4, which was nine years ago and five coaches ago. Yikes!

 

"So what do you have to work with at Idaho? The answer is, nothing really."


Also, do not expect to be stopping too many opponents in year one, as the Vandals return just four starters to a defense which ranked 110 in scoring defense last year. The offense is returning experience, but the offense was just bad last year, averaging just 349 yards a game.

So what do you have to work with at Idaho? The answer is, nothing really. You will have to spend a ton of recruiting points to find any decent talent outside of Idaho, and you may not have many points to spare. You are also going to be recruiting against in-state heavyweight Boise State. You are going to be challenged early and often at Idaho and you are not going to have an easy road to meeting expectations.

A bowl appearance by year three will be your first challenge, while a conference crown a year or so later would be your next.

Before I list number one, let me just post a few teams that didn't quite make the cut, but are still on a short list of hard teams to make into a powerhouse: Baylor, Vanderbuilt, UNLV, San Jose St, Rice, SMU, Eastern Michigan, Florida International.

1. Duke (ACC)

And the toughest job of them all? That would be coaching Duke, a team which has not won a conference title in nearly two decades and has not had a winning season since the early 1990s. The program had its best years during the 1930s -- the best year was 1938. Any future coach of the Blue Devils will also be looking way up at the rest of the ACC, which will result in a huge gap between your team and the top teams in the ACC.

Your first task as coach of the Blue Devils will be to try to wrestle wins away from Northwestern and an Football Championship Subdivision (again, the NCAA's new cute way of saying Division 1-AA) team. Starting off 2-0 would do your program wonders, although they may be your only wins in year one. The talent gap between Duke and the rest of the ACC is enormous, which might explain why no coach sans Steve Spurrier has won there in recent memory.

The recruiting trail will be very difficult as well, with you having to compete in the Carolinas against several quality football programs as well as southern heavyweights Georgia and Florida. The problem with recruiting at Duke is you are not going to be able to catch the better talent from your region since the heavyweights will be taking the best talent first. Thus, your rebuilding process will take some time.

Your boosters will expect you to win just as quickly as an Idaho or a Utah State since the talent is just a bit higher than those schools, with the added caveat of being in a major BCS conference. The lack of talent means your success early and often will be predicated by how you manage the talent gap between your Blue Devils and your ACC opponents. In the end, there is a reason no coach has succeeded in getting Duke near a bowl game in some time. For you to succeed and reach the top of the ACC, it is going to take some skillful recruiting and coaching.

This article is also featured on Bleacher Report. Bleacher Report is where the sports bar meets the press box, the place for fan-journalists to create and critique high-quality sports analysis. Visit Bleacher Report for more video games news.


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Member Comments
# 21 SirNigel @ 06/30/08 08:15 PM
Tulane.
 
# 22 N51_rob @ 06/30/08 09:19 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacPlex
How vandy is not on this list is beyond me. they are playing in the toughest conference in the land. they had 25 consecutive losing records. and have one 12 sec games in the last 12 years. Not to mention some like phil steele predict them to go 0-8 sec play. And w/ the fewest returning starters(9) out of all SEC teams, 0-8 seems like fate.
Chris it is a great article. You make some good points. I must agree with MacPlex though I think that Vandy and Duke are 1a and 1b. They have had some good players the last few years but never really more than one or 2 on a team. They just seem like a difficult place to bring in kids. Imagine if oh say NCAA 2012 had academic admission standards. You could almost never win at Vandy. But I can't argue with your list. Anyone of those jobs would tough.
 
# 23 auburntigersfan @ 06/30/08 09:23 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steelerfan2k1
Oh man - where is Temple? They were the second worst rated team in the game in NCAA 08 (just ahead of Eastern Michigan). It took me years to make them a respectable team.

I loved playing as them though, and I now follow them a little bit. I would be happy if they went to a bowl in real life, and I am going to play as them again this year.
I would think Temple would be one hell of a job.
 
# 24 RaychelSnr @ 06/30/08 09:56 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by N51_rob
Chris it is a great article. You make some good points. I must agree with MacPlex though I think that Vandy and Duke are 1a and 1b. They have had some good players the last few years but never really more than one or 2 on a team. They just seem like a difficult place to bring in kids. Imagine if oh say NCAA 2012 had academic admission standards. You could almost never win at Vandy. But I can't argue with your list. Anyone of those jobs would tough.
I think you bring up great points...and in all reality, I think you could very well be right about Vandy. I think the biggest reason I left them off is because I feel rebuilding a team in SEC country wouldn't be as hard as an Idaho or Utah State. However, I think this article brings up a necessary point which I will be writing on for next week and that is academic standards should be in the next NCAA. The only way to add real depth to recruiting is making it tougher to recruit at schools like Stanford and Duke, not to mention the service academies. Just my .02 and short preview for next week
 
# 25 Cusefan @ 07/01/08 12:58 AM
Funny thing is, Playing with Syracuse isn't as bad as it seems. I have played with Syracuse for every NCAA game ever released, sure it was fun when they were good but i like a challenge. In NCAA, the pass blocking was always decent, no matter who you were. In real Life, the Syracuse O-Line is like swiss cheese, just pick a hole.

Hopefully they will win more than 2 games this year and they should, they have a "capable" offense and a decent Defense. And if this game is anything like real life, If you don't win more than 6 games, expect to get fired...
 
# 26 WDOgF0reL1fe @ 07/01/08 01:07 AM
What about san diego state? Well.. IRL anyway
 
# 27 texbuk84 @ 07/01/08 01:44 AM
the orangeman need to be number 1 on this list because they are in the big east and this is just unacceptable.
 
# 28 vanderbiltfan87 @ 07/01/08 02:14 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacPlex
Im hoping they have a good season also but the odds are against them they only have 9 Sr. and the only thing that will help me in recruiting for vandy is location and Academic prestige.
well let me provide some optimism for you my friend.

qb - nickson and adams return. nickson looked very promising in 06 but was hurt most of last year. if he comes back and is just equal to his 06 play then this year could be good. adams stepped in last year and played well. he's a good game manager. nothing too spectacular but can get the job done.

rb - jennings returns for his senior year. last year he was trying to come back from an acl tear. (maybe not acl but it was for sure a season ending knee injury.) he's our work horse and short yardage guy. but he can have spurts and do damage for 7 or 8 yards. hawkins is a more shifty back and has long play capability. he will probably emerge as the starter. depending on qb play, hawkins could end up running for close to 1000 yards. reeves was a r.s. freshmen last year but has potential. miller is little guy that could surprise people as well.

wr. yes we lose probably the best sec receiver of all time in bennett, but we have a stable of receivers. washington is out this year with a knee injury but no worries. george smith is the leader. wheeler and walker will be a play makers. umoh redshirted last year, but according to rivals was a pretty decent recruit. john cole is coming in this year and may be one of the few true freshmen. runs a 4.4 and a lot of people believe he may end up being a stud that wasn't heavily recruited out of high school. then we have andrew diomande, a transfer from clemson. he is the wild card of the wr's. i believe he's from the miami area and was a solid guy out of high school. i really think we have had the best receiving corps in the sec the past few seasons.

so there are my qb, rb, and wr summaries. should i make you feel better about your dynasty for 09 and talk about the rest of the team?
 
# 29 bacardilvr @ 07/01/08 04:13 AM
I am currently in a dynasty with Duke, (after being fired from Tulane) the first year I went 7-6, and this year I am 5-1. It's hard to recruit as the article says but I do the best I can. I get a stud linebacker or a defensive end here and there, but the past two years I have loaded up on fast skill players and smart QB's.
 
# 30 vanderbiltfan87 @ 07/01/08 05:15 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacPlex
yea that sounds all good kinda but Vandy will not win any games w/ their talent. Games will be won w/ coaching, discipline and heart. Because other teams in the SEC are reloading their Magnums while. Vandy is refilling their hopper w/ paintballs.
coaching? i'd say we have a pretty good coach and staff

discipline? that's a done deal. one of the reason's i'm a proud vandy fan

heart? when you play for a losing program yet come out and give it your all every day and play, i'd say you definitely have heart.

maybe i'm too optimistic
 
# 31 texbuk84 @ 07/01/08 05:24 AM
why ND not on this list. they are the worst team in college history
 
# 32 Blazer2122 @ 07/01/08 08:38 AM
This article hits home with me. Starting a Dynasty with a Doormat is what I do... every year. Here's my take.

North Texas isn't so bad. You can draw in a lot of that abundant local talent with a winning record against the Sun Belt.

Same goes with Florida International...

Vandy can be tough... there is not much talent in Tennessee, and UT and Memphis will draw most of it... but having the recruiting pitch of "Conference Prestige" (NG) is a big help...

Syracuse is actually pretty good to start with. Eeek out a .500 season to start, but you can recruit New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and ALL the New England States ... PLUS the Cuse is in a BCS conference, so they have better bowl tie ins (better lower tier bowl games helps recruiting). Syracuse is the Sleeping Giant of this group.

The toughest ones are EMU, Temple, and Utah State.

**EMU... well, they stink. The MAC is tougher than the Sun Belt... and they've got to compete with Michigan, MSU, CMU, and WMU for local talent....

***Utah State well, they stink too, and talking about a bad recruiting state!

***Temple - over the past several versions of the game they've been my starter team of choice. Competing in the MAC is a little bit of a reprieve, but there are some tough teams there. Recruiting?... Pitt, Penn state, Rutgers, are hard to recruit against... plus Maryland and West Virginia... suprised me too, but I lose a lot of recruits to those schools.
 
# 33 NoleFan @ 07/01/08 08:42 AM
Thanks for this list. It's really good since my dynasty will be a rebuilding one.
 
# 34 Bootzilla @ 07/01/08 09:27 AM
Idaho is tough but, the conference isn't that hard so, if you play the games and not sim you should be able to get some wins. Utah St, San Jose St, La Tech, in conference aren't juggernauts nor are out of conference games teams like Western Mich. and Idaho St(1aa). If you can win most of those games and maybe get lucky with a win or two like at San Diego St. or at home vs. New Mexico St. you can start to make a move up in a conference where only Fresno and Boise are the only really good teams.

As for recruiting, I hit the state of Washington hard, get any Idaho kids that Boise St doesn't get, check out Oregon, and hit California for the left over speed guys. I'm usually able to generate some decent classes with that philosophy.

I'm glad the dome is in this year so I can actually play with them.
 
# 35 Brandwin @ 07/01/08 11:00 AM
I think it's easier to turn around bad teams in bad conferences quicker then bad teams in good conferences.

If your North Texas you're also playing teams that are not that good, you can end up having a winning record, get recuits in and go to bowl games. If your a team like Vanderbilt, or Baylor you are in a conference with some of the elite teams in the nation and it's hard to build up.
 
# 36 Brandwin @ 07/01/08 11:11 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by BoomerSooner11
Good article...Ya ISU and Baylor will lose like three games in a row all losing by like 7 points or less..shoot Baylor put OU in double OT about two yrs ago and OU also had a hell of a time with ISU last year.
Que? Other then 2005 the year you are refering too, Baylor has bene horrible in Big 12 play. That year they had a shot at a Bowl Game and were pretty much in every game that season except the Texas game (even though they lost to Tech 28-0 it was close until the 4th quarter) So not sure where you're getting they lose three games in a row by like 7.


Baylor, Duke and Vandy are defiantly the three worse BCS programs in College football.

LOL@ me arguing that my team is one of the worst
 
# 37 Cyros @ 07/01/08 11:22 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoleFan
Thanks for this list. It's really good since my dynasty will be a rebuilding one.
Come on now, everybody knows you can't hold a job.
 
# 38 NoleFan @ 07/01/08 11:50 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cyros
Come on now, everybody knows you can't hold a job.
Touche'

I'll show you this year!
 
# 39 OMT @ 07/01/08 01:39 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by MMChrisS
Chris Sanner checks in this week with a look at what the five toughest jobs to take over in NCAA Football's dynasty mode will be. Check out his article, Five Toughest NCAA Football 09 Dynasty Jobs.
I'll agree with Duke being #1. It is hard not to get fired unless you are playing all the games.

North Texas is hard? No way. Small schools in California, Texas, Florida, and Ohio are simple to turn into powerhouses. Your recruit pool is so deep that other teams in your conference can't keep up.
 
# 40 OMT @ 07/01/08 01:41 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by MMChrisS
Thanks guys. Here are the other teams that just barely missed the cut.

Baylor, Vanderbilt, Iowa State, UNLV, San Jose St, Rice, SMU, Eastern Michigan, Florida International
Have you ever tried Wyoming or Hawaii?
 


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