Great article by Matt Zemek over at CFN.  This is an excerpt.  Hit the link below to read the entire post.  It's definitely worth the 10 minutes.  Read on...

http://cfn.scout.com/2/557921.html

"The question must therefore be asked: Just exactly what defines great coaching and poor coaching amidst this brittle backdrop? As a follow-up, how can an observer even begin to make some finite assessments of the 120 men who patrol an FBS sideline on Saturdays? When a pick-six can produce a 14-point swing on a single play, and a blocked field goal can produce a 10-point turn on a solitary snap, coaches--for all their power, wisdom and knowledge--are rendered impotent to a considerable extent. Like any other mortal, the coach ceases to be the master of his own fate when one wacky sequence ensues on a kick or a forward pass gone awry.

Consider, for context, some of the players who threw pick-sixes this past Saturday: Case Keenum, Steven Sheffield (the wonder-boy backup at Texas Tech), Patrick Pinkney (a sixth-year senior), Nick Foles, and Bill Stull. That's a roster of players who have either proven themselves to be quite accomplished, or who possess considerable experience at the position (or both). The coaches of these young men didn't become dumber as a result of the pick-sixes they threw. Evaluating the coaches who preside over both mistakes and magnificence, over blunders and brilliance, has to be seen in a larger and more illuminating light.

Many of the college football seasons in this soon-to-end decade have involved the invocation of some oft-repeated themes. Some of them are as follows:

Bob Stoops doesn't get his team ready for bowl games.

Jim Tressel can't win the big one.

Pete Carroll can't win the little ones.

Al Groh can't be predicted.

Joe Paterno's lost the mustard on his fastball.

Bobby Bowden's lost the mustard on HIS fastball.

Mike Stoops just isn't getting Arizona over the hump.

Jim Grobe does more with less than just about anyone else in the country.

Tom O'Brien: Great in bowl games, poor at winning conference titles.

Mark Richt should be doing more at Georgia.

Paul Johnson should get a gig at a top-tier program.

Gary Patterson knows how to coach and teach defense.

Mike Gundy has work to do at Oklahoma State.

Call June Jones gimmicky, but the man knows how to get production from an offense and create positive change at a program.

Dave Wannstedt has yet to put all the pieces together at Pitt.

Larry Blakeney routinely cranks out winners at Troy.

Houston Nutt: Great as an overachieving underdog with no expectations, horrid as an underachieving favorite saddled by huge expectations."