Here’s how old most head coaches are when they win their first national titles

Have you ever wondered how old most head coaches are when they win their first national titles?

Looking back at the last 30 years, 13 of the 21 guys who won their first natties were 50-something, with nine in their 40s and only one in his 60s.

The youngest was Bob Stoops — when he won his first and only title at Oklahoma, he was 40 years old (below it says 39, since that’s how old he was Week 1 of the season). The oldest was Bobby Bowden, who was 63 when he won his first at Florida State in 1993.

Here’s the full list, going by their age at Week 1:

*Note: Some years list two head coaches, thanks to split national titles back in the day.

Since 2006, it might look like more coaches in their 40s are winning titles. Perhaps this is just a coincidence, but maybe it’s that talented head coaches are moving up the ranks more quickly.

As for who could join Stoops as one of the youngest ever, Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley, who’s 34, looks to be the most likely — his team lost in overtime to Georgia in the Playoff last year. On the other side, Mark Dantonio is 62 and has made one Playoff so far.

So what does this all mean? For starters, firing an older coach and hiring a young one might be something to consider at certain schools with high expectations, especially if your coach is in his mid-50s and hasn’t really made a serious title run in a while. But this isn’t the case everywhere, and it’s obviously dependent on a lot of other factors like whether your school will ever have the talent regardless of who’s the coach and realistic team goals.