The 10 best assistant coaches in college football

A college football head coach gets the big bucks, the praise and certainly the scrutiny. However, at some of the more prominent programs across the country, it's an assistant — or two — who might actually be the brains of the outfit.

There are a number of quality assistant coaches within the college football ranks. Some are likely to run their own programs down the road, while others seem content leaving the limelight for the boss.

Here's a look at 10 of the top assistant coaches at the moment.

10. Ricky Rahne, Penn State, offensive coordinator

Think Michigan's Josh Gattis is the best OC in the Big Ten? Perhaps at some point this season, but the Wolverines offense needs to take care of the ball, first. The pick at the moment is Rahne, who has Penn State's offense looking good early in 2019 (124 points through two games), even minus Trace McSorley and Miles Sanders. If the Nittany Lions remain this potent during the conference season, Rahne's stock should continue to rise.

9. Mike Elko, Texas A&M, defensive coordinator

After successful stops at Bowling Green and Wake Forest, Elko spent a season at Notre Dame before landing in College Station. His Aggies ranked among the top five nationally against the run (95.2 yards allowed per game) in 2018. Though Texas A&M fell at Clemson over the weekend, Elko's defense yielded 24 points and kept that high-powered Tigers offense to less than 400 total yards at home. It will be interesting to see if that unit can build on this performance.

8. Todd Orlando, Texas, defensive coordinator

Orlando is one of the more respected DC's in the country. Sure, the Longhorns defense failed to stop LSU when it mattered most while yielding 573 yards in the 45-38 defeat over the weekend. But since taking over the Texas defense in 2017, that marked just the ninth time the Longhorns have given up more than 30 points. Orlando, considered a "defensive guru" by some, has a good situation at Texas, and his players love him.

7. Jimmy Lake, Washington, defensive coordinator

Lake has been an assistant on both the NFL and collegiate levels. Though some of the faces are different in 2019, Washington again appears to be stingy on the defensive end. He keeps getting raises to stay with the Huskies, and why not? Lake has a good thing going here. It's uncertain just how high a profile job it will take for Lake to leave Washington, where he remains one of the best in the business.

6. Chip Long, Notre Dame, offensive coordinator

In 2016, the Irish had an inconsistent offense and finished 4-8. Notre Dame is averaging nearly 33 points while going 23-4 since Long was hired in 2017 to take over the program's offense. A 2018 Broyles Award finalist, the 36-year-old Long appears to be on the fast track to a head coaching gig. That could come as early as 2020, but there is still work to be done in South Bend.

5. Alex Grinch, Oklahoma, defensive coordinator

Something had to be done to fix a defense that allowed an average of 453.8 yards and 33.3 points last season. Grinch, who notably got Washington State to stop the opposition on a consistent basis in the middle of the decade and comes over from Ohio State, demands the best from everybody associated with the OU defense. So far things seem to be going well, but we'll know better when the Sooners schedule gets tougher.

4. Dave Aranda, LSU, defensive coordinator

As of the 2018 season, Aranda was the highest-paid assistant coach in college football at $2.5 million per season. While he built upper-echelon defensive units at Utah State, Wisconsin and obviously at LSU, the knock on Aranda is that he's overrated and overpaid. It makes sense to an extent — he's never been part of a national championship team. Still, the wins keep piling up thanks to his defenses, and Aranda continues to produce NFL talent.

3. Jeff Scott, Clemson, co-offensive coordinator

One half of the most successful offensive coordinator duo in the country, Scott coaches Clemson's stellar group of receivers that includes Tee Higgins and Justyn Ross. He's also been known to recruit pretty well, too. A finalist for the Broyles Award last season, Scott has helped the Tigers to bowl games in each of his previous 11 seasons at the school — plus those two national championships. It's going to be a special head-coaching job with a lot of perks to lure Scott away from Clemson.

2. Tony Elliott, Clemson, co-offensive coordinator

Like his Tiger coordinating buddy Scott, Elliott is making $1 million per year. He's in the charge of the Clemson running backs and has a Heisman Trophy contender in Travis Etienne. The 2017 Broyles Award winner, the Tigers' run of eight straight 10-win seasons started when Elliott joined the staff. He's coached six 1,000-yard rushers — most likely seven after this season. Like Scott, Elliott won't leave Clemson for just any head-coaching position.

1. Brent Venables, Clemson, defensive coordinator

Since taking over the Clemson defense in 2012, the Tigers have allowed an average of 18.3 and yielded 10 or fewer points 36 times. He's reportedly making $2.2 million this season and seems well worth the price. The 2016 Broyles Award winner has been tied to several head-coaching jobs over the years, but life, and the money, is good at Clemson. So it seems Venables is in no rush to leave this kind of comfort.