Click here for Best dating coaches 2016 There's a lot of things that go into being a good coach but being able to lead your team to victory in close games is at the top of the list. New Georgia coach Kirby Smart came to his first SEC Media Days armed with a statistic: 42 percent of SEC league games in 2015 were decided by one touchdown or less. Smart had someone do the research after hearing Auburn's Gus Malzahn discuss his team's inability to win close games in 2015, a stark contrast to Malzahn starting his career by winning 12 of his first 13 games decided by one score. Usually it comes down in this league to two or three plays in these closes games," Malzahn said, "and you got to find a way to make them and you got to have your guys prepared and you got to be able to execute." Welcome to life as a head coach, Kirby. Close games can happen when you least expect them. They're the difference between a good season or a special season, a New Year's Day bowl or a late-December bowl, a pay raise or a pink slip. Last season, Michigan State reached the College Football Playoff thanks to a 6-1 record in games decided by one touchdown or less, including a miraculous win over Michigan on a botched punt attempt. After starting his career 6-12 in one-score games, Spartans coach Mark Dantonio is 21-8 since 2010. On the flip side, Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson had won a respectable 57 percent of his one-score games during his first 18 years as a coach, including going 3-3 in 2015 while winning 11 games. Last year, Georgia Tech went 1-6 in one-score games and posted a miserable 3-9 record. How flukey can these close game stats be? Nick Saban is a coaching giant, yet he's only 17-14 in one-score games at Alabama. Mississippi State's Dan Mullen (.640 winning percentage in one-score games) has done better in this stat than Saban at Alabama (.548). (This could be due to how talented Alabama's teams are and the only way to beat them is close. Saban has a .599 percentage in one-score games for his entire college career.) Smart is about to enter a world where a couple close games can make or break your season and career. Fifty-one percent of ACC league games in 2015 were decided by one score or less, tops in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The SEC was second at 42 percent, followed by the Big Ten (40 percent), Big 12 (38 percent), Pac-12 (36 percent), MAC (34 percent), Mountain West (31 percent), Sun Belt (30 percent), Conference USA (28 percent) and American Athletic Conference (20 percent). Here's a look at the top 10 coaches nationally based on winning percentage in one-score games (minimum 25 such games coached). Coach, School Career Current School Bobby Wilder, Old Dominion 20-7 (.741) 20-7 (.741) Urban Meyer, Ohio State 34-13 (.723) 13-2 (.867) Brian Kelly, Notre Dame 78-38-2 (.669) 22-13 (.629) Tommy Tuberville, Cincinnati 60-31 (.659) 8-5 (.615) Les Miles, LSU 46-25 (.648) 39-18 (.684) Kyle Whittingham, Utah 34-19 (.642) 34-19 (.642) Dan Mullen, Mississippi State 16-9 (.640) 16-9 (.640) Gary Patterson, TCU 43-25 (.632) 43-25 (.632) Matt Viator, Louisiana-Monroe 24-14 (.632) New coach David Shaw, Stanford 17-10 (.630) 17-10 (.630) SEC league games have become more competitive lately. In 2011, when Alabama and LSU dominated the SEC and played for the national championship, only 30 percent of conference games were decided by one score. That increased to 39 percent in 2012, 40 percent in 2013 and 44 percent in 2014, before it dipped slightly to 42 percent in 2015. It's still a far cry from the days with lower-scoring games. In 2006, 53 percent of SEC league games were decided by one score or less. Still, as salaries increase and playoff appearances become the standard to judge many coaches, the pressure will only get ratcheted up to win these tight games. The five active coaches with a national title (Saban, Urban Meyer, Jimbo Fisher, Les Miles and Bob Stoops) have a combined .642 percentage in games decided by one score. Active Power Five coaches are .557 in one-score games, while active Group of Five coaches are at .535. These are the magic numbers to keep in mind when reviewing each conference's best and worst FBS coaches in close games. SEC. Best: Les Miles, LSU -- Miles' career winning percentage in one-score games (.648) ranks third among active Power Five coaches who have coached in at least 25 one-score games. Only Meyer and Brian Kelly (Notre Dame) have done better than Miles. Perhaps this explains why Miles has been so reluctant to open up LSU's offense, even though a change is likely necessary for LSU to better compete with higher-scoring offenses. Worst: Butch Jones, Tennessee -- Normally this spot would be reserved for Arkansas' Bret Bielema, but he may have turned a corner in 2015 by going 3-3 in one-score games to end an 11-game losing streak in such contests. Bielema even won a close game at Tennessee where Jones is 6-9 in one-score games and has lost too many close games that are really important. Jones is 1-6 in one-score games against Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Oklahoma. Even when he won consecutive Big East titles at Cincinnati in 2011 and 2012, Jones was only 5-4 in one-score games. He will need to win more tight games to survive long-term in the SEC. SEC Coach Career Current School Jim McElwain, Florida 13-4 (.765) 5-1 (.833) Gus Malzahn, Auburn 15-7 (.682) 12-7 (.632) Les Miles, LSU 46-25 (.648) 39-18 (.684) Dan Mullen, Mississippi State 16-9 (.640) 16-9 (.640) Derek Mason, Vanderbilt 5-3 (.625) 5-3 (.625) Nick Saban, Alabama 42-28-1 (.599) 17-14 (.548) Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M 21-15 (.583) 11-8 (.579) Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss 13-11 (.542) 7-9 (.438) Butch Jones, Tennessee 21-21 (.500) 6-9 (.400) Bret Bielema, Arkansas 24-25 (.490) 3-10 (.231) Will Muschamp, South Carolina 8-10 (.444) New school Mark Stoops, Kentucky 5-7 (.417) 5-7 (.417) Kirby Smart, Georgia First year Barry Odom, Missouri First year. Big Ten. Best: Urban Meyer, Ohio State -- Of all the impressive stats associated with Meyer's career, how his teams fare in tight games often gets overlooked. Meyer is 34-13 in one-score games. Great talent certainly helps. Still, Meyer easily has the best record for any active Power Five coach with at least 25 career one-score games. The only coaches to beat Meyer in a one-score game since 2008 are Dantonio, Miles, Mullen, Dabo Swinney and Houston Nutt. Worst: Darrell Hazell, Purdue -- Hazell is the only returning Big Ten coach who didn't win a one-score game in 2015, losing all three to Bowling Green, Michigan State and Northwestern. On one hand, it's a positive that Purdue was even in those games with Michigan State and Northwestern. On the other hand, Hazell is now 6-12 for his career in one-score games. That's the Big Ten's second-worst mark and behind only Indiana's Kevin Wilson , who is 7-18 overall in one-score games but at least went 3-5 in 2015. Best dating coaches 2016
