Longest-lasting college coaches

You probably know Joe Paterno -- with 46 seasons at Penn State -- has held the longest coaching tenure at one FBS school in college football history. How do others stack up? We count down a baker's dozen (note: only consecutvie-year tenures at FBS programs qualify).

Ferentz got to Iowa in '99 and promptly went 1-10, but since then the Hawkeyes have won two Big Ten championships and six bowl games, including the Orange Bowl in 2009. Iowa has gone 8-5, 4-8, and 7-6 in the last three seasons, respectively, so Ferentz has heard his name come up on the hot seat lists. He has a chance in 2014 to cool the replacement talk and continue his streak.

It's fitting Stoops and Brown stand next to each other on this list given they met 15 times in the famed Red River Rivalry. Stoops has won eight Big 12 championships and one national title in Norman, and at 53 years old with the Sooners still humming along, he could rocket up this list. It's hard to see Oklahoma enduring a huge drop-off under Stoops, so the only question seems to be how long he wants to stick around.

Darrell Royal could make a strong case as the best coach in Texas history, but Brown's body of work stands tall on its own merit. From 1998-2013, Brown led the Longhorns to six Big 12 South division titles, two Big 12 championships and the '06 BCS National Championship. After a four-year period from '10-13 in which Texas didn'€™t win 10 games, Brown was ushered out, but he'€™ll be remembered forever in Austin.

Wilkinson would spend a couple years in professional football, but he's know for the 17 he spent at Oklahoma from 1947-63. Under his lead, the Sooners won three national championships and 14 conference titles.

Fulmer'€™s first season in Knoxville was a partial one, as he took over for Johnny Majors eight games into the '92 season. From that time until he was let go in 2008, Fulmer led the Vols to six SEC East division titles, two SEC championships and a national championship in '98. In the five seasons since Fulmer left, Tennessee hasn'€™t eclipsed seven wins; Fulmer did it 14 times.

Snyder has been at Kansas State for 23 total seasons (and counting), but only single-tenure streaks count, so his 17-year stretch from 1989-2005 registers here. During that stretch, he won a Big 12 championship, four Big 12 North division titles, two Big 12 Coach of the Year awards and three Big Eight Conference Coach of the Year honors. At 74 years old, he's still going strong.

Don James led the Huskies from 1978-92, an 18-season stretch that included six Rose Bowl appearances (four wins). Under James, Washington won nine or more games eight times, a feat that's been accomplished only three times since he left.

There's a small asterisk with Blakeney: He was hired in December 1990, when Troy State was a Division II school. But he hasn'€™t left, so we're counting all 24 seasons even though Troy didn't become an FBS program until 2001. From '06-10, Troy reeled off five straight Sun Belt titles, and in Blakeney's full tenure, the school has gone 175-104-1.

Osborne ties the next guy on this list at 25 years in his job. At Nebraska, Osborne won three national titles and 13 conference crowns. He could have easily continued coaching in Lincoln, going 13-0 in his final season, but the political office called and Osborne was elected a U.S. Representative as a Republican, serving from 2001-07.

The most successful coach in Alabama history and one of college football's most iconic characters, The Bear checks in at No. 4 for his quarter century of work in Tuscaloosa. That run included six national titles and led to a high place in college football lore. The most interesting question now: Will current Alabama coach Nick Saban pass Bear in championships?

Beamer might not catch Paterno on this list, but the 67-year-old has a shot at Bowden as he's still leading the Hokies and has won double-digit games in nine of his last 12 seasons. Beamer is still chasing a national title, but he's earned four ACC crowns at Virginia Tech and three Big East titles, where the Hokies belonged before jumping to the Atlantic Coast in '€™03.

Bowden directed the glory years of football in Tallahassee, leading the Seminoles to 12 ACC championships and two national titles during his run from 1976-2009. Bowden was also hit by the NCAA, with 12 wins vacated due to a mid-2000s academic scandal, but his 377 total victories still leaves him first all time.

From 1966-2011, Paterno ruled Happy Valley as Penn State's head football coach. Under his lead, the Nittany Lions won 409 games, including 24 bowl games and two national championships. As part of the NCAA's penalty for the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal, which led to Paterno's firing during the '11 season, it vacated 111 of Paterno's wins, leaving his official career record at 298-136-3.