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Being great doesn't make you an icon.
LaVell Edwards and Lou Holtz each won a lot of games and a national title, but their names don't resonate quite the same way as JoePa or Bear, coaches who have come to embody a team and even the game itself.
In honor of Joe Paterno's visit to the home of Bear Bryant - and put together with the help of the AP Top 25 voters - here is a list of the top 12 coaching icons.
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1) Paul ''Bear'' Bryant. The Bear coached at Maryland, Kentucky and Texas A&M, but it was at Alabama from 1958-82 that he became one of the famous figures in the history of American sports. From the houndstooth hat to the rolled up gameplan held in his hand, it seems everything about Bryant was distinct. He died about a month after he retired, which only added to his almost mythic quality.
From the panel: ''On Sept. 14, 1974, I was in my second year at the Winston-Salem Journal and the first big assignment I went on was to cover Alabama playing at Maryland. I went into the coaches' interview and nearly froze when Bear Bryant was talking. I had to remind myself, 'Take some notes, you fool.''' - Bill Cole, Winston-Salem Journal.
2) Joe Paterno. No coach at college football's highest level has been the head man at one school longer than JoePa, who is in year No. 45 as the Nittany Lions' head coach. Counting his days as an assistant under Rip Engle, Paterno has been at Penn State for 61 seasons. His black-rimmed glasses and cuffed khaki pants are as much a part of the Nittany Lions' uniform as the white helmets with the blue stripe. The Penn State library is named after Paterno. And at 83 years old, he's still winning games.
From the panel: ''Everything that's supposed to burn a coach out seems to keep him going.'' John Shinn, The Norman Transcript.
3) Knute Rockne. Before and after Rockne led the Fighting Irish from 1918-30, Notre Dame had great coaches. But none have Rockne's mystique. He died in 1931 in a plane crash at age 43, the year after coaching the Irish to a perfect season. Nine years later, the movie ''Knute Rockne, All American'' came out and the phrase ''Win one for the Gipper'' has been part of sports culture ever since.
From the panel: ''He's made it difficult for anyone who followed at Notre Dame.'' Jack Bogaczyk, Charleston Daily Mail.
4) Woody Hayes and 5) Bo Schembechler. Forever linked by one of college football's most intense and celebrated rivalries, Hayes was Ohio State and Schembechler was Michigan. They were tough, conservative men who perfectly symbolized their brand of tough, conservative football.
6) Eddie Robinson. He coached Grambling State for 56 years and not only made the historically black school in Louisiana a household name among football fans, in many ways he was - and remains - the face and spirit of black college football. He also won 408 games.
From the panel: ''Robinson was an amazing winner, but his greatest contribution was his enormous impact on African-Americans, influencing many of his players beyond football.'' Mark Anderson Las Vegas Review Journal.
7) Bud Wilkinson. Cerebral, innovative and obsessed with details, Wilkinson built arguably the greatest dynasty in college football history at Oklahoma. His Sooners won 47 straight games from 1953-57, a major college record that still stands. When he was done coaching Oklahoma, he remained a part of college football as color commentator on TV. He broadcast some of the most memorable games in history, including the 1966 tie between Notre Dame and Michigan State.
8) Bobby Bowden. Florida State's folksy and affable coach turned the Seminoles into a national powerhouse and is as responsible as anyone for making the phrase, ''Dag'gummit'' a part of college football's lexicon. While Bryant, Hayes and Schembechler projected an intimidating aura, Bowden's charm is his most enduring quality.
9) Glenn Scobey ''Pop'' Warner. Warner helped shape the way college football was played, and would be played for decades, while coaching seven schools in the late 1800s through the 1930s. He coached the great Jim Thorpe and to this day, little league football is named after him.
10) Bob Neyland. The General, literally. He served in the Army and rose to the rank of brigadier general. Appropriately enough, during his three stints as Tennessee's coach, he was considered one of the great defensive innovators in college football history. These days, the Volunteers play in Neyland Stadium.
11) Tom Osborne and 12) Barry Switzer. Much like Woody and Bo, Osborne and Switzer are linked by one of the great rivalries in college football - though for years Switzer dominated the games between his Oklahoma teams and Osborne's Nebraska Cornhukers. Unlike Woody and Bo, though, Tom and Barry couldn't be more different. Osborne was Nebraska's senatorial and stoic leader. Switzer was brash and boisterous.
