Joey Johnston

College football coaching never has been a more lucrative profession. It has never been a more scrutinized position. Hire the wrong guy and your program might suffer through a four-season setback. But hire the right one, and the results could put your program on the map.

With three more weekends remaining in college football’s regular season, here are my choices for national Coach of the Year.

1. Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech: When Johnson was hired by the Yellow Jackets before the 2008 season, he was told his so-called “flex-bone’’ triple-option offense wouldn’t fly in the ACC. Nice gimmick for Division I-AA. Sure, it helped Navy back to respectability. But the big time? No way.

Johnson has proven everyone wrong, yard by painstaking yard.

The Yellow Jackets (10-1) already have clinched the ACC Coastal Division and are awaiting a probable date with Clemson in the league’s Dec. 5 championship game at Tampa. Georgia Tech could have a school-record 12-victory season. Were it not for an early season ambush at Miami, it could be playing for a national championship.

Maybe we should’ve seen it coming.

Johnson won two national titles with Georgia Southern. He was in charge when Navy defeated Notre Dame in 2007, ending a 43-game losing streak against the Fighting Irish. Everywhere Johnson has gone, there has been success. He has changed the culture — last season, the Yellow Jackets beat Georgia for the first time in eight seasons — along with the offense.

Now it looks like Georgia Tech will be an annual ACC contender.

2. Gary Patterson, TCU: Can TCU (10-0) play for a national championship? The fact we are asking that question tells you all you need to know about Patterson’s impact with the Horned Frogs.

It’s not always pretty. It’s a defensive-minded approach. But TCU has proven to be a consistent winner. If there was a major college playoff, no one would want to play the Horned Frogs.

Patterson, the team’s defensive coordinator, was elevated to head coach when Dennis Franchione left for Alabama following the 2000 season. Running back LaDainian Tomlinson departed for the NFL, and it was thought that a golden era of TCU football had come to an end.

But the modern glory days are now. TCU is ranked No. 4 in the BCS standings, the highest ever for a team from a non-BCS conference. TCU has asserted itself in the Mountain West Conference. It has victories against two ACC teams (Clemson, Virginia).

3. Jim Harbaugh, Stanford: It looked like Harbaugh’s shining moment occurred in 2007, when the Cardinal, 41-point underdogs, went into the L.A. Memorial Coliseum and stunned the USC Trojans, 24-23.

Turns out, that was just a prelude for what the Cardinal could accomplish.

With some swagger, a sense of humor, a dash of NFL-style urgency and a definite plan, Harbaugh has transformed Stanford into a factor in the Pac-10 Conference. Saturday, the Cardinal returned to the L.A. Memorial Coliseum and smashed USC 55-21, the school’s worst loss since a 51-0 defeat against Notre Dame in 1966 (when John McKay and Ara Parseghian were patrolling the sidelines).

Unlike two years ago, the focus wasn’t so much on USC’s problems. It was more like, “Whoa! When did Stanford get so good?’’

Stanford has back-to-back wins against top 10-ranked teams, and it’s bowl eligible for the first time since 2001, the final season of Tyrone Willingham’s Cardinal era.

After seasons of 4-8 and 5-7, led by players such as running back Toby Gerhart and quarterback Andrew Luck, Stanford’s success (7-3, 6-2 Pac-10) is no fluke. It’s built on a solid foundation.

4. Brian Kelly, Cincinnati: We thought we had seen Kelly’s best effort last season, when the Bearcats won their first Big East Conference championship and earned an Orange Bowl berth.

Nope.

This season (10-0) has been even better.

On paper, the Bearcats didn’t look like a favorite to repeat as Big East champions. After all, they had to replace 10 defensive starters. But Kelly’s no-excuses “next man in’’ philosophy didn’t allow for any drop-off. And we haven’t seen any hint of regression.

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Kelly’s approach was put to the ultimate test at quarterback, when Tony Pike, an early season Heisman Trophy contender, went down during a Thursday night game at South Florida. Pike’s replacement, Zach Collaros, put the game away with a 71-yard touchdown run. He has since led the Bearcats to four straight victories, including a 480-yard passing night in a wild 47-45 victory against Connecticut.

Before last season, who visualized Cincinnati in a BCS bowl game? Now Kelly has completely changed the perception. Now you can see Cincinnati making BCS bowl games with consistency.

5. Al Golden, Temple: This doesn’t require much thought. Temple, which was once booted from the Big East because of its consistently non-competitive status, is in line for a Mid-American Conference championship. It is bowl eligible and should secure its first postseason spot since 1979.

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The Owls are 8-2, 6-0 in the MAC. And this just five seasons after the sport was nearly dropped at Temple, after 18 consecutive losing seasons.

Golden, one of the nation’s hottest young coaches, has done the near-impossible at one of the nation’s perennially poor programs. He has brought back hope — and a lot more.

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