There’s a ton of change to account for in the coaching ranks of the Big 12 as we slowly inch toward the 2026 season.
Several Big 12 stalwarts are gone. That’s a list that includes former Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell and former Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham (though he coached much longer in the Pac-12 than he did in the Big 12).
Mike Gundy coached for 21 seasons in the Big 12 before he was unceremoniously fired by Oklahoma State last season. Then there’s Chris Kleiman at Kansas State. He coached in the Big 12 for seven seasons before retiring.
So yes, a lot of changes, but there’s also been a ton of consistency amongst the Big 12 coaching ranks as well.
The standard of that consistency, according to Jordan Mendoza of USA Today, has been BYU Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake.
Mendoza recently ranked Sitake as the top coach in the Big 12 heading into the 2026 season.
“Even without a playoff appearance, Sitake has built himself into the standard of coaching,” Mendoza wrote. “He’s had winning seasons in eight of his 10 campaigns at his alma matter, the most of any other coach in the league, and he’s 57-20 since 2020.”
Kalani Sitake and Joey McGuire at the top of Big 12 coaching rankings
Making the College Football Playoff is really all that Sitake needs to accomplish at BYU. Winning some games in the CFP would be nice, too, but he’s got to get there first.
BYU was 12-2 last season but suffered two blowout losses to the Texas Tech Red Raiders, one of which came in the Big 12 championship game, which robbed the Cougars of the auto-bid.
Speaking of Tech, Red Raiders’ head coach Joey McGuire is No. 2 on Mendoza’s list after capturing Tech’s first-ever Big 12 title win and CFP appearance. To put it in perspective, Texas Tech has been a part of the Big 12 since 1996, so that win was a long time in coming for the Red Raiders.
Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham rounds out the Top 3 while Deion Sanders of Colorado is ranked No. 7.
Of the new head coaches, Kansas State’s Collin Klein is ranked last overall in these Big 12 coaching standings.
“While he deserves credit for Texas A&M’s offense last season, he has no head coaching experience and will be thrust into a power conference role with expectations, no matter how beloved he is,” wrote Mendoza of Klein.
