The Big 12 Football season is weeks away, and it’s time for me to do the thankless ranking of Big 12 head coaches. What good can come from this? Probably nothing. But hopefully it drives robust conversation ahead of the college football season. So with that, here we go from worst (No. 16) to first (No. 1).
16. Collin Klein, Kansas State
Collin Klein has the makings of a great coach at his alma mater; however, he has the least experience of any Big 12 head coach. Not only is he a first-year head coach, but he has the least amount of time as a coordinator as well. I don’t see any reason he should be higher than No. 16 right now.
15. Morgan Scalley, Utah
Yes, Morgan Scalley had success as the Utah defensive coordinator and was named the coach-in-waiting at Utah under Kyle Whittingham for a reason. However, once again, I prefer to put the first-timers at the bottom. They just haven’t proven it yet. But Scalley does have much more time in a prime coordinator role than Klein. So he gets the edge.
14. Jimmy Rogers, Iowa State
Jimmy Rogers has one season as an FBS head coach, last year at Washington State, where he went 6-6. Yes, he’s an FCS National Champion at South Dakota State, but there’s still a lot to prove as he moves into his first season with Iowa State and needs to replace the best coach in program history, Matt Campbell.
13. Scott Frost, UCF
OK, so Scott Frost. Has he won 13 games in a season? Yes. Has almost every season of his head coaching career been mediocre at best, and disappointing at worst? Yes. In fact, his 13-0 season with UCF is the only season he’s been a head coach and finished with a record over .500. There’s a lot to prove here.
12. Eric Morris, North Texas
He won the league twice at Incarnate Word, and then spent three seasons at North Texas, where he rebuilt the program, and turned in an 11-2 record last year, including producing one of the best offenses in the country. He hasn’t done it yet at the Power 4 level, but I am giving him the slight edge over Rogers and Frost, in part because of the programs he turned around.
11. Deion Sanders, Colorado
Coach Prime was 27-6 at Jacksonville State before taking over Colorado, one of the worst Power 4 programs. He’s 16-21 in three seasons, but the 2024 campaign, which included Heisman winner Travis Hunter, was really impressive. Given how Colorado is at least discussed as a relevant program, Sanders has earned this spot.
10. Dave Aranda, Baylor
Let’s not forget that Dave Aranda has won a Big 12 Championship and a Sugar Bowl. Yes, he’s lucky to have the job in Waco, and if not for Mack Rhoades getting fired, he’d probably be gone himself. But that 12-2 campaign in 2021 (with an epic Big 12 Title win) is enough to keep him above everyone below him on this list.
9. Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati
Satterfield was a stud at Appalachian State before taking the Louisville job, where he was starting to turn things around before jumping to replace Luke Fickell at Cincinnati. He hasn’t done the job yet with the Bearcats, but he also hasn’t had the investment needed to keep the program competitive at a Power 4 level. He’s done about as much as he can with the resources he appears to have.
8. Brent Brennan, Arizona
Brent Brennan built San Jose State over seven seasons before taking over for Jedd Fisch at Arizona. After a 2024 disaster, he made staff changes, turned around Noah Fifita, developed a strong secondary, and won 9 games last year. He’s got the program on the right track and has now proven he can win at a Power 4 level. But can he sustain it?
7. Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State
Kenny Dillingham is one of the young, hot names in college football coaching. I think he’s excellent and a perfect fit for the Sun Devils. But he’s only been a head coach for three seasons, and while winning the Big 12 and making the CFP in 2024 was great, I just want to see more. I can’t put him ahead of any of the guys in front of him, given the sample size. If I were drafting head coaches for the future, Kenny might be my top pick, but that’s not what this ranking is about. It’s based on what you’ve done.
6. Joey McGuire, Texas Tech
Joey McGuire took Texas Tech to levels it had never attained before during the 2025 season, with a Big 12 Championship and a College Football Playoff appearance. But he did it with far superior talent to anyone he played. That’s not taking anything away from him; it’s just a fact. Now, he has to figure out how to sustain it. And if the talent gap remains the same, the pressure will be on to keep winning at the same level.
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5. Lance Leipold, Kansas
Many may forget just how dismal Kansas football was before his arrival. But let’s start with his streak of Division III national championships at Wisconsin-Whitewater. Then, he turned around Buffalo, including winning double-digit games for the first time in program history. Follow that up with taking Kansas football from the basement of the Power 5 (at the time) to a legitimate bowl team, year in, year out. The last two seasons may not have met expectations, but maybe they were too high to begin with after a great 2023 season (9 wins). Lance has won at every level, and he’s done it at programs that haven’t come close to being strong football schools.
4. Sonny Dykes, TCU
Dykes has built programs wherever he has gone as a head coach. From Louisiana Tech, to Cal, to SMU, and now to TCU, where he has played for a National Championship. And he’s the only coach in the Big 12 to have done that, which has to be worth something. He’s also the only coach in Big 12 history to win a College Football Playoff game. Like Leipold, the last couple of seasons have not met TCU’s expectations, but two nine-win campaigns in a row are nothing to scoff at either. He’s won 100 FBS football games, making him one of only two coaches in the Big 12 to do so.
3. Kalani Sitake, BYU
Kalani Sitake has now won at least 10 games at BYU in four of the last six seasons, including last year’s run to the Big 12 Championship Game. The Cougars have a proud tradition, and Sitake has done a great job of helping BYU stay true to who it is while also navigating today’s NIL and transfer portal landscape effectively. He’s only been a head coach at BYU, but it’s hard to argue with the results, including a 6-2 bowl record.
2. Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia
This may surprise some of you, but RichRod is one of the two coaches on this list with over 100 FBS career wins, and actually has more than Dykes, giving him the most FBS wins of any Big 12 coach. Yes, Michigan was a mess, but we can’t understate what he did at WVU in his first go-around, while also doing an underratedly solid job at Arizona. He took some time off before taking over Jacksonville State with three straight nine-win seasons, and now he is back at WVU. He’s been innovative wherever he has been, and is the kind of coach you want in a must-win game with the season on the line.
1. Willie Fritz, Houston
Fritz has been a head coach at six different programs over his career, from JUCO to FBS, and has posted an above-.500 record at every stop. Over his career, he has a coaching record of 222-127. He’s played for a national championship (Sam Houston State), won a Cotton Bowl (Tulane), and now has a 10-win season at Houston under his belt in just Year 2 of trying to turn around the disaster that Dana Holgorsen left him. This guy is a pro, wins everywhere he goes, and may be the most underrated college football coach in America.
