Ranking the Big 12’s best football head coaches going into the 2024 season
As we approach milestones on the football calendar, such as the NFL draft and spring practices beginning, this is the time of the year for rankings.
College football fans are currently trying to predict what the new-look Big 12 Conference will look like in 2024. Four new teams, including the Colorado Buffaloes, will join Big 12 next season, pushing the league’s total to 16 schools.
Buffs fans are pumped for what head coach Deion Sanders can do in his second season at the helm, but how does Coach Prime compare to other Big 12 head coaches?
Here’s how I rank each of the 16 Big 12 football head coaches going into the 2024 season:
Dave Aranda — Baylor
Dave Aranda is entering his fifth season as Baylor’s head coach. As time goes on, his 2021 season is becoming more and more of an aberration. The Bears went 12-2 that year but have gone downhill since, falling to 3-9 in 2023. Aranda must turn this ship around fast if he wants to stay in Waco.
Brent Brennan — Arizona
It has been a whirlwind offseason in Tucson as Arizona replaced head coach Jedd Fisch, who took the Washington Huskies job, with former San Jose State leader Brent Brennan. Brennan had some rough seasons with the Spartans but made three bowls in the past four seasons.
Kenny Dillingham — Arizona State
Kenny Dillingham has been put into a tough spot at Arizona State, being tasked with rebuilding Sun Devils after the disastrous tenure of Herm Edwards. Dillingham should be given grace entering his second season and could skyrocket up these rankings if he can get ASU back on track.
Scott Satterfield — Cincinnati
Scott Satterfield has had trouble since jumping to the higher levels of Division I football. Satterfield started at Appalachian State, where he averaged 8.5 wins per season. However, he went 25-24 in four years at Louisville and produced only three wins in his first year in Cincinnati.
Neal Brown — West Virginia
Neal Brown was a name on the hot seat entering 2023, with three losing seasons in his four years as the head coach at West Virginia. He staved off those rumors for at least one season with a 9-4 record in 2023, including a bowl game victory over North Carolina. Brown will climb up these rankings if he continues winning, or the burners can be turned back on if the losses return.
Kalani Sitake — BYU
The Cougars have been consistently competitive under Kalani Sitake in his eight years as coach, with a rare down year in 2023. Last season’s 5-7 record broke a five-year streak in which BYU played in a bowl game, with Sitake owning a 4-2 record in bowl games as head coach.
Matt Campbell — Iowa State
Kalani Sitake and Matt Campbell have been similar during the last eight years as head coaches, with Campbell’s work at Toledo breaking the tie for me. Campbell has led Iowa State to six bowls in those eight years but has only secured two victories. 2023 was set to be a down year for the Cyclones, but they surprised many with a 7-6 season.
Willie Fritz — Houston
Willie Fritz built a monster at Tulane, winning 24 games over the past two seasons with a massive upset of the USC Trojans in the 2022 Cotton Bowl. Fritz will have his hands full rebuilding a Houston Cougars team that has fallen on hard times, but he has worked his magic in the past.
Lance Leipold — Kansas
Kansas is sitting in a good place under the direction of Lance Leipold. After a losing season in his first year, Leipold has made bowl games in the past two seasons, including a win in 2023. Leipold could be in the upper tier of Big 12 coaches moving forward if the rise continues.
Sonny Dykes — TCU
Sonny Dykes has had one great season and one underwhelming season during his tenure at TCU, but he has been an above-average coach during his 14 years across four different teams. Will TCU rebound from last year’s five-win season?
Joey McGuire — Texas Tech
Lubbock is rocking under head coach Joey McGuire. With Texas and Oklahoma slated to leave the conference, Texas Tech is on the short list of teams that can lead the conference moving forward because of McGuire’s work.
Chris Klieman — Kansas State
Kansas State has suffered only one losing season in Chris Klieman’s five years as head coach. But 2024 may be his most challenging season after the Wildcats lost plenty of talent via the transfer portal.
Deion Sanders — Colorado
People who are new Buffs fans don’t realize how bad the program was before Deion Sanders arrived. While 4-8 looks bad on the outside, the team was night-and-day different from the one-win train wreck of 2023. Coach Prime has reloaded with another top-of-the-conference overall recruiting class, but the wins must start following.
Gus Malzahn — UCF
Last year’s 6-7 record was the first losing season in Gus Malzahn’s 12 years as a college head coach. Malzahn has been close to reaching the mountain top, losing the BCS National Title game in 2013 with Auburn. I suspect UCF will rebound next season.
Kyle Whittingham — Utah
Kyle Whittingham, the longest-tenured coach in next year’s Big 12, has done nothing but win at Utah since taking over in 2004 after Urban Meyer left for Florida. Whittingham has led the Utes to 17 bowl games in his 20 years, winning 11 of those bowls.
Mike Gundy — Oklahoma State
It’s close, but Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy narrowly beats out Whittingham for my top spot. Gundy is working on an eye-popping 18-year streak of bowl game appearances with an excellent 12-6 record in those games.
