Where The Athletic ranked Kyle Whittingham among top college football coaches
It’s a whole new world in college football.
After Nick Saban’s retirement and Jim Harbaugh’s return to the NFL, the sport is now without its two biggest coaching stars.
There are still plenty of excellent coaches working at schools around the country, but none with the same flash as Saban or Harbaugh.
So who’s the best of the rest?
Stewart Mandel and Bruce Feldman of The Athletic released their own personal lists Tuesday, sharing who they each believe to be the top 25 best coaches in college football.
Mandel placed Utah’s Kyle Whittingham at No. 5, while Feldman had him at No. 8.
“I give last year’s disappointing 8-5 campaign an asterisk due to the Utes’ staggering number of injuries,” Mandel wrote. “Whittingham has achieved remarkable consistency at a non-obvious school. Utah won back-to-back Pac-12 Championships in 2021 and ‘22 and has fielded six Top 25 teams in the last decade. The Utes are well-positioned to win in the Big 12.”
Whittingham was the second-highest ranked Big 12 coach on both lists, finishing behind only Lance Leipold of Kansas, who was No. 2 on Mandel’s list and No. 3 on Feldman’s.
“A noted tough guy, Whittingham always fields teams molded in his image,” Feldman wrote. “The Utes are physical, relentless and never to be underestimated. His teams are 39-16 over the past full four seasons, and the Utes have beaten USC three times in the past two years.”
Taking over for Urban Meyer prior to the 2005 campaign, Whittingham has posted a 162-79 record at Utah with three conference titles — two in the Pac-12 and one in the Mountain West.
He is currently the second-longest tenured head coach at the same school in the country, heading into his 20th full season this fall, where his Utes will likely be preseason favorites in their new Big 12 digs.
Aside from Whittingham and Leipold, the only other Big 12 coaches featured on both lists were Chris Klieman of Kansas State (No. 16 Mandel, No. 12 Feldman) and Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy (No. 9 Mandel, No. 20 Feldman).
Matt Campbell of Iowa State came in at No. 21 on Mandel’s list.
Former BYU quarterback and current Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian wound up at No. 13 for Mandel and No. 11 for Feldman.
