1. Ryan Day, Ohio State

How does a head coach at Ohio State lose four straight to Michigan (the longest such streak for the Buckeyes since the 1920s) and remain far from the hot seat?

Bring home the national title—and that is just what Day and OSU did.

A stellar recruiting track record and a 70-10 record earns Day the top among Big Ten coaches.

But he probably can’t afford a fifth straight loss to the Wolverines.

2. Dan Lanning, Oregon

 

Dan Lanning has done nothing but win games. With a 35-6 mark, he is right on pace to match Ryan Day’s record in a few years.

The young Oregon coach is proving to be an elite recruiter, and this season figures to show just how good the Ducks have been on that front with a slew of stars to replace.

Lanning never shies away from rolling the dice with the game on the line and you have to think his players love him for that, whether it always pays off or not.

The Ducks took home the regular-season conference crown in Year One in the Big Ten. We will see what the encore looks like and how bright the new stars can shine.

3. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa

Iowa is always tough to beat, and the reason for that is the longest tenured active head coach in the nation.

Kirk Ferentz has been doing it in Iowa City since 1999.

He has won at least 10 games eight times in his career with the Hawkeyes, and he has done so with some really bad offenses.

It would be hard to argue that any coach in the nation gets more out of the level of their players than Ferentz does with Iowa.

4. Curt Cignetti, Indiana

Year One of the Curt Cignetti era in Indiana ended with a trip to CFP.

Yes, you read that right, Indiana was in the playoffs with their only two losses of the season to teams that played for the national championship.

That is a pretty successful debut at a place that is not accustomed to winning on the gridiron.

But this is not a flash in the pan. Cignetti has won at every stop along his head coaching journey, and has yet to have a losing season in 14 years as a head coach.

5. Bret Bielema, Illinois

Bret Bielema sustained the winning success that Barry Alvarez created at Wisconsin.

Now, in his second stint in the Big Ten, he is building Illinois into a powerhouse.

The Illini had a breakout season last fall.

This year, they should be right in the middle of the College Football Playoff push.

6. James Franklin, Penn State

James Franklin got the Nittany Lions into the playoffs last season, even if they still had their struggles against Top 10 opponents.

Franklin consistently has Penn State in the fold at the end of the season and also consistently loses to the likes of Ohio State and Michigan each year.

Reaching the inaugural 12-team Playoff was a good first step to closing the gap between PSU and the true big dogs of college football.

Getting some of those big time wins will be the next step.

7. Lincoln Riley, USC

Lincoln Riley is a master recruiter.

And when you are bringing in elite talent every season, you can’t afford too many 7-6 seasons, especially at a place like USC.

Over the last two seasons, the Trojans are 13-11 overall and 9-9 in conference play. Those numbers need to improve.

Nonetheless, it is hard to discount the body of work, going 81-24 in his eight seasons as a head coach at Oklahoma and USC.

8. Sherrone Moore, Michigan

Sherrone Moore was thrown into a rough situation last season. Coming off a National Championship, expectations remained high in Ann Arbor.

The Wolverines lost a ton of talent after the 2023 title, and it was unfair to think they would replicate that success.

They opened the season 5-5 with three of those losses to Top 10 opponents before finishing with three straight wins, including another victory over Ohio State and a bowl victory over Alabama.

With Moore at the helm, Michigan seems like the trajectory should be upward once again.

9. Matt Rhule, Nebraska

Matt Rhule won at both Temple and Baylor, earning the job with the Carolina Panthers. After it did not work out in the NFL, Rhule ended up Lincoln and the turnaround has not been as quick as planned.

Let’s not forget that Scott Frost was in Lincoln before him, and cleaning up that mess will take some time. I think Vince Lombardi may have needed a few years to win after Frost.

The Huskers at least got back to 6-6 and won a bowl game last season.

With Rhule at the helm and Dylan Raiola under center this year, the Huskers should start to see things improving on the field.

10. Greg Schiano, Rutgers

Greg Schiano knows his X’s and O’s and can flat out coach.

He has gotten Rutgers to consecutive 7-win seasons and Piscataway is not exactly an easy place in which to win consistently.

Over his two stints spanning 16 seasons with Rutgers, he has gone 94-101.

That includes the first two seasons of his first stint when they went a combined 3-20 as he was first building the program up from nothing.

11. Jonathan Smith, Michigan State

Jonathan Smith worked wonders with Oregon State and completely turned that program around.

He has the chance to turn things around in East Lansing as well, but it may take some time.

The Spartans are a proud and successful program historically, but Mel Tucker did not leave it in good shape when Smith took over.

It might not come this season, but the Spartans will be back to winning under Smith.

12. Jedd Fisch, Washington

Jedd Fisch worked wonders turning around the Arizona program, and Brent Brennan is figuring out how good a job Fisch did.

The Washington team he took over made the National Championship game the prior year and fell to 6-7 in year one under Fisch.

The Huskies lost even more talent from 2023 to 2024 than Michigan did with Moore taking over. UW had no answer for the run game last season and that was a personnel problem more than a schematic issue.

Look for Fisch to get Washington winning again soon.

13. PJ Fleck, Minnesota

PJ Fleck has the Golden Gophers at a level of consistency they have not seen in quite some time.

The high-energy coach has gone 56-39 in his eight seasons in the Twin Cities but only 33-36 during that time in conference games.

He did lead Minnesota to a share of the West in 2019, posting a 7-2 mark in the Big Ten. That was the only season Gophers finished ranked in the polls.

While he has been under .500 in conference play, he is a perfect 6-0 in bowl games with Minnesota.

14. Luke Fickell, Wisconsin

In his career, Luke Fickell has posted a 76-38 mark as a head coach, but that includes a 57-18 mark with Cincinnati.

Since coming to Madison, the Badgers have gone 13-13, and with his one-year stint at Ohio State ending with a 6-7 mark, Fickell is sub .500 in three seasons with a Big Ten team.

Fickell has tried to change the identity of the Badgers on offense and that has not set well with some of the Wisconsin faithful.

He needs to avoid many more losing seasons or his tenure in Madison could be short.

15. Barry Odom, Purdue

Barry Odom’s short stay in Las Vegas took UNLV to new heights in consecutive seasons.

In his six years as a head coach at Missouri and UNLV, he posted a 44-33 record and has only experienced one losing season, in his first year with Mizzou.

He will probably add a second losing season to the resume after this one.

Turning around Purdue and winning in today’s Big Ten will be a far more difficult task than he had with the Rebels.

16. DeShaun Foster, UCLA

The Bruins finished the season 4-2 down the stretch. Unfortunately, it was not enough to overcome a 1-5 open to the season, in which the sole win was a nail-biter against Hawai’i.

That strong finish keeps DeShaun Foster out of the bottom two of this ranking, but the jury is still out.

Adding Nico Iamaleava at QB should help, and it better. Year Two at UCLA could be a critical one for the first time head coach.

This one could be a table-setter, for better or worse.

17. David Braun, Northwestern

David Braun and his Wildcats shocked everyone in 2023 as he stepped into a difficult situation and led the ‘Cats to an 8-5 mark.

Last season was a step back for NU and it seemed like a pretty significant step back at that.

Northwestern is not an easy place to win.

Staying relevant in today’s Big Ten will only get more challenging for Braun and his charges.

18. Mike Locksley, Maryland

Mike Locksley took the Terps to three straight bowls in 2021-23 after winning just five games in his first two season of this stint at Maryland.

It looked like they could be turning the corner, but a 4-8 mark last season was a major blow. The Terps only managed to win one conference game, over USC, and looked out-manned in most of the eight losses.

Locksley has recruited well, but the results have not been what they need to be, they have gone just 16-40 in conference games the last six seasons.

Year Seven needs to be a good one or time might be running out for Locksley.

[Your Next Read: Ranking the Big 12 Football Head Coaches for 2025]