There are 888 college football head coaches across six divisions in the United States.
California has the most coaches (by far) thanks to 68 teams in the California Community College Athletic Association, while Alaska has the fewest (zero). Several states have only a handful (e.g. Vermont), while several have dozens (e.g. Ohio). Who's the best in each state?
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Who is the best college football in each state (and Washington, D.C.)?
Alabama
Nick Saban (Alabama)
UAB's Bill Clark has done one of the most remarkable coaching jobs in American sports history but Nick Saban stands alone. The best coach in college football history is the best coach in Alabama.
Arizona
Herm Edwards (Arizona State)
Herm Edwards isn't ripping off Pac-12 titles and 10-win seasons yet but after a 10-year hiatus, the 66-year-old coach has exceeded most expectations, winning 15 total games and making a recruiting statement in California.
The more interesting question: Is Northern Arizona's Chris Ball ahead of Kevin Sumlin?
Arkansas
Blake Anderson (Arkansas State)
After three straight one-and-done coaches—Hugh Freeze, Gus Malzahn, and Bryan Harsin—Arkansas State found a coach who wants to coach Arkansas State.
Anderson is still searching for his first 10-win season but had more wins in his first two seasons (and first three, four, five, and six seasons) than any coach in program history.
California
David Shaw (Stanford)
Brent Brennan has been fantastic in two seasons at San Jose State, Justin Wilcox is a defensive mastermind and future head coach of a big-time program, Dan Hawkins won 10 games at UC Davis in 2018, Troy Taylor did the unthinkable in his first year at Sacramento State, and Chip Kelly's Oregon accolades still mean something.
No one, however, is on the level of David Shaw, who prior to last year's injury-plagued season, was averaging 10 wins in eight years as head coach.
Colorado
Troy Calhoun (Air Force)
Even if Mel Tucker and Mike Bobo were still around, this would be a race between Troy Calhoun and Gregg Brandon of Colorado School of Mines. And after Colorado and Colorado State underwhelmed with winter hires (or downright blew it in the case of Karl Dorrell), this is officially a race between Calhoun and Brandon.
Brandon fared adequately at Bowling Green and has dominated at Mines, going 40-9 in conference play and reaching the playoffs three times in five years, but he doesn't have the long-term success of Calhoun.
Connecticut
Tony Reno (Yale)
Ten years ago, Randy Edsall would've been an easy selection for Connecticut. Now, after three horrendous seasons and zero conference wins since 2017, Edsall bows at the feet of Tony Reno, who's led Yale to two Ivy League titles and 23 wins in the last three seasons.
Reno is the first Bulldogs' coach to win two conference titles in three years since Carmen Cozza won three in a row from 1979-81.
Delaware
Danny Rocco (Delaware)
Wesley College's Chip Knapp, a 30-year coaching veteran, led the Wolverines to 10 wins last season, his second as head coach, but it's not enough to overtake Danny Rocco. The Blue Hens' fourth-year head coach has more than 100 career FCS wins and four playoff appearances in his last six seasons as a head coach.
Florida
Dan Mullen (Florida)
Florida State's Mike Norvell will prove to be one of the best coaches in ACC history (and Norvell already proved himself at Memphis), but Dan Mullen is a top-10 coach in the country and finally has Florida trending toward national contention for the first time since Urban Meyer's departure.
Georgia
Kirby Smart (Georgia)
Kirby Smart deserves the win-the-big-ones and offensive ineptitude criticism but he's also 36-7 the last three years and a victim of his own early success. He also led the Bulldogs within one play of their first national championship since 1980.
Hawaii
Todd Graham (Hawai'i)
Hawai'i is the only college football team on the islands so…ok,l;
Idaho
Bryan Harsin (Boise State)
Arguably the most unappreciated coach in the FBS, Bryan Harsin has 64 wins and three conference titles in only six years at his alma mater. Harsin isn't winning 88 percent of his games like Chris Petersen or making annual appearances in the AP top 10, but the Boise native has kept the Broncos in the national picture.
Illinois
Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern)
Before Pat Fitzgerald was promoted to head coach in 2006, Northwestern had two 10-win seasons in more than 100 years. They were ranked in the AP top 25 in only three of the previous 44 seasons, and never won at least 25 games over a three-year period.
Fourteen years later, Fitzgerald has three 10-win seasons (plus two more nine-win seasons), six years in the AP top 25, and has twice won at least 25 games over a three-year period.
Indiana
Brian Kelly (Notre Dame)
Jeff Brohm made Purdue competent again, Tom Allen led Indiana to eight wins last year for the first time since 1993, and Mike Neu might finally have Ball State headed in the right direction.
No one in the Hoosier State, however, sniffs Brian Kelly. A frequent punching bag (deservedly so in some cases), Kelly has stabilized the Irish for the first time since the early 1990s.
Iowa
Kirk Ferentz (Iowa)
Hat tip to Matt Campbell for rebuilding Iowa State and Mark Farley for winning 159 games in 19 seasons at Northern Iowa, but Kirk Ferentz is in a league of his own. The model of consistency for nearly two decades, Iowa is tied with Notre Dame and three others for the 12th-most wins since 2015.
Kansas
Chris Klieman (Kansas State)
Seth Littrell is a highly respected coach who will get his Power Five shot eventually. Kansas State can thank him for not taking that shot two years ago.
Maybe Littrell could've won in Manhattan but he's not Chris Klieman, who had nearly as many national championships (four) as total losses (six) in six seasons at North Dakota State.
Kentucky
Mark Stoops (Kentucky)
Two Kentucky coaches won 30 or more games over a four-year period: Bear Bryant and Mark Stoops.
The Wildcats won seven total games in the two years before Stoops' arrival and had one 10-win season in 60 years. Stoops has won at least seven games in each of the last four years, including 10 wins last year. Scott Satterfield was an A-hire for Louisville and won big at App State but Stoops has done in more difficult situations.
Louisiana
Ed Orgeron (LSU)
Ed Orgeron's legacy will always include a "Well, he did have Joe Burrow and Joe Brady…" and while that's fair to an extent, he was the head coach of the best team in college football history.
He must've done a lot of things right.
Maine
Nick Charlton (Maine)
With only seven total college football teams, including only one in the FBS, FCS, or Division II, and few in-state FBS or FCS recruits, Maine is not a football hotbed. Still, 31-year-old first-time head coach Nick Charlton did a commendable job for the Black Bears in year one after Joe Harasymiak's departure.
Maryland
Ken Niumatalolo (Navy)
Mike Locksley was given strong consideration for the state of Maryland…
No, he was not, nor was any other coach, because Ken Niumatalolo is the best football coach in service-academy history.
Massachusetts
Jeff Hafley (Boston College)
The only rookie head coach on this list, Jeff Hafley leveraged one season as Ohio State co-defensive coordinator into a Power Five job. A Dave Wannstedt and Greg Schiano disciple, the 41-year-old Hafley was called a "no-brainer" hire for Ryan Day last year.
Michigan
Jim Harbaugh (Michigan)
A longtime Harbaugh apologist, I crossed to the dark side during last year's pathetic no-show in Madison and haven't returned. Nonetheless, Harbaugh still sits above Chris Creighton.
Harbaugh lost two games in his final two years at San Diego, led one of the best rebuilding jobs in college football history at Stanford, and cleaned up Rich Rod and Brady Hoke's mess at Michigan with an immediate return to national relevance.
Minnesota
P.J. Fleck (Minnesota)
If you're still whining about Peej's catchphrases and zeal, you're losing…because he's winning, something that hasn't happened in Minneapolis in decades.
Fleck had the first 11-win season since Teddy Roosevelt was in office and is building the best recruiting class (2021) in program history.
Mississippi
Mike Leach (Mississippi State)
When he's not tweeting players out of his program, Mike Leach is a hell of a coach who's done well at two of the more difficult Power Five jobs, Texas Tech and Washington State.
Missouri
Eliah Drinkwitz (Missouri)
In 13 years as an assistant at Northwest Missouri State, Rich Wright won four Division-II national championships, and has 31 wins in his first three years as head coach.
That's not enough to catch one of the sport's rising stars, first-year Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz, who went from Group of Five coordinator to Power Five head coach in just four years and won 12 games in his first season at App State.
Montana
Bobby Hauck (Montana)
"Be prepared for a bloodbath in the state of Montana, no matter who you choose," HERO Sports FCS writer Sam Herder told me.
I chose Bobby Hauck over Montana State's Jeff Choate.
Choate is 2-0 against Hauck in the Brawl of the Wild since Hauck's return in 2018, has led a methodical rebuild and return to national contention in Bozeman, and, for what it's worth, doesn't have an FBS flop on his résumé—Hauck went 15-49 in five seasons at UNLV before returning to Missoula.
However, Hauck built a dominant program in the 2000s before the UNLV stint and has returned the Griz to respectability in just two years.
Nebraska
Scott Frost (Nebraska)
I've been a harsh critic of Scott Frost's disastrous two years at Nebraska. Still, he proved it at UCF and deserves more than two years to turn around a broken program bursting with potential.
Nevada
Jay Norvell (Nevada)
It's either Jay Norvell or Marcus Arroyo for The Silver State. One has led a G5 program to 15 wins the last two years, while the other has zero head-coaching experience.
Arroyo might prove to be (finally) a good fit for a moribund UNLV program but he hasn't rebuilt a program like Norvell.
New Hampshire
Sean McDonnell (New Hampshire)
The state of New Hampshire hasn't hired a Division-I head coach in 15 years.
New Hampshire's Sean McDonnell is entering his 22nd year (21st season after missing last season while battling cancer), while Dartmouth's Buddy Teevens is entering his 16th year. McDonnell's longevity and several 10-win seasons make him the best in the state.
New Jersey
Bob Surace (Princeton)
In the time since Greg Schiano was last a successful college football coach, Bob Surace has restored excellence to Princeton football.
In the 14 years before Surace's arrival, the Tigers had one conference championship. Surace has three in 10 years, all in the last seven years. The former Princeton lineman won 10 games in 2018 (including their first unblemished Ivy League record in five decades, and has built one of the best player developmental programs in the FCS.
New Mexico
Doug Martin (New Mexico State)
It's been a roller coaster for Doug Martin at arguably the nation's toughest job. After inheriting a "dumpster fire" in 2014, Martin somehow led the Aggies to seven wins and their first-ever bowl game in 2017.
The program has since reverted back to its lowly ways with five total wins sine then, but that initial rebuild by the former Kent State head coach was incredible.
New York
Jeff Monken (Army)
Sixth-year head coach Bob Sutton led Army to 10 wins in 1996, their first-ever 10-win season and first season with more than six wins since 1989. Sutton couldn't do it again; Army won 10 total games in Sutton's three final seasons.
Twenty-one years later, for the first time since 1996, Army won 10 wins under fourth-year coach Jeff Monken. One year later, Monken did it again, winning 11 games for the first time in program history. He beat Navy three straight times and set the two-, three-, and four-year program wins record.
North Carolina
David Cutcliffe (North Carolina)
Mack Brown won big at Texas, exceeded expectations at North Carolina in 2019 and is building the Tar Heels' best recruiting class (2021) ever, but that's not enough to catch David Cutcliffe, who made the nation's worst program nationally relevant.
Duke won four total games in the four years before Cutcliffe's arrival in 2008. They had four winless seasons from 2000-07 and hadn't won five games in a season since 1994.
North Dakota
Matt Entz (North Dakota State)
As far I can tell, only two coaches in FCS history have been expected to win a national championship in their first season as head coach: Chris Klieman and Matt Entz. Klieman met expectations win 2014, and Entz met expectations last year with the program's eighth title in nine seasons.
Ohio
Ryan Day (Ohio State)
Even if Vince Kehres didn't leave Mount Union last year to join the Toledo staff, Ohio belongs to Ryan Day after just one season as Ohio State head coach. One year after passing on the Mississippi State job, Day led an undefeated regular season.
Oklahoma
Lincoln Riley (Oklahoma)
Mike Gundy's long-term success is impressive, but he's not the best coach in the state, nor will he ever be; Lincoln Riley is on a different level.
Oregon
Mario Cristobal (Oregon)
Mario Cristobal was one bad night in Tempe away from a likely playoff spot in his second season as a head coach of a program with its third head coach in four years.
The gap between Johnathan Smith and Mario Cristobal isn't as big as the gap between their programs but it's big enough to comfortably declare Cristobal, who's 21-6 in two years at Oregon and has assembled a tremendous staff, the best coach in Oregon.
Pennsylvania
James Franklin (Penn State)
James Franklin won at Vanderbilt. That alone warrants inclusion on this list.
Forty-two wins at Penn State over the last four years, one Big Ten Championship, and three New Year's Six bowl appearances are plenty for Franklin.
Rhode Island
James Perry (Brown)
Mediocrity and futility are plentiful in Rhode Island college football, and Brown's James Perry is the best of several ho-hum candidates.
A former Brown quarterback under his predecessor Phil Estes, Perry went 12-10 in two seasons at nearby Bryant before winning two games last year, his first at Brown.
South Carolina
Dabo Swinney (Clemson)
Dabo Swinney wasn't a popular hire in late 2008 and Clemson trustees wanted him gone two years later. A decade later, he's the best coach in the state's history and entering the conversation for one of the best in college football history.
South Dakota
John Stiegelmeier (South Dakota State)
South Dakota's Bob Nielson and his 207 career victories (at six different schools across three different divisions) might be enough to win in several states not named South Dakota, where his MVFC rival is led by one of the best in FCS history, John Stiegelmeier.
Stiegelmeier, a South Dakota native, led a flawless FCS transition 16 years ago and has since built a top-10 annual playoff contender.
Tennessee
Jeremy Pruitt (Tennessee)
For the sake of this exercise, can we pretend Mike Norvell didn't leave Memphis for Florida State and he's still, by far, the best coach in the state?
Jeremy Pruitt quieted some critics with several wins over bad or mediocre teams last season and is building a potentially legendary 2021 recruiting class. He also lost to a seven-win Sun Belt team last year and a seven-win MAC team in 2018.
Texas
Jimbo Fisher (Florida State)
Jimbo Fisher isn't criticized enough for his destruction of Florida State before jumping ship, and his 100 career wins are dwarfed by Gary Patterson (172) and Mary Hardin-Baylor's Pete Fredenburg (237). Still, he rebuilt the Seminoles into a national power and has Texas A&M headed in the right direction after decades of mediocrity.
Utah
Kyle Whittingham (Utah)
With all due respect to Gary Andersen, Kalani Sitake, and others, there's a mile-wide chasm between Kyle Whittingham and Utah's other coaches.
Many predicted a Pac-12 flop for Whitingham and the Utes when joining the big boys in 2011, but after nine total conference wins in their first three years, they've won 33 conference games over the last six years, including 14 the last two years.
Vermont
Bob Ritter (Middlebury)
Three NCAA teams went undefeated last year: LSU, North Dakota State, and Middlebury.
Bob Ritter enters his 20th season at Division-III Middlebury, one of only three college football teams in Vermont, with 102 career wins, three conference championships, and three seasons with one or fewer losses. Last year, the Panthers became the first-ever New England Small College Athletic Association to finish 9-0.
Virginia
Bronco Mendenhall (Virginia)
Curt Cignetti has a loaded résumé and led James Madison within yards of the 2019 national championship. It's not enough to catch Bronco Mendenhall, who averaged nine wins in 11 seasons at BYU and led Virginia to the ACC Championship Game last year.
Washington
Nick Rolovich (Washington State)
Aaron Best led Eastern Washington to 12 wins and the FCS National Championship game in 2018, his second season as head coach after nine years as an assistant in Cheney, and Jimmy Lake has a loaded assistant résumé entering his first year at Washington.
Neither, however, touch to Nick Rolovich, who led Hawai'i to 18 wins the last two years, their highest two-year win total since 2007-08.
Washington, D.C.
Rob Sgarlata (Georgetown)
Washington, D.C., isn't a college football hotbed—Georgetown, Howard, and Catholic are the only programs—leaving us with a good coach with a mediocre résumé in a tough job.
A former Georgetown running back, Sgarlatta joined the Hoyas' staff in 1996 and hasn't left, spending 18 years as an assistant before taking over in 2014. There's been a lot of bad, including zero Patriot League wins for three calendar years, a lot of mediocrity, and some good, including a 4-2 conference record in 2018.
West Virginia
Doc Holliday (West Virginia)
Doc Holliday has led Marshall to at least eight wins (and six conference wins) in six of his last seven seasons as head coach. Neal Brown was sensational at Troy and gave reasons for optimism in year one at West Virginia but doesn't have the résumé of his in-state counterpart.
Wisconsin
Paul Chryst (Wisconsin)
Hat tip to Kevin Bullis at UW Whitewater for continuing the Purple Raiders' tradition of dominance after Lance Leipold's departure for Buffalo, but this is Paul Chryst's state.
After Bret Bielema and Gary Andersen bailed, Wisconsin found a coach who wants to lead one of the nation's most stable programs. A Madison native and former Badgers' quarterback, Chryst is the only coach in program history with at least 10 wins in each of his first three seasons and was poor quarterback play away from at least one playoff appearance.
Wyoming
Craig Bohl (Wyoming)
Craig Bohl has done some good things at Wyoming…but he's also the only college football head coach in the entire state.
