When ranking the coaches of the Big 12, it’s important to consider three main factors. First, the overall success of an individual coach’s career. Second, how they’ve been doing over the past few seasons and in the Big 12 Conference as opposed to possibly 10-15 years ago and in maybe even another division. And finally, how they are expected to do this season.
A coach who is poised to take his team to the College Football Playoff this year will be higher than a coach who won a different conference’s championship years ago.
With these factors in mind, here's how we view the coaching hierarchy in the Big 12 Conference entering 2025.
1. Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State
With the return of quarterback Sam Leavitt, Dillingham has Arizona State poised to repeat as conference champions and make a second consecutive playoff appearance. Based on their 2024 performance, it will be feast or famine for ASU. They’ll either maintain the 2024 direction or revert to their 2023 status.
2. Matt Campbell, Iowa State
With the return of Rocco Becht, Campbell and the ISU Cyclones are poised to have a big year. Campbell has been solid for a long time at Iowa State, showing he can coach against anyone. They were one of three Big 12 teams to get 11 wins last year and were the conference runner-up. I expect big things from Campbell and ISU this fall.
3. Kalani Sitake, BYU
If BYU didn’t have such an unknown at quarterback this year, Coach Sitake would be ranked higher. Even without an established QB1, BYU is looking to have a good season. Like Dykes and Campbell, Sitake has been doing well with his team for a long time and will build off last year’s success. If BYU can get even a reasonable game manager at quarterback, they’ll be competitive for the conference title late in the season this fall. That’s how good Kalani Sitake is at BYU these days.
4. Sonny Dykes, TCU
Sonny Dykes has a long history of success. He took TCU to the National Championship Game just three years ago, and this year’s team is the best they’ve had since that year. 2024’s 9-4 campaign will be turned into more for Sonny Dykes and TCU in 2025.
5. Chris Klieman, Kansas State
Klieman has proven he can win the conference. This year, he’ll be out to prove the 2022 Big Championship was no fluke. Klieman has had at least eight wins every year at K-State (minus the Covid-shortened 2020 season). After 9-4 or better for three straight seasons, Klieman needs to compete for another Big 12 Championship, and in 2025, he and his Wildcats will.
6. Dave Aranda, Baylor
Like Klieman, Aranda is a Big 12 Champion coach. But 2021 is looking further and further away. Going 8-5 last year was a step in the right direction to prove he’s more than just one great year of football. With the return of quarterback Sawyer Robertson, Aranda has no reason not to get his Baylor Bears to 10 wins or more this season.
7. Deion Sanders, Colorado
Coach Prime has exceeded expectations everywhere he has coached. This season looks to be particularly tough for him and Colorado, though. Coach Sanders had to battle cancer all offseason and now has to replace a ton of talent from last year, including their quarterback, and also the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner. Kaidon Salter, the transfer from Liberty, is a very good player and a very good quarterback. He and Coach Prime will have the Buffs ready to roll this year. Sanders will show that he can sustain success.
8. Kyle Whittingham, Utah
Whittingham has had a fantastic career at Utah. The main reason he is this far down is that last year, Utah fooled a lot of people into believing they were going to come in, own the Big 12, and go to the College Football Playoff right off the bat. They didn’t even make a bowl game in year one in the Big 12. Utah finds itself in a tough spot. They have to have a good season this year or risk their program losing a step, and that’s on Whittingham. Neither outcome would surprise me.
9. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State and Mike Gundy are in the same territory as Utah. When Texas and Oklahoma left, the Big 12 was Oklahoma State’s for the taking. Like Utah, they tripped and fell hard, landing far from their expectations. Mike Gundy has been doing this so well for so long that a 2025 turnaround wouldn’t surprise anyone, but neither would another challenging year.
10. Rich Rodriguez, WVU
Rich Rod is back at West Virginia, and the Mountaineer faithful are rightly psyched about it. It’s hard to put a guy with 190 career wins this far down the list, but it’s been eight years since he coached in a power conference, 15 years since he coached in a power conference that still exists. I expect Rodriguez to get West Virginia back to where they want to be, to be there for the long haul, and upset one or two guys who are above him on this list this season.
11. Lance Leipold, Kansas
While coaching Kansas to two bowl games in four seasons is impressive, Leipold needs more 9-4 seasons like 2023 to get higher up this list. Kansas had a rough 2024, but Leipold had them playing well at the end of the season, so it’ll be exciting to see where he has them to begin this one.
12. Joey McGuire, Texas Tech
Texas Tech has just been solid under McGuire, going 8-5, 7-6, and 8-5. A winning season and a bowl game is their floor, but what is their ceiling? Tech fans want to see McGuire get them to 9-10 wins and be competing for the Big 12 Championship late into the season. I think that is coming for McGuire and Texas Tech, and when it does, he’ll climb higher in these rankings; it is just a matter of when, not if.
13. Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati
Satterfield was great at Appalachian State in the 2010s. However, he’s only had a couple of winning seasons at Louisville since then. Cincinnati has a TON of guys back this year, including quarterback Brendan Sorsby. For the Bearcats, anything less than a winning season is unacceptable. Satterfield needs to get to those Appalachian State days, or the seat will start to warm in a hurry.
14. Willie Fritz, Houston
Fritz had a rough first season at Houston with only a 4-8 record. The transitory process of going from one coach to another can take time and not offer immediate success. Fritz has a history of winning, though, and needs to add to it this year. A winning season is expected from Fritz and Houston.
15. Scott Frost, UCF
Scott Frost’s career as a coach is a lesson in duality. His two seasons at UCF while in the American Conference were great, but to say he struggled at Nebraska would be an understatement. It wouldn’t be surprising for Frost to have the same struggles he did at Nebraska or for him to repeat the success from his first stint at UCF. But we need to see him win some before we start to give him a lot of credit for 13-0 in 2017 in Orlando.
16. Brent Brennan, Arizona
Brennan was solid at San Jose State but had a rough debut year last season for the Wildcats. They would start the season in the top 25, winning three out of their first four games, but then go 1-7 down the stretch. Brennan needs to make up for that this year to get out of the cellar here.
Almost every coach on this list has had a good amount of success during their careers and is capable of winning in what is the most competitive conference in college football. That’s one of the beauties of this conference; it plays at an elite level, and almost all of its teams have the potential to win it. A big reason for that is that it has good coaches across the board. It should be fun to revisit this list when the 2025 season has wrapped up in January.