College football experiences immense turnover year-after-year which can most notably be seen at the head coaching position. Many coaches endure great amounts of pressure to succeed, especially early in their tenure, as schools can be quick to move on if you are not getting the job done. Several have failed and been shown the door while others have had great success in their early years at instilling a culture and winning football games. While many step into great situations and carry-on success, others have to build from the ground up.
Here are the 10 best head coaching hires in college football since 2020.
No one on this list entered into a worse situation than Key when he was named the interim head coach of a 1-3 team after the firing of Geoff Collins. He led the Yellow Jackets to a 4-4 record for the rest of that season and has produced back-to-back winning years at Georgia Tech for the first time since 2013-2014.
Brohm returned to his alma mater after a successful stint at Purdue and quickly turned the Cardinals into a top contender in the ACC. Before his time, Louisville often sat in the middle of the pack and seemed fine with mediocrity, but under Brohm that has changed.
Mario Cristobal did what many others failed to do in finally bringing The U back to relevancy in college football. While he has had some tarnishing losses as head coach at his alma mater, they do not overshadow a 10 win season last year and a future that appears bright in Miami. Cristobal’s impact on the program was shown in a recent interview with top recruit and Miami commit Jackson Cantwell. He shared part of his conversations with former Cane Vince Wilfork who told him “he used to not tell players to go there” and “Once Cristobal got there, he said he feels confident in telling guys to do it because he has the culture back and that there's a fantastic thing going on there.”
It is hard to place a coach who has only been with a team for one year, but Cignetti is certainly deserving of a spot on this list as he pulled off arguably the greatest season in program history. Indiana achieved their first 10-win season ever in 2024 and Cignetti has Hoosier fans excited about more than just basketball.
I believe Heupel’s success at Tennessee really flies under the radar as many forget that he came into an SEC program in a rough spot after the years of Jeremy Pruitt and Butch Jones. As head coach Heupel has had the Vols consistently ranked while procuring an overall record of 37-15 and bringing an electric style of offensive football to Knoxville.
Jeff Traylor may be the most underrated coach in college football. The former high school coach, who had never even been a college offensive or defensive coordinator, took over a UTSA program in their ninth season and has quickly turned them into a top tier Group of 5 program. Under Traylor the Roadrunners have appeared in a bowl game every year and won two conference championships. At this point it may just be a matter of time before Traylor gets a shot at the Power Four level.
Prior to Bielema’s arrival, Illinois was the stomping mat of the Big Ten. The Illini are now coming off of their first 10-win season since 2001 and have high expectations for 2025. Bielema has brought the perfect style of play for the Big Ten with a solid rushing attack and strong defense that has led to an incredible turnaround of the Illinois program.
Winning anywhere is never easy, but it certainly helps when taking over an Oregon program that had two 10-win seasons in the three prior years under Mario Cristobal and with Phil Knight’s Nike money in the NIL era. In his three seasons Lanning has led the Ducks to a .854 win percentage including a perfect regular season and conference title in their first year in the Big Ten. As long as Lanning is in charge in Eugene, Oregon looks poised to remain near the top of college football.
Some questioned the decision to promote from within when hiring a longtime coordinator in Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame, but he has quickly proved the doubters wrong. Things have looked shaky at times during Freeman’s tenure in South Bend with multiple embarrassing losses, but he finally got the Irish some “big” wins in their path to the national championship game in 2024. Not only have his teams been successful, but his high energy and everything you hear about how much his players love playing for him have helped turn the Irish into a premiere and likeable program.
Not only has Steve Sarkisian officially brought back Texas football, but he has also revived his own career in Austin. What became known as a program built on hype and underperforming is now coming off of back-to-back College Football Playoff semifinal appearances and looks to not be going anywhere soon. All that is left for Sark is to get Texas over the hump by winning their fifth national title and becoming just the fourth active head coach with a national championship.