College football’s top 15 most accomplished current coaches from past decade

10. Lincoln Riley (Oklahoma)

This is only Lincoln Riley’s third year as a head coach and all of them have been at Oklahoma. In a short period of time, he has won the Big 12 twice, won at least 10 games every season and took the Sooners to the College Football Playoff in two straight seasons. He has a very bright future and he could possibly be up there with Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney when it’s all said and done.

• 0 National Championships: 0 points
• 2 College Football Playoff appearances: 60 points
• 2 regular season conference titles: 40 points
• 2 division titles*: 30 points (Big 12 doesn’t have divisions but the two top teams qualify for the conference championship game)
• 0 bowl wins: 0 points
• 2 bowl appearances: 10 points
• 2 seasons with 10 or more wins: 10 points

Total coaching points: 150

9. Brian Kelly (Notre Dame, Cincinnati)

Brian Kelly’s resume is complicated for many reasons and in particular the Fighting Irish not being in a conference hurts his coaching ranking based on this criteria. He did win a conference title at Cincinnati but left for the Notre Dame head coaching job the following year. The NCAA also vacated the wins for the 2012-13 season and even though Kelly has been successful as the Fighting Irish head coach, on paper it is not as impressive as you would think.

• 0 National Championships: 0 points
• 1 College Football Playoff appearance: 30 points
• 1 regular season conference title: 20 points
• 4 bowl wins: 40 points
• 9 bowl appearances: 45 points
• 4 seasons with 10 or more wins: 20 points

Total coaching points: 155

8. Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State)

Mike Gundy has done more as a coach this past decade than many fans realize. He has taken the Cowboys to a bowl every year and has won their bowl game seven of those times over the past decade. He has lead Oklahoma State to six seasons of 10 or more wins the past 10 years and he has without doubt built a stable and consistent program in Stillwater.

• 0 National Championships: 0 points
• 0 College Football Playoff appearances: 0 points
• 1 regular season conference title: 20 points
• 1 division title: 15 points
• 7 bowl wins: 70 points
• 10 bowl appearances: 50 points
• 6 seasons with 10 or more wins: 30 points

Total coaching points: 185

Coaching highlights, accomplishments over past decade

• Led his team to a 12-1 season in 2011, winning the Fiesta Bowl
• Led his team to three straight bowl victories (2016-18)
• 1 Big 12 title (2011)
• 1 Big 12 South title (2010)

7. Gary Patterson (TCU)

Gary Patterson, similar to Mark Dantonio, has a respectable resume this past decade. However, he has not had as much success recently as he had earlier on this past decade. He however has led the Horned Frogs to four regular season championships and has won 10 or more games six times this past decade. He also has taken TCU to nine bowl games, having won six of those. He, like Gundy, has a respectable program at TCU and he will have his team competing for Big 12 titles in the future.

• 0 National Championships: 0 points
• 0 College Football Playoff appearances: 0 points
• 4 regular season conference titles: 80 points
• 6 bowl wins: 60 points
• 9 bowl appearances: 45 points
• 6 seasons with 10 or more wins: 30 points

Total coaching points: 215

Coaching highlights, accomplishments over past decade

• Led his team to an undefeated season in 2010, winning the Rose Bowl
• Led his team to a New Year’s Six bowl victory in 2014 to go 12-1
• 3 Mountain West (2009-11) titles
• 1 Big 12 title (2014)