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Ranking college football’s top 25 head coaches for 2022

By Connor Muldowney

Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher and Alabama coach Nick Saban shake hands at midfield after their game at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas, on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019.Bama618
Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher and Alabama coach Nick Saban shake hands at midfield after their game at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas, on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019.Bama618 /
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Oct 2, 2021; College Station, Texas, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Mike Leach argues a call while playing against the Texas A&M Aggies in the third quarter at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 2, 2021; College Station, Texas, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Mike Leach argues a call while playing against the Texas A&M Aggies in the third quarter at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports /

I’m not as high on Mario Cristobal as others are and that’s because I think he’s an elite recruiter but an average Xs and Os guy. He was the national recruiter of the year while at Alabama back in 2015 but his head coaching record before taking the job at Oregon was just 27-47 at FIU. He had two 10-plus win seasons with the Ducks with two Pac-12 titles before leaving for Miami. I think he’ll get the talent at Miami, but I’m not sold on him winning the ACC regularly.

Paul Chryst is about as exciting as a piece of buttered toast, but he gets the job done. The expectations at Wisconsin are Big Ten West titles every year and he’s upheld those three times since he took over as head coach back in 2015. He has yet to win the Big Ten title but he has an impressive 65-23 overall record and has dominated the West a bit. He’s also 6-1 in bowl games with two NY6 wins.

The Pirate might be the best personality on this entire list, but right now I have him as the 18th-best coach in the country thanks to his entire body of work. He went 84-43 at Texas Tech before he felt he was wrongfully fired (he’s still not over that) and then he went 55-47 at Washington State. Those are two tough places to win and he did just that. He’s only 11-13 at Mississippi State thus far, but I think his best days are ahead of him.

Is Kirk Ferentz too low here at No. 17? Maybe just a little bit, according to some, but I think he needs to be a little more consistently above average. He has won 10-plus games just three times since 2010, but he does have two Big Ten title game appearances in the past seven seasons. He’s a really solid Big Ten coach without a ton of flare, but he gets the job done at Iowa.

I might get a little hate for this ranking because modern-day Mack Brown isn’t the same one we saw in the 1990s at North Carolina and then 2000s at Texas. But he’s still one of the best coaches in the game and his resume speaks for itself. Brown is coming off a disappointing 6-7 season with the Tar Heels and is just 21-17 with the Tar Heels in this go-around, but UNC was in a really bad place when he took over.

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