By Stephen Vilardo, SuperWest Sports
Sports
Ranking the Big Ten Football Head Coaches Entering 2026
The Big Ten is the best football conference in the nation. The league has won each of the last three national championships.
So how do all 18 of those head coaches stack up against one another?
Well, for that, we bring you our rankings of the 2026 Big Ten Football Coaches.
1. Curt Cignetti, Indiana
When Curt Cignetti arrived in Bloomington, the Hoosiers had the most losses in NCAA history.
In just two years at IU, the Hoosiers have gone 27-2 and won a national championship with a 16-0 season a year ago. Quite possibly the best coaching job in history, turning the program around.
Cignetti may be the best in the country at the moment and is certainly the top coach in the Big Ten.
2. Ryan Day, Ohio State
Ryan Day brought the Buckeyes to the top of the college football world in 2024, and despite falling to Indiana in the Big Ten title game and an exit in the playoffs at the hands of Miami, Day still has OSU rolling.
He inherited a good situation in Columbus, obviously, but has only enhanced the Buckeyes’ profile in his seven years.
Day has turned OSU into an NFL factory while compiling an 87-12 record.
3. Dan Lanning, Oregon
Since taking over in Eugene, Dan Lanning has gone 48-8, leading the Ducks to a 26-3 mark over the last two seasons.
The only Big Ten loss during his tenure came at the hands of Indiana last October, as UO is 17-1 in regular-season conference games since joining the league.
He may not truly get his deserved due until he wins a national title, but the Ducks have been oh-so-close during his tenure.
4. Kyle Whittingham, Michigan
It certainly appears that the Wolverines fell on their feet this offseason with their coaching change. Things certainly could not have worked better for UM after a sudden vacancy.
Kyle Whittingham won a lot at Utah and should step right in and lead Michigan to success.
The Maize and Blue may have a ways to go to match the likes of Oregon, Ohio State, and Indiana, but with Whittingham at the helm, they look like they have the head man to guide them back to the top of the Big Ten.
5. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
The consistency of Kirk Ferentz’s run at Iowa cannot be denied. He took over in Iowa City in 1999 and has had success for the bulk of it.
In his 27 seasons, there have been only three sub .500 seasons and only one such campaign since 2000—and that lone losing season was all the way back in 2012.
The 70-year-old head coach may not have many seasons left on the sideline, but for now, the Hawkeyes once again look poised for a strong season.
6. Bret Bielema, Illinois
Bret Bielema is enjoying the same kind of success he had at Wisconsin in his first go-around in the league.
Consecutive top-25 finishes with the Illini have proven that his struggles at Arkansas are the outlier in an otherwise highly successful career. And let’s be real, three of his five seasons in Fayetteville ended in bowl games.
With a 19-7 mark over the last two seasons in Champaign, it appears the Illini will be staying near the top of the Big Ten. And Bielema is getting it done without the talent level on the roster that some of his brethren have.
7. Lincoln Riley, USC
This is probably a make-or-break season at USC for Lincoln Riley, but as recently as 2020 the head man was being hailed as one of the best coaches in the nation.
He has posted a 35-18 mark since arriving in LA, but the Trojans have gone just 24-15 in the last three seasons. Riley can still get it done, though, and a promising end to last season could springboard things in 2026.
He has the talent to succeed and needs to find that pre-2020 magic again.
8. Jedd Fisch, Washington
Jedd Fisch had a ton of success at Arizona, turning around that program before coming to Seattle.
His first season with Washington was a bit of a struggle with a roster that had a ton of turnover. Last season, the Huskies were much improved and appear to be set for a breakout season in 2026.
Fisch has done a great job of developing talent, especially at the QB position. This season, we could see a big jump in the play of Demond Williams Jr., and that should bring a jump in the win column as well.
9. Pat Fitzgerald, Michigan State
Pat Fitzgerald was about as successful as possible at Northwestern. He led the Cats to a pair of Big Ten Championship games and guided Chicago’s Big Ten team to 10 bowl games.
Finding success in East Lansing would seem to be less daunting of a task, but it certainly will not come overnight as he is inheriting a bit of a mess.
The landscape of college football certainly has changed since he was last on the sidelines, but “Fitz” should be able to navigate the new game without any trouble.
10. PJ Fleck, Minnesota
It is easy to hate on PJ Fleck. The quirky sayings, the sprinting between quarters…Sure, it is not for everyone. But Fleck gets a ton of production out of his players.
If you take out the 2020-COVID season, he has led the Gophers to a bowl game in every year since, except for his debut campaign. And Minnesota is a perfect 7-0 in those bowl games under Fleck.
The Gophers have not taken that next step into the upper echelon of the league with just the one 11-2 season and a share of the Big Ten West in 2019. Nonetheless, Fleck gets the job done and wins games for Minnesota.
11. David Braun, Northwestern
Northwestern is not the easiest place to find success, but David Braun has done a pretty good job in his first three seasons.
A 4-8 campaign in 2024 has been sandwiched between two winning seasons at 8-5 and 7-6 with a bowl win in each. The Wildcats are about to get a massive facility upgrade, and that should make the job a bit easier.
Either way, it is hard to argue with the track record so far, especially considering the situation he took over.
12. Matt Campbell, Penn State
Matt Campbell had a ton of success at Iowa State. There is little to suggest there will be a drop-off with Penn State.
In Ames, Campbell went 72-55, and ISU had some of its best seasons in school history, including a program-record 11 wins in 2024.
In theory, it should be easier for him to win in Happy Valley, and if he can knock off some top-five opponents, he will be more successful than his predecessor.
13. Bob Chesney, UCLA
Bob Chesney is the only coach in the Big Ten without any prior Power-4 experience. The new UCLA coach will begin just his third season as an FBS head coach this season, but the success has been there.
In two seasons with James Madison, he led the Dukes to a 21-6 record, including a spot in the CFB Playoffs last season. It is easy to see why there is a lot of excitement around the UCLA program at the moment.
The Bruin faithful are energized, and the idea of them being Big Ten pushovers may not continue much longer.
14. Barry Odom, Purdue
Sometimes things are better than they seem. Odom is a pretty good coach and did a great job getting things rolling at UNLV.
Perhaps he should have stayed in the desert. It was a struggle in his debut season with Purdue. A 2-10 record and winless conference season proves how tough the job of rebuilding the Boilermakers will be.
It will be a long rebuild and we will see how much patience they have in West Lafayette.
15. Matt Rhule, Nebraska
Matt Rhule worked wonders at Temple. Then, at Baylor, following a 1-11 season, he turned it around, going 18-9 over the last two years, posting an 11-3 mark in his final season in Waco.
The three seasons at Nebraska have not yielded the same kind of success. Season Three was again supposed to be the turning point, but an injury to Dylan Raiola, among other issues, derailed the Huskers’ campaign.
Rhule has posted a pedestrian 19-19 mark in Lincoln, and while I am not ready to write him off yet, this season will be a big one.
16. Greg Schiano, Rutgers
The time for Greg Schiano to find success in his second stint at Rutgers might be running out. The track record of success is there for the head coach, but it is getting more difficult, and his days in Piscataway might be numbered.
The Knights simply have not done enough in the NIL era to keep pace with the elites, or even moderates, of the Big Ten. Schiano led Rutgers to bowl games following both the 2023 and 2024 seasons before missing out at 5-7 last season.
If RU can find success on the gridiron this season, it will be a testament to Schiano’s coaching ability.
17. Luke Fickell, Wisconsin
Luke Fickell had a lot of success at Cincinnati, but his tenure with Wisconsin has been nothing short of a disaster.
It started off bad with the fans when he changed the offensive schematics and went away from the power run attack the Badgers had so much success with. It got a lot worse with some hires that were complete misses and rosters that were not constructed well.
Last season things culminated with a 4-8 record and the inability to keep a QB upright and healthy. It is now or never in Madison.
18. Mike Locksley, Maryland
Mike Locksley is about to start Season Eight of his current stint at Maryland. And for the second straight season, he enters firmly on a very hot seat.
The last two seasons have yielded a pair of 4-8 seasons, and just a single conference win each season.
For Locksley to have a ninth season in College Park, he will need to find a way to win more than just the non-conference games.
writes about various topics for SuperWest sports, including stats and records, college sports, and motorsports. He also founded and runs the Sports and Entertainment Research Center (SERC).
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