College Football Coach Rankings 2026: 101-138

It’s not easy to be a college football head coach.

Some get handed the keys to a top program kingdom, and others have to scrape by with whatever they can to get a good team on the field.

They’re the bottom 38 of our 2026 preseason college football head coach rankings, mostly highlighting the new FBS head coaches, but also acknowledging those fighting the good fight in tough situations.

CFN Preseason Head Coach Rankings: The Bottom 38

CFN 2026 Preseason Head Coach Rankings
– The Best of the Best: Top 10
– Just Outside the Elite: 11-25
– The Best of the Rest: 26-50
– Coaching’s Middle Class: 51-100
– Grading All 30 New Head Coach Hires

138. Rob Harley, Northern Illinois

2025 Coach Rank: Not Ranked
FBS Record: 0-0 | FBS Win %: 0%
An interim coach, he’s getting his shot to show what he can do after Thomas Hammock bolted for the Seattle Seahawks. He’s in a tough situation, but he can make this his.
– Northern Illinois 2026 Team Preview

137. Phil Longo, Sam Houston

2025 Coach Rank: 133
FBS Record: 2-10 | FBS Win %: 16.7%
Just 9-24 in three years as a head man, and 2-10 in one season at Sam Houston, there’s a big Prove It factor here. He knows how to coach up offenses, and now it has to work.
– Sam Houston 2026 Team Preview

136. Tony Sanchez, New Mexico State

2025 Coach Rank: 132
FBS Record: 27-57 | FBS Win %: 32.1%
Sanchez keeps fighting the good fight. A historically great high school coach, he has yet to come up with a winning season in eight years between UNLV and NMSU.
– New Mexico State 2026 Team Preview

135. Dowell Loggains, Appalachian State

2025 Coach Rank: 131
FBS Record: 5-8 | FBS Win %: 38.5%
An okay longtime offensive coordinator in the NFL and college, he still has to prove he can produce as a head coach. App State should win football games.
– App State 2026 Team Preview

134. Jay Sawvel, Wyoming

2025 Coach Rank: 118
FBS Record: 7-17 | FBS Win %: 29.2%
The pressure is one. Wyoming isn’t supposed to be Ohio State, but it’s expected to be better than 7-17 in two years. A great defensive coach, now he has to start winning.
– Wyoming 2026 Team Preview

133. Dell McGee, Georgia State

2025 Coach Rank: 125
FBS Record: 4-20 | FBS Win %: 16.7%
Georgia State was supposed to be a total rebuild, with McGee needing to find something that works. It’s taking a while, but something positive is a must after a 1-15 Sun Belt start.
– Georgia State 2026 Team Preview

132. Alonzo Carter, Sacramento State

2025 Coach Rank: Not Ranked
FBS Record: 0-0 | FBS Win %: 0%
Carter spent years as a key assistant under Brent Brennan at San Jose State and Arizona. This won’t be easy with the move to the FBS, but he gets to build from scratch.
– Sacramento State 2026 Team Preview

131. Scott Walden, UTEP

2025 Coach Rank: 101
FBS Record: 6-22 | FBS Win %: 21.4%
Energetic, fun, and there’s a high upside if he can get several dozen breaks, the 36-year-old is one of the hot young coaching minds, but he needs to start winning.
– UTEP 2026 Team Preview

130. JaMarcus Shephard, Oregon State

2025 Coach Rank: Not Ranked
FBS Record: 0-0 | FBS Win %: 0%
All energy and personality, he’s the type of coach you want to see succeed. A key assistant at Alabama over the last few years, he’s getting his shot with the Beavers.
– Oregon State 2026 Team Preview

129. Alex Mortensen, UAB

2025 Coach Rank: Not Ranked
FBS Record: 2-4 | FBS Win %: 33.3%
In charge of trying to get UAB past a rough few years and make it a player in the American, his offenses will be great, he knows the program, and he’ll settle in fast.
– UAB 2026 Team Preview

128. Jeff Choate, Nevada

2025 Coach Rank: 122
FBS Record: 6-19 | FBS Win %: 24%
Great at Montana State, he’s still trying to get Nevada up and going after years of struggling. It’s been a rough run so far, but he can coach – he needs the players.
– Nevada 2026 Team Preview

127. Tre Lamb, Tulsa

2025 Coach Rank: 128
FBS Record: 4-8 | FBS Win %: 33.3%
Tulsa is always a tough place to make a big splash, but the 36-year-old was good at the FCS level, has a good offensive mind, and should soon create a differentiating factor.
– Tulsa 2026 Team Preview

126. Scott Abell, Rice

2025 Coach Rank: 123
FBS Record: 5-8 | FBS Win %: 38.5%
A terrific coach at the FCS and Division III levels, he’s doing what he can to scheme up Rice into a winner. Okay in his first year, it’ll still take a few years to get this going.
– Rice 2026 Team Preview

125. Eddie George, Bowling Green

2025 Coach Rank: 116
FBS Record: 4-8 | FBS Win %: 33.3%
Great at Tennessee State, it was a rough first season at Bowling Green going 4-8. This is still a rebuild, not a quick fix, but this is a big year to keep the pressure off.
– Bowling Green 2026 Team Preview

124. Joe Harasymiak, UMass

2025 Coach Rank: 112
FBS Record: 0-12 | FBS Win %: 0%
An outstanding defensive coordinator at Minnesota and Rutgers, and with one massive year at Maine, he’s continuing to fight the impossible fight and make UMass competitive.
– UMass 2026 Team Preview

123. Derek Mason, Middle Tennessee

2025 Coach Rank: 105
FBS Record: 33-72 | FBS Win %: 31.4%
He did what he could at Vanderbilt, got another shot, and went 3-9 in each of his first two seasons at MTSU. He has yet to have a winning season in any of his nine campaigns.
– Middle Tennessee 2026 Team Preview

122. Bryant Vincent, ULM

2025 Coach Rank: 93
FBS Record: 15-22 | FBS Win %: 40.5%
He’s trying. In a rough situation, he came a game away from a bowl in his first year, struggled last season, and now has to keep rebuilding. The team will be well coached.
– ULM 2026 Team Preview

121. Tony Gibson, Marshall

2025 Coach Rank: 134
FBS Record: 5-7 | FBS Win %: 41.7%
Thrown into an impossible situation, the former NC State defensive coordinator had a massive rebuilding job to do, and he won five games. He’ll get time to grow this.
– Marshall 2026 Team Preview

120. Mark Carney, Kent State

2025 Coach Rank: 136
FBS Record: 5-7 | FBS Win %: 41.7%
A case could be that no one outside of Cignetti did a better job last season. Kent State went 2-23 before Carney, and now he provides hope for a long-suffering program.
– Kent State 2026 Team Preview

119. Casey Woods, Missouri State

2025 Coach Rank: Not Ranked
FBS Record: 0-0 | FBS Win %: 0%
Good hire, right time. The SMU offensive coordinator gets his shot at running his own program, bringing his attack in a program refresh.
– Missouri State 2026 Team Preview

118. Ryan Beard, Coastal Carolina

2025 Coach Rank: 119* (at Missouri State)
FBS Record: 7-5 | FBS Win %: 58.3%
Just 37, he’s young, he’s coming off two decent seasons at Missouri State, and he’s got an offense that should make Coastal Carolina interesting. Now he needs to win more.
– Coastal Carolina 2026 Team Preview

117. John Hauser, Ohio

2025 Coach Rank: Not Ranked
FBS Record: 1-0 | FBS Win %: 100%
Ohio coaching is a next-man-up situation. Frank Solich dominated, then Tim Albin, and then Brian Smith. After years as the defensive coordinator, Hauser has to win right away.
– Ohio 2026 Team Preview

116. Neal Brown, North Texas

2025 Coach Rank: Not Ranked
FBS Record: 72-51 | FBS Win %: 58.5%
Great at Troy and not bad at West Virginia, he leaves his assistant spot at Texas to take over a good UNT program. Just 46, watch him settle in and make the gig all his.
– North Texas 2026 Team Preview

115. Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech

2025 Coach Rank: 120
FBS Record: 21-34 | FBS Win %: 38.2%
Just 13-29 before last season, he showed the upside of the program with an 8-5 run before it took off for the Sun Belt. It would be nice, though, if his offense could kick in.
– Louisiana Tech 2026 Team Preview

114. Gerad Parker, Troy

2025 Coach Rank: 126
FBS Record: 12-20 | FBS Win %: 37.5%
He wasn’t proven, and it was a struggle in 2024. That changed fast with a fantastic Year Two, getting the Trojans back on track and to the Sun Belt Championship game.
– Troy 2026 Team Preview

113. Blake Anderson, Southern Miss

2025 Coach Rank: Not Ranked
FBS Record: 74-55 | FBS Win %: 57.4%
For all the issues at Utah State and the tragedy of losing his wife during his time at Arkansas State, he knows how to coach. He’ll be a good one for Southern Miss.
– Southern Miss 2026 Team Preview

112. Tavita Pritchard , Stanford

2025 Coach Rank: Not Ranked
FBS Record: 0-0 | FBS Win %: 0%
Pritchard is Stanford through and through. Just 39 and with a whole lot of offensive coaching talent, he has a chance to make the Cardinal his. The attack will be terrific.
– Stanford 2026 Team Preview

111. Major Applewhite, South Alabama

2025 Coach Rank: 95
FBS Record: 26-25 | FBS Win %: 51%
Even with three winning runs in four years – two at Houston and two at South Alabama – it doesn’t seem to be enough. A second straight 4-8 season would be a problem.
– South Alabama 2026 Team Preview

110. Tosh Lupoi, Cal

2025 Coach Rank: Not Ranked
FBS Record: 0-0 | FBS Win %: 0%
One of the better-looking coaching hires, he’s not only expected to hit the ground running, he should make Cal a bigger factor right away with his nasty defense.
– Cal 2026 Team Preview

109. Will Hall, Tulane

2025 Coach Rank: Not Ranked
FBS Record: 14-30 | FBS Win %: 31.8%
Great at West Alabama, Hall struggled badly at Southern Miss, and now he gets a shot to keep the Tulane success going. Just 46, he can grow into the gig – but the pressure is on.
– Tulane 2026 Team Preview

108. Kirby Moore, Washington State

2025 Coach Rank: Not Ranked
FBS Record: 0-0 | FBS Win %: 0%
The former Missouri offensive coordinator will do what works at Washington State and crank up the attack. Just 36 in his first head coaching job, he’ll get plenty of time to grow.
– Washington State 2026 Team Preview

107. Brian Hartline, USF

2025 Coach Rank: Not Ranked
FBS Record: 0-0 | FBS Win %: 0%
It’ll take a bit to grow into the head coaching job after years of doing a great job as a key assistant at USF. It’s a sleeping giant of a program, and given time, he can wake it up.
– USF 2026 Team Preview

106. Mike Uremovich, Ball State

2025 Coach Rank: 113
FBS Record: 4-8 | FBS Win %: 33.3%
After three decent years at Butler, the first season at Ball State wasn’t anything great, but he has time to build it up into a winner.
– Ball State 2026 Team Preview

105. Ryan Carty , Delaware

2025 Coach Rank: 106
FBS Record: 7-6 | FBS Win %: 53.8%
How is he still at Delaware? The 43-year-old won 26 games with two playoff appearances before leading the way to a winning season after the Blue Hens moved to the FBS.
– Delaware 2026 Team Preview

104. Michael Desormeaux, Louisiana

2025 Coach Rank: 103
FBS Record: 29-25 | FBS Win %: 53.7%
On the plus side, he took the Ragin’ Cajuns to four straight bowl seasons. However, three of them were losing campaigns. He’s been good, but it’s time for more.
– Louisiana 2026 Team Preview

103. Joe Moorhead, Akron

2025 Coach Rank: 108
FBS Record: 27-47 | FBS Win %: 36.5%
It’s never a positive when the school’s big promotion is to have the fans call a play, but Akron has improved in each of Moorhead’s last three seasons.
– Akron 2026 Team Preview

102. Will Stein, Kentucky

2025 Coach Rank: Not Ranked
FBS Record: 0-0 | FBS Win %: 0%
Let’s go. The former Oregon offensive coordinator is coming in with the bravado and the talent to turn Kentucky around fast. The program needed an attitude, and it just got one.
– Kentucky 2026 Team Preview

101. Zach Kittley, Florida Atlantic

2025 Coach Rank: 98
FBS Record: 4-8 | FBS Win %: 33.3%
Only 35 when the season starts, he’s one of the best offensive minds in the business. Now it has to translate into wins after a 4-8 first season as a head man.
– Florida Atlantic 2026 Team Preview

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