Big Ten College Football Head Coach Rankings: Preview 2024

2024 Big Ten Head Coach Rankings

How good are all the college football head coaches going into the 2024 season? What are their records? We rank the ones from the Big Ten schools based on our very, very loose criteria.

1. Resumé. How good is their track record? Have they proven themselves?

2. Who's Hot? Who are the innovative college football head coaches creating a buzz? And our offshoot of that ...

3. Who has the expectations to do something big? Who's a bit stagnant and which programs are rising? Basically, who are the big deals?

4. How good are they? It's hard to define, but it's our call - who do we want running our team?

One note, the brand new coaches with no experience are generally ranked at the bottom - we'll believe the production when we see it. One other thing, if a coach gets fired early or takes over as an interim, he'll get credit for a half a season depending on how many games he coached.

These will change wildly when we do this at the end of the season. For now, here's our ranking of the Big Ten college football head coaches going into the 2024 season.

2024 CFN Coach Ranks By Conference
AAC | ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | CUSA
IND | MAC | M-West | SEC | Sun Belt
- Top 10 Hot Seat Coaches

18 DeShaun Foster, UCLA

UCLA running backs coach over the last 7 seasons
Wins as FBS Coach: 0
Career FBS Win %: 0
Winning FBS Seasons: 0
FBS Conference Championships: 0
Total FBS Seasons: 0
Average Wins Per Season: 0.00
% Seasons With Winning Record: 0.00%

17 Ryan Walters, Purdue

Rebuilding team beat Virginia, Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana
Wins as FBS Coach: 4
Career FBS Win %: 33.3
Winning FBS Seasons: 0
FBS Conference Championships: 0
Total FBS Seasons: 1
Average Wins Per Season: 4.00
% Seasons With Winning Record: 0.00%

16 Bret Bielema, Illinois

Won three straight Big Ten titles - 2010 to 2012 - at Wisconsin
Wins as FBS Coach: 115
Career FBS Win %: 59.9
Winning FBS Seasons: 11
FBS Conference Championships: 3
Total FBS Seasons: 15
Average Wins Per Season: 7.67
% Seasons With Winning Record: 73.33%

15 Mike Locksley, Maryland

3 straight bowl wins at Maryland
Wins as FBS Coach: 31
Career FBS Win %: 34.4
Winning FBS Seasons: 3
FBS Conference Championships: 0
Total FBS Seasons: 8
Average Wins Per Season: 3.88
% Seasons With Winning Record: 37.50%

14 Sherrone Moore, Michigan

Coached Michigan in the 2023 win over Ohio State (crediting Moore here as a first year head coach)
Wins as FBS Coach: 0
Career FBS Win %: 0
Winning FBS Seasons: 0
FBS Conference Championships: 0
Total FBS Seasons: 0
Average Wins Per Season: 0.00
% Seasons With Winning Record: 0.00%

13 David Braun, Northwestern

2023 Big Ten Coach of the Year
Wins as FBS Coach: 8
Career FBS Win %: 61.5
Winning FBS Seasons: 1
FBS Conference Championships: 0
Total FBS Seasons: 1
Average Wins Per Season: 8.00
% Seasons With Winning Record: 100.00%

12 PJ Fleck, Minnesota

Led 2016 Western Michigan to 13-0 regular season and the Cotton Bowl
Wins as FBS Coach: 80
Career FBS Win %: 58.8
Winning FBS Seasons: 7
FBS Conference Championships: 1
Total FBS Seasons: 11
Average Wins Per Season: 7.27
% Seasons With Winning Record: 63.64%

11 Greg Schiano, Rutgers

2006 National Coach of the Year
Wins as FBS Coach: 87
Career FBS Win %: 47.8
Winning FBS Seasons: 7
FBS Conference Championships: 0
Total FBS Seasons: 15
Average Wins Per Season: 5.80
% Seasons With Winning Record: 46.67%

10 Jonathan Smith, Michigan State

Led Oregon State to two top 21 finishes in his last two seasons
Wins as FBS Coach: 34
Career FBS Win %: 49.3
Winning FBS Seasons: 3
FBS Conference Championships: 0
Total FBS Seasons: 6
Average Wins Per Season: 5.67
% Seasons With Winning Record: 50.00%

9 Jedd Fisch, Washington

Rebuilt Arizona in 3 seasons going 10-3 with a top 11 finish last year
Wins as FBS Coach: 17
Career FBS Win %: 43.6
Winning FBS Seasons: 1
FBS Conference Championships: 0
Total FBS Seasons: 3
Average Wins Per Season: 5.67
% Seasons With Winning Record: 33.33%

8 Matt Rhule, Nebraska

Went 20-7 in last two seasons at Temple
Wins as FBS Coach: 52
Career FBS Win %: 51.0
Winning FBS Seasons: 4
FBS Conference Championships: 1
Total FBS Seasons: 8
Average Wins Per Season: 6.50
% Seasons With Winning Record: 50.00%

7 Kirk Ferentz, Iowa

Longest tenured current head coach at the same school (1999)
Wins as FBS Coach: 196
Career FBS Win %: 62.2
Winning FBS Seasons: 20
FBS Conference Championships: 2
Total FBS Seasons: 26
Average Wins Per Season: 7.54
% Seasons With Winning Record: 76.92%

6 Luke Fickell, Wisconsin

2021 Coach of the Year; took Cincinnati to the CFP
Wins as FBS Coach: 71
Career FBS Win %: 69.3
Winning FBS Seasons: 6
FBS Conference Championships: 2
Total FBS Seasons: 8
Average Wins Per Season: 8.88
% Seasons With Winning Record: 75.00%

5 Curt Cignetti, Indiana

At IU-Pennsylvania, Elon, James Madison he was 119-35
Wins as FBS Coach: 19
Career FBS Win %: 82.6
Winning FBS Seasons: 2
FBS Conference Championships: 0
Total FBS Seasons: 2
Average Wins Per Season: 9.50
% Seasons With Winning Record: 100.00%

4 James Franklin, Penn State

Took Vanderbilt to 3 bowl games in 3 seasons
Wins as FBS Coach: 112
Career FBS Win %: 67.5
Winning FBS Seasons: 11
FBS Conference Championships: 1
Total FBS Seasons: 13
Average Wins Per Season: 8.62
% Seasons With Winning Record: 84.62%

3 Dan Lanning, Oregon

2 top 15 finishes in his first 2 seasons
Wins as FBS Coach: 22
Career FBS Win %: 81.5
Winning FBS Seasons: 2
FBS Conference Championships: 0
Total FBS Seasons: 2
Average Wins Per Season: 11.00
% Seasons With Winning Record: 100.00%

2 Lincoln Riley, USC

2018 Coach of the Year; 4 Big 12 titles in his first 4 seasons at Oklahoma
Wins as FBS Coach: 74
Career FBS Win %: 80.4
Winning FBS Seasons: 7
FBS Conference Championships: 4
Total FBS Seasons: 7
Average Wins Per Season: 10.57
% Seasons With Winning Record: 100.00%

1 Ryan Day, Ohio State

6 of 8 losses were to Michigan or in CFP
Wins as FBS Coach: 56
Career FBS Win %: 87.5
Winning FBS Seasons: 5
FBS Conference Championships: 2
Total FBS Seasons: 5.5
Average Wins Per Season: 10.18
% Seasons With Winning Record: 100%

2024 CFN Coach Ranks By Conference
AAC | ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | CUSA
IND | MAC | M-West | SEC | Sun Belt
- Top 10 Hot Seat Coaches