Of the 31 first-year head coaches in the Bowl Subdivision, six have yet to lose a game. Ten have just lost just once. And one — with a bit of an asterisk — is still looking for that first win.
Northern Illinois interim coach Rob Harley is off to an 0-4 start with a narrow loss to Illinois State of the Championship Subdivision and three losses to Bowl Subdivision opponents by at least 21 points.
On the other hand, the six still-unbeaten new coaches have quickly turned things around at No. 8 Florida, No. 23 UCLA and Virginia Tech and maintained winning ways at No. 13 Utah, James Madison and South Florida.
USA TODAY Sports reviewed every first-year coach in 2026 after Week 1. Let’s revisit
by ranking the new hires based on how things went in the first month of the regular season:
1. Bob Chesney, UCLA (4-0)
No coach has done more with lower expectations after inheriting one of the biggest pushovers in the Big Ten. Like Curt Cignetti before him, the former James Madison coach has turned around the Bruins’ culture by installing a high-powered and seemingly unstoppable offense.
2. Jon Sumrall, Florida (4-0)
The No. 8 Gators have exceeded even the most optimistic hopes for Sumrall’s first month. Florida has scored at least 40 points in each of the first four games for the first time since 2001 and have one of the best wins by any team this season in last weekend’s 52-28 victory against No. 12 Mississippi.
3. James Franklin, Virginia Tech (4-0)
The transfer-heavy roster of the Hokies has taken care of business against a weak schedule but things will get much harder in October, with Pittsburgh, California, Georgia Tech and Clemson up ahead. Still its a promising start for Franklin in hs program rebuild.
4. Morgan Scalley, Utah (4-0)
With little fanfare, Scalley has stepped in for Kyle Whittingham and hit the ground running thanks to an offense that ranks 12th nationally in scoring and 13th in yards per play. Things get more difficult in October.
5. Lane Kiffin, LSU (3-1)
Everything has gone pretty well under intense scrutiny but not perfectly, with a loss in Kiffin’s homecoming in Oxford souring a start that otherwise includes very one-sided wins against Clemson and Texas A&M.
6. Billy Napier, James Madison (4-0)
Napier has done what he’s supposed to do: when taking over a winning environment: Keep the Dukes rolling as one of the top teams in the Group of Six. It's been an impressive first month.
7. Pete Golding, Mississippi (3-1)
Things fell apart this past Saturday in Gainesville, taking some wind out of the Rebels’ sails after that emotional win against LSU. Golding’s team is clearly good enough to win the national championship. (We’re counting Golding as a first-year coach even though he took over before last year’s playoff.)
8. Will Stein, Kentucky (3-1)
The marquee win against Texas A&M has lost some luster with the Aggies’ recent collapse. Stein still has made an immediate impact on Kentucky’s offense and quarterback play, raising the odds of a possible bowl berth in his debut.
9. Eric Morris, Oklahoma State (3-1)
Morris has climbed out of a terrible first impression against Tulsa to post wins against No. 16 Oregon and West Virginia. Loss to the Golden Hurricane aside, the Cowboys seem ready to make noise in the Big 12.
10. Charles Huff, Memphis (3-1)
A loss to Boise State did temporary damage to the Tigers’ playoff hopes but there are opportunities to make a run in an American that’s ripe for taking.
11. Alex Golesh, Auburn (3-1)
Losing to Florida isn’t good for any Auburn coach, but Golesh and the Tigers beat Baylor in non-conference play and pulled off a hard-fought win against Vanderbilt on Saturday to even their record in the SEC.
12. Mike Jacobs, Toledo (3-1)
Jacobs looks like a keeper after winning at every level on his way to Toledo and steering the Rockets to a three-game winning streak after losing to Michigan State in the opener.
13. JaMarcus Shephard, Oregon State (2-2)
Shephard has pushed the right buttons for Oregon State, which took No. 20 Houston and No. 10 Texas Tech to the limit and could be Boise State’s biggest threat in the Pac-12.
14. Brian Hartline, South Florida (4-0)
South Florida is a very soft 4-0 but 4-0 still counts, even if you need 14 points in the fourth quarter to beat Bowling Green. This ranking has the potential to go south if the Bulls stumble.
15. Tavita Pritchard, Stanford (2-2)
Last Saturday’s comeback win against Georgia Tech gives Stanford a shot at a bowl in Pritchard’s debut, but only with a win this weekend against Wake Forest.
16. Kyle Whittingham, Michigan (3-1)
It’s been up and down and back again, from the controversy against Western Michigan, the tone-setting win against Oklahoma to the recent last-second loss to No. 14 Iowa.
17. Collin Klein, Kansas State (3-1)
The offense has been balanced, Avery Johnson has been better and the Wildcats would be 4-0 had the run defense not given up 271 yards in a painful 31-26 defeat to Cincinnati.
18. Neal Brown, North Texas (2-2)
The Mean Green are stronger than expected despite losing a tremendous amount of projection to the transfer portal. Still, a sloppy loss to Texas State two weekends ago could keep Brown and North Texas from reaching bowl eligibility.
19. Jimmy Rogers, Iowa State (2-2)
A three-point loss at Iowa and an acceptable 31-17 loss to Utah shows how Rogers and his staff have built up an essentially brand-new roster. But the Cyclones miss Colorado, Kansas and TCU in Big 12 play and could max out at four wins.
20. Pat Fitzgerald, Michigan State (2-2)
The Spartans have taken a step back in losses to No. 3 Notre Dame and Nebraska, and might end up around four wins overall. There are still positive signs during this up-and-down start to the Fitzgerald era that is a major rebuild.
21. Matt Campbell, Penn State (3-1)
One of the easier schedules in the Big Ten seemed to set Campbell and the Nittany Lions on the path for playoff contention. But losing to Wisconsin after taking a 17-0 lead changes the nature of this season by showing PSU to be more in the eight-win range than in the mix for an at-large berth.
22. Kirby Moore, Washington State (1-3)
Washington State has played hard under Moore but looks to be very limited this season by a mediocre offense that hasn’t been as good as expected at moving bodies on the line of scrimmage.
23. Jason Candle, Connecticut (2-2)
The Huskies are good enough to return to the postseason but made things difficult on themselves by giving up a 14-point lead in a 24-21 loss to Miami (Ohio). Candle went 81-44 and never posted a losing season in his decade at Toledo, so confidence is high that he’ll get this team to six wins.
24. Jim Mora, Colorado State (2-2)
After opening with a nice win against Wyoming and an easy one against Southern Utah, the Rams are hobbling into Pac-12 play after giving up 41 points to No. 9 Brigham Young and 59 points to Texas-San Antonio.
25. Tosh Lupoi, California (2-2)
It’s been a frustrating start featuring a blowout loss to UCLA in the opener and a missed opportunity last Friday against Clemson. There’s reason to be optimistic about the future while acknowledging that Lupoi has to get the offense fixed to win games against UNLV, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest to open October.
26. Casey Woods, Missouri State (1-3)
The Bears were blown out by Texas A&M in the opener but have improved in recent weeks, including a very competitive loss this past weekend to No. 19 SMU.
27. Ryan Beard, Coastal Carolina (1-3)
Coastal’s decline has continued through the first month and should result in a rough season for a coach who previously did a very nice job in his three years at Missouri State.
28. Will Hall, Tulane (2-2)
Tulane has already taken a clear step back under Hall, who previously went 14-30 at Southern Mississippi from 2022-24. This was a team in the College Football Playoff last season but will struggle to be a top team in the American.
29. Alonzo Carter, Sacramento State (1-4)
This was always going to be a big leap for the first-year FBS program, but teams such as James Madison, North Dakota State, Old Dominion, Texas-San Antonio and many others have shown that you can find immediate success in the transition from the Championship Subdivision.
30. Ryan Silverfield, Arkansas (2-2)
Only a win against Tulsa last weekend saved Silverfield from maybe the worst first month by a new SEC coach in recent history. Even then, the knives are already out in Fayetteville.
31. Rob Harley, Northern Illinois (0-4)
Harley was promoted into the top spot after Thomas Hammock left for the NFL. While he’s facing a very difficult job in rallying team already lacking the personnel to compete as new members of the Mountain West, the Huskies have lost two games against Power Four teams by a combined 65 points, lost at home to Illinois State and were dominated on the road by Georgia State.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: From best to worst, all 31 first-year college football coaches ranked
