Ranking the 14 Big Ten head football coaches from top to bottom
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The 2023 season will mark the end of an era in Big Ten football as UCLA and USC are both set to join the conference in 2024.
The league will expand from 14 to 16 teams and there will no longer be two divisions.
The Big Ten will also add two highly respected head coaches with the addition of Lincoln Riley from USC and Chip Kelly from UCLA, assuming they both stay in their current job.
But for now, there’s only 14 head coaches in the Big Ten and here is how they stack up from a rankings’ standpoint.
- Jim Harbaugh, Michigan: Coming off back-to-back Big Ten titles, and with two victories in a row against Ohio State, the 59-year old Harbaugh has earned the right to be on top.
It took him longer to defeat the Buckeyes than Michigan fans had hoped. But now that Harbaugh finally has cleared that obstacle, he should be rewarded for it.
Harbaugh didn’t handle the 2020 Covid season very well as Michigan finished just 2-4.
But the Wolverines have a 25-3 record over the past two seasons, and have played in back-to-back college playoffs and won at least 10 games in five of Harbaugh’s eight seasons as head coach.
Harbaugh has a 74-25 overall record at Michigan, including 51-17 in the Big Ten. He also has a 132-52 overall record as a college head coach with previous stops at San Diego, where his record was 26-9 overall in three seasons, and at Stanford where he finished 12-1 in 2010.
And remember, Harbaugh also led the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl.
2. Ryan Day, Ohio State: He has only lost six games in his four seasons as the Ohio State head coach, but two of the losses were against Michigan and three were in the college playoffs.
And now after losing back-to-back games against Michigan, some are questioning whether Day has what it takes to lead the Buckeyes to a national title because there isn’t much else to question, considering his record is 45-6, including 31-2 in the Big Ten.
The head coach at Ohio State gets held to a much higher standard than almost anywhere else because of the long-standing success and because of all the built-in advantages that come with the job.
3. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa: Ferentz will be 68 years old when the 2023 season starts, but he shows no signs of slowing down and seems to have no interest in retiring.
He is entering his 25th season as the head Hawk and has the distinction of being the longest tenured FBS head coach in the country.

Ferentz also has a 186-115 record as the Iowa head coach and ranks fourth all-time in wins among Big Ten coaches.
Iowa has earned 20 bowl game invitations and has won two Big Ten titles and two West Division titles under Ferentz. His current team is also considered one of the top contenders in the West Division, thanks mostly to having what is expected to be a rock-solid defense and special teams.
Iowa certainly has problems on offense, and the fact that Kirk Ferentz’s son, Brian Ferentz, is the offensive coordinator, just makes it worse.
However, despite the deficiencies on offense, Iowa has combined to finish 18-9 over the past two seasons and won the West Division in 2021.
Kirk Ferentz also showed this offseason that he can use the transfer portal to his advantage by landing several key additions, including former Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara.
Iowa is known for its player development under Kirk Ferentz and for identifying talent and potential when other coaches don’t see it.
Ferentz’s reputation suffered a serious blow in the summer of 2020 when multiple former Iowa players accused the program of racial discrimination.
But he vowed to fix the culture, has stayed the course and won a lot of games in the wake of the controversy with Iowa having compiled a 24-11 record since the start of the 2020 season.
4. James Franklin, Penn State: His record is 78-36 at Penn State, including 49-30 in the Big Ten, and 102-51 overall. And while those numbers are impressive, they don’t look as good when you factor in that Franklin has lost to both Ohio State and Michigan in the same season five times, and his only Big Ten title came in 2016.
Penn State used to be a superpower under Joe Paterno, but now it’s just a Big Ten power that sits a notch below Michigan and Ohio State.
Perhaps I’m being a homer by ranking Ferentz one spot ahead of Franklin.

But on the other hand, the path to success at Penn State has fewer obstacles than what Ferentz faces with Iowa, especially in recruiting where Penn State casts a larger net.
But mostly, it is Franklin’s lack of success against Michigan and Ohio State, and the fact that Penn State has lost at least five games in four of Franklin’s nine seasons as head coach, that puts him behind Ferentz.
Prior to coaching at Penn State, Frankin was the head coach at Vanderbilt where he compiled an impressive 24-15 record over three seasons.
So, yes, a case could be made for ranking Franklin higher, but the three head coaches ranked ahead of him also have strong cases.
5. Bret Bielema, Illinois: The former Iowa defensive lineman and assistant coach led Illinois to an 8-5 record last season.
It was Illinois’ first winning season since 2011.
Bielema now enters his third season in Champaign with expectations as high as they’ve been in years.

His reputation took a hit when Bielema failed to make Arkansas a winner during five seasons as head coach from 2013-17. His record at Arkansas was 29-34, including just 11-29 in the Southeastern Conference.
Prior to coaching at Arkansas, Bielema, 53, was the head coach at Wisconsin from 2006 to 2012. He was picked to succeed legendary head coach Barry Alvarez and would go on to have a 68-24 record as the head Badger.
Wisconsin also won one Big Ten title under Bielema, two division titles and made three appearances in the Rose Bowl.
Bielema’s success with Wisconsin is what helped him land the Arkansas job.
In 1994, he got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant under Hayden Fry at Iowa, and showed right away a talent for recruiting.
6. P.J. Fleck, Minnesota: He still hasn’t figured out how to defeat Iowa, but the Gophers are clearly much better since Fleck took over in 2017.
The high point came in 2019 when Minnesota finished 11-2 overall and won the Outback Bowl.
The Gophers finished 9-4 in each of the past two seasons and have now reached the point under Fleck where winning seasons are expected.
Fleck’s first head coaching job was at Western Michigan where he finished 13-1 in his fourth and final season in 2016 after having finished 1-11 in his first season in 2013.
7. Luke Fickell, Wisconsin: Some might argue that he should be ranked higher after what he accomplished at Cincinnati.
And fair enough, considering his Cincinnati teams won at least 11 games in three of his six seasons as head coach, with the high point coming in 2021 as the Bearcats won 13 games and made the college playoff.
But on the flipside, Fickell finished 6-7 as the interim head coach for his alma mater Ohio State in 2011. It’s extremely rare for Ohio State to have a losing season, so that couldn’t be overlooked when deciding where Fickell should be ranked.
8. Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern: It wasn’t that long ago that a case could be made for Fitzgerald being at or near the top of these rankings.

It’s considered harder to win at Northwestern than any other school in the Big Ten because of its high academic standards and limitations with the transfer portal.
And yet, Fitzgerald still led the Wildcats to West Division titles in 2018 and 2020.
However, the program, due mostly to a lack of talent on offense, has been in decline since then, finishing 3-9 in 2021 and 1-11 last season.
This year’s team is also expected to struggle, mostly due to the same problems on offense.
9. Matt Rhule, Nebraska: Cornhusker fans will undoubtedly resent their new savior being picked this low, but Rhule’s overall record is just 47-43 as a college head coach, and he was just 11-27 in slightly more than two seasons as the head coach for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.
In his defense, Rhule inherited a mess at Baylor in 2017, but he only needed three seasons to clean it up. After finishing 1-11 in his first season, Rhule led Baylor to records of 7-6 in 2018 and 11-3 in 2019.
That made him attractive to NFL teams and he cashed in on his success, but then failed to produce.
It could be that Rhule is better suited to coach in college than the NFL, and Nebraska fans are certainly hoping that is the case.
Time will tell.
10. Mike Locksley, Maryland: He established himself a long time ago as a great recruiter who also has a knack for coaching offense.
And though he failed miserably in his first head coaching job, finishing 2-26 in less than three seasons at New Mexico from 2009-11, he now has Maryland moving in the right direction after back-to-back winning seasons.
Maryland should be loaded again on offense with star quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa leading the way.
The concern is whether the defense will hold up its end of the deal.
11. Greg Schiano, Rutgers: This is a what-have-you-done-lately ranking based on Schiano’s 12-22 record in his second stint as the Rutgers head coach.
He was paid a lot of money to rebuild the Rutgers program for a second time, but so far, the results have mostly been disappointing as the Scarlet Knights are just 6-20 in Big Ten play over the last three seasons with Schiano as head coach.
12. Mel Tucker, Michigan State: He had a 16-14 record as a head coach when he signed a 10-year, $95 million contract extension with Michigan State on Nov. 24, 2021.
Michigan State officials apparently were worried that Tucker might bolt for another job after having led the Spartans to an 11-2 record in 2021, and Tucker took advantage of the circumstances as any coach probably would.
His reputation has since taken a hit, however, with Michigan State only finishing 5-7 last season.
You now wonder if the Spartans are starting to have buyer’s remorse.
Tucker has only been a head coach for four seasons and his record is 23-21 overall. He finished 5-7 in his only season at Colorado in 2019.
13. Tom Allen, Indiana: The Hoosiers entered the 2021 season nationally ranked after back-to-back winning seasons, but then would go on to win just two games.

Iowa crushed Indiana 34-6 in the 2021 season opener and the Hoosiers have been struggling ever since, finishing a combined 6-18 over the past two seasons.
Allen is loved by his players and respected by his coaching peers.
But at some point, it comes down to winning, and Allen has to start winning ASAP or he might be out of job sooner than later.
14. Ryan Walters, Purdue: The 37-year old Walters was announced as Purdue’s next head coach on Dec. 13, 2022. At the time of his hiring, Walters ranked as the fourth youngest head coach in the FBS.
It would be hard to rank him any higher because he has no experience as a head coach, unlike everyone else in the conference.
Walters has climbed the coaching ladder by making a name for himself on defense.
He was the defensive coordinator for Missouri before accepting Bret Bielema’s offer in 2021 to run his defense at Illinois.
This past season Illinois finished second nationally in points allowed, third in total defense, third in yards per play, first in interceptions, and first in takeaways.
Walters’ performance in two seasons at Illinois obviously made a strong impression as Purdue hired him even though he never had been a head coach.
Walters replaced offensive guru Jeff Brohm, who resigned late last season to become the head coach at his alma mater, Louisville.
Brohm landed the Purdue job because of what he had accomplished on offense, while Walters carved his path to Purdue on defense.