2. Matt Campbell, Iowa State head coach
Seriously, who wins at Iowa State?
Forgetting what happened to Iowa this last weekend, Iowa State was considered a top ten team coming into the season based on what Campbell has been able to build since taking over in 2016.
Does he have elite recruits and talent to work with? Not really, but he and his staff have been able to take what they get and coach them up. Now, get ready for a whole slew of Cyclones to be in the 2022 NFL Draft.
A winner at Toledo, he took over Iowa State in 2016, had one mediocre year and then everything took off, winning 32 games and a Fiesta Bowl in his last four seasons at a place that has never won an outright conference championship.
He’s still young – just 41 – he’s under a long contract that goes through 2028, and the NFL might be his next stop, but USC would be the right gig at the right time for him if it’s not …