Bill Bender of the Sporting News has released his annual college coaches ranking for all 130 coaches the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Last season he ranked Texas head coach Tom Herman as the 11th best coach in the country. This year he slid back five spots to number 16.
The Longhorns didn’t meet expectations last season, and Herman faces the pressure of managing one of college football’s biggest programs. The recruiting has picked up, but the same big-game challenges remain. Texas is getting closer, but it’s on Herman to bring them back once and for all. -Bill Bender of the Sporting News
Even with the slide back to 16th, Herman is still the second-highest ranked Big 12 coach on the list. Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley came in at number four overall.
The rest of the Big 12:
- Gary Patterson, TCU-17th
- Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State-20th
- Chris Klieman, Kansas State-33rd
- Matt Campbell, Iowa State-34th
- Les Miles, Kansas-36th
- Neal Brown, West Virginia-37th
- Matt Wells, Texas Tech-60th
- Dave Aranda, Baylor-63rd
Here’s a group of high-quality coaches who all are chasing their first national championship and a couple might be within striking distance this season. Mike Gundy was slotted 14th in our power ranking and Herman didn’t make the cut, showing views are quite skewed of the Big 12’s best behind Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma. Both the Cowboys and Longhorns should be inside the Top 20 when the preseason AP Poll is released later this summer and each have rosters capable of making noise this fall in the Playoff race. It’s a pivotal fourth year in Austin for Herman, who is 25-15 at Texas with one Top 10 finish. – 247Sports’ Brad Crawford
It was a bit of a shock to see Matt Wells so far down the list given how many other college football outlets have him ranked. In fact Athlon Sports ranked him as the fourth-best coach in the conference just one slot ahead of Herman. This upcoming year could be a make or break year for fouth-year head coach Tom Herman as he attempts to dethrone the Oklahoma Sooners.