Ranking the top 25 Power Four college football coaches entering the 2024 season

Matt Campbell: The longtime Iowa State coach’s standing in our rankings has varied over the years. He’s gone from underrated to slightly overrated and back to underrated again. Perhaps this year he’s found his equilibrium? The Cyclones bounced back from a rough 4-8 mark in 2022 that saw Campbell drop to 35 to finish 7-6. So, he returns to the top 25 this year. Campbell’s done such a strong job at Iowa State over eight seasons that you forget how difficult a job it’s been historically. What I’m wondering is how things will change for the program with Oklahoma and Texas leaving the Big 12. 2023 rank: 35 (+10)
Marcus Freeman: Another one of our climbers. Freeman had his first 10-win season with the Fighting Irish last year and is now 19-7 over his two full seasons. Most importantly, last year didn’t include any odd losses to teams like Marshall. Freeman and his staff have built a lot of positive momentum on the recruiting trail and landed a top transfer quarterback each of the last two seasons; ex-Duke QB Riley Leonard was this year’s get. Next on the list? A College Football Playoff appearance. 2023 rank: 38 (+14)
Josh Heupel: Seeing how recency bias works in these rankings is always fun. Heupel leaped to No. 16 last year after the Volunteers went 11-2 and won the Orange Bowl, and I’d have argued he was ranked a little too high. Then the Volunteers follow it up with a 9-4 season, which was more than respectable, and he nearly drops out of the top 25 altogether. What changed aside from the record? This is the area where Heupel should’ve been ranked last year, but my bet would be that another nine-win season will have him drop a few spots. 2023 rank: 16 (-7)
Sonny Dykes: We all could’ve seen this one coming. Dykes was the biggest climber last season after leading TCU to the national title game, but he dropped 11 spots after going 5-7 in 2023. If not for all the changes at the top of our rankings, I wonder if Dykes would’ve fallen out of the top 25 entirely. I’m not arguing he should’ve, but some of our voters were too reactive last year. 2023 rank: 11 (-11)
Eli Drinkwitz: The Alpha Nerd, as we like to call him on the Cover 3 Podcast, makes a huge jump in our rankings. After going 17-19 in his first three seasons at Missouri, the Tigers went 11-2 last year, finished second in the SEC East and beat Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. As a result, Drink climbs 30 spots! That’s tied with Jedd Fisch for the second-largest jump this season (the biggest is yet to come). I wonder if we have another Heupel situation. What happens to Drinkwitz if Missouri finishes with eight or nine wins this season? 2023 rank: 51 (+30)
Mark Stoops: Considering the university didn’t want to pay John Calipari’s buyout, and then Calipari left to take the Arkansas job, can we now say definitively that Kentucky is a football school? The fact I say that only half-jokingly is a testament to the job Stoops has done in Lexington. Stoops is 73-65 with two 10-win seasons in 11 years with the Wildcats, and he’s 71-55 after a 2-10 first season. Things have evened out in the last two seasons, but Stoops still has respect from our panel. 2023 rank: 18 (-2)
Jeff Brohm: Few coaches are as consistent across multiple spots as Brohm, which indicates how good he is. Brohm went 17-9 in his final two seasons at Purdue, winning the Big Ten West in his final season. He then returns to his alma mater and immediately leads Louisville to a 10-win season and the ACC Championship Game. Some will point to Louisville’s schedule last season, but plenty of teams catch