Best Coaching and Coordinator Hires of the 2026 CFB Offseason
It's been a long time since the coaching carousel came to a halt, but now that we've had time to reflect on the moves and seen some of them in action, recruiting and the "fit", it's time to start the evaluations.
From elite assistant hires to sleeper Group of Five head-coaching moves to the heavy hitters expected to win right away, there were a ton of major moves since the end of the season. In some cases, they were ideal scenarios for teams in precarious predicaments.
In LSU's case, the Tigers just threw a bunch of money at a coach and a program, and national championship expectations have followed. Yes, Lane Kiffin is on this list, but plenty of others are, too.
Here are the top assistant hires and mid-major hires, then a breakdown of the top eight Power Four head coaching hires in the '26 offseason.
Top Assistants
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Buster Faulkner, Florida Offensive Coordinator
It's never easy to define what your brand-new program is going to look like, but Florida coach Jon Sumrall made a sleeper-splash move when he lured Faulkner away from Georgia Tech.
The coordinator who could be on a fast track to his own head-coaching gig developed Haynes King nicely in Atlanta, and transfer portal signal-caller Aaron Philo has a ton of upside moving to Gainesville with his OC. This hire could pay immediate dividends.
Chris Hampton, Oregon Defensive Coordinator
If it's not broken, why would you try to fix it? Ducks coach Dan Lanning has a good thing going in Eugene, and in a year when they're supposed to compete for the national title, it's tough to replace both coordinators.
Hampton's move from the d-line to coordinator maintains continuity, and he's had success as a DC at Tulane. This is a quick win-win after Tosh Lupoi left for Cal.
Chip Kelly, Northwestern Offensive Coordinator
Kelly is back in the college coaching game once again after leading the Las Vegas Raiders' offense a season ago, following a year where he helped Ohio State win a national title as OC.
He's now at Northwestern in what could be a curious fit for a Wildcats team that has to feel like it struck it rich with the hire. Kelly's first task will be developing quarterback Aidan Chiles, which won't be easy. But he has proven time and time again that he can orchestrate elite offenses.
Jim Knowles, Tennessee Defensive Coordinator
Last year, Tennessee's defense was truly awful, leading to the firing of Tim Banks. So, the Vols went out and got one of the best minds in all of football to lead the charge.
Knowles wasn't retained by Matt Campbell at Penn State a year after he left Ohio State for the Buckeyes, and he's been an elite coordinator at both stops, as well as Oklahoma State and others. The good news is he brought several playmakers from the Nittany Lions to the Vols. The bad news is that it takes a while to install his defense. It's clear Tennessee wants to win now.
Will Muschamp, Texas Defensive Coordinator
Muschamp led the Longhorns' defense to sky-high status from 2008 to 2010, and then he went to Florida to be the head coach. Now, he's back after spending the past few years as a defensive analyst at Georgia.
Coach "Boom" is one of the most intense competitors in the game. He was once thought of as the best young defensive mind in all of college football. Now, coach Steve Sarkisian is rolling the dice that Muschamp can one-up what Pete Kwiatkowski was doing with the Horns. This is a fun hire to watch.
Arthur Smith, Ohio State Offensive Coordinator
Last year, Ryan Day sparked the defense by heading to the NFL and bringing in Matt Patricia as the Buckeyes' coordinator on that side of the ball. Now, he's trying to snatch lightning twice – this time on offense.
Ohio State tabbed Smith to be the new coordinator after Brian Hartline left to be the head coach at South Florida. An intelligent offensive mind could be the perfect fit after a mediocre tenure as the Pittsburgh Steelers' offensive coordinator, following a failed tenure as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.
Non-Power Four Coaching Hires
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Jason Candle, Connecticut Huskies
It seemed for years that Candle was destined for a Power Four job as he steadily guided the Toledo Rockets through years of MAC prowess. But he never left.
Surprisingly, when Jim Mora Jr. left UConn for Colorado State, Candle took the job with the Huskies, in what seems to be a bit of a lateral move. Mora won games last year, and UConn has enjoyed some past success. This seems like a terrific hire that UConn won big-time in this trade-off.
Charles Huff, Memphis Tigers
Without question, Memphis made the Group of Six's top hire this offseason, grabbing Huff after just one season at Southern Miss. The former Alabama assistant led the Golden Eagles to a monumental turnaround and a 7-5 record after a successful stint at Marshall.
Now, Huff is set to lead perhaps the biggest sleeping giant in the Group of Five. Memphis may have upgraded from Ryan Silverfield, who left for Arkansas.
Brian Hartline, South Florida Bulls
Perhaps Hartline shouldn't be on this list, but he is just because this is such an intriguing, out-of-the-box hire for a program that is set up to win right now after Alex Golesh's tenure.
Hartline is an all-world recruiter, and while he won't lure the same type of talent he did to the Buckeyes, he's going to get his share of South Florida stars and quality transfers who are set on developing, especially at receiver. It's going to take some time for Hartline as a head coach, but this is a high-upside hire.
Mike Jacobs, Toledo Rockets
It's going to be difficult to replace the steady Candle (who is already on this list), but Toledo made a brilliant hire in Jacobs, who was a Football Championship Subdivision star at Mercer.
Jacobs is still young (46 years old), familiar with the area after playing on the line at Ohio State, and was wildly successful for a couple of years at Mercer. Again, this may not be a hire that jumps out at you, but it will be successful sooner rather than later.
Billy Napier, James Madison Dukes
Napier had an awful run at Florida after being one of the hottest young coaching commodities in football, following a stint as an elite recruiter at places like Alabama and Clemson and his own quality head-coaching run at Louisiana.
But Napier is far from a retread. Like Jacobs, he's just 46 years old, and there's still plenty of time to resurrect a once-promising career. Maybe Florida was too much, too soon. He appears to be a perfect fit for a James Madison program used to winning big.
Jon Sumrall, Florida Gators
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There were better hires this offseason than Jon Sumrall, but if the Florida Gators can just be patient, they've got a really good, young coach to rebuild the roster in Gainesville.
That's asking a lot, though, for a program that has wandered in the wilderness since the Urban Meyer days, failing in hires like Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain, Dan Mullen and Billy Napier.
Known for his quick turnarounds, Sumrall has built an impressive 42-11 record in four total seasons, heating up Troy and turning that program into a well-known G6 team before heading to Tulane. Willie Fritz had built the Green Wave into a monster, but Sumrall took them to the College Football Playoff last year.
Sumrall is going to have to acclimate to recruiting in the pressure cooker that is the SEC, but there is plenty of money for transfer portal recruiting in Gainesville. The resources are there to be elite if he wins big. Watch out if Sumrall makes a first-year splash, but this is a long-haul hire.
Pete Golding, Ole Miss Rebels
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It certainly wasn't supposed to happen the way it did.
Pete Golding was a long-time SEC defensive coordinator with stints at Alabama and Ole Miss. He was doing great, building the Rebels' defense a season ago, when Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss parted ways in the midst of a College Football Playoff run.
Kiffin went to LSU, leaving Golding to guide the Rebels through a playoff run that finished in the semifinals. The Hammond, Louisiana, native proved that the moment wasn't too big for him.
Now, he's the Rebels' coach of the present and the future. He inherits a gold mine with quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy, among others, returning.
Like Jon Sumrall, Golding has to show he can recruit in the SEC, but he's been successful at it as a coordinator for a long time. The Rebels continue to pump money into portal players, which led to a very nice haul for Golding this offseason. This could wind up being a perfect outcome for both parties.
Eric Morris, Oklahoma State Cowboys
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When Mike Gundy was fired from his alma mater at Oklahoma State, he left the roster in a horrific mess, but it didn't take long for the Cowboys' future trajectory to get a jolt of energy.
The coaching search quickly tabbed Eric Morris from North Texas. The former Texas Tech player has shown a propensity to be a rapid program-builder.
The 40-year-old had success as an offensive coordinator at his alma mater before taking over the head coaching gig at Incarnate Word, where he recruited Cam Ward. After leaving there, he took over the Washington State offensive coordinator job for a season, taking Ward with him.
Taking over a woebegone Mean Green program, Morris wound up with a 46-34 record, and North Texas was in the championship game in the best Group of Six league last year. Now, he gets the chance to replicate that success in the Big 12.
Bringing stars with him like the sophomore duo of quarterback Drew Mestemaker and running back Caleb Hawkins will expedite the process, putting OSU in a position to be a sleeper to do big things right away. Regardless of what happens, Morris is going to hit some home runs eventually.
Matt Campbell, Penn State Nittany Lions
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For all the embarrassment and clumsy ups and downs of Penn State's head coaching search, the Nittany Lions wound up with a guy they probably should have gone after all along.
Is Matt Campbell really an upgrade over James Franklin? That remains to be seen. Neither has won "the big games," but Franklin showed while in Happy Valley that he could consistently win big.
Campbell's career record at Toledo and Iowa State is 107-70. He compiled a 72-55 (.567) record over 10 years in Ames, one of the toughest spots in the country to recruit to.
Can Campbell elevate his recruiting to a higher level in the Big Ten? That's a question that can only be answered with time, but he's a big culture guy. He has the vibe of a Midwestern coach for life, so he's certainly a fit where he is.
But they'll want to win in a hurry.
Bob Chesney, UCLA Bruins
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Unless you're a die-hard college football fan, you may not have even heard of Bob Chesney until this past season, when he took the James Madison program Curt Cignetti built and took them to unprecedented heights and the College Football Playoff.
Despite a poor first half, the Dukes outfitted themselves well against Oregon in a defeat. Chesney parlayed his instant success into a big-time job with the UCLA Bruins. He'll try to turn around that program in its third season in the Big Ten.
That won't be easy, but Chesney is a winner and a program builder.
He didn't have to do that at James Madison, where he went 21-6 in two seasons, but he was also wildly successful at places like Salve Regina, Assumption and Holy Cross prior to going to Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Now, he's taking Hollywood by storm as the offensive-minded head coach tries to turn around Nico Iamaleava's career. Maybe he sees the Bruins as a destination job; it's certainly a place where he can make a lot of noise.
Chesney was a terrific hire.
Kyle Whittingham, Michigan Wolverines
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Given the firestorm of negativity surrounding the abrupt end of the Sherrone Moore era in Ann Arbor, the fact that Kyle Whittingham was available and willing to go to Michigan to try to clean up the mess was a Godsend for the Wolverines.
Now, the veteran plans to elevate the program to where it was during the Jim Harbaugh era, and he's brought a bunch of talent with him from Utah.
Whittingham was an institution with the Utes, where he went 177-88 over 21 seasons and won two Pac-12 championships. He produced tons of elite defenders and offensive linemen and was a bona fide winner year in and year out.
After the Urban Meyer era ended in Salt Lake City, Whittingham took over and steadied things for years. He decided to move on from the program to pursue a new chapter in his career. Big Blue ended up having an opening at the perfect time.
This is one of the best hires of the past several years by any program. Whittingham will have everything he needs to win a championship soon.
James Franklin, Virginia Tech Hokies
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There was a point in time when James Franklin's coaching star burned as brightly as any young leader in the business.
He won at Vanderbilt when literally nobody could win at Vanderbilt, then turned that job with the Commodores into a blue-blood job with Penn State. In Happy Valley, all Franklin did was go 104-45 (.698 percentage) over 12 years.
For years, PSU was on the cusp of greatness. But a 4-21 record against Associated Press top-10 ranked teams over Franklin's tenure ultimately spelled his end. The Lions shockingly fired him early last season. It didn't take long for him to be one of the hottest names in the carousel.
From Day 1, the best fit was at Virginia Tech – a sleeping giant with an incredible recruiting base that Franklin routinely raided during his days in Happy Valley. Now, he'll bring that acumen to lure top-tier talent to Blacksburg, at a place starved for a winner.
Ironically, he reunited with his old defensive coordinator, Brent Pry, who left PSU to become the head coach at Tech. Franklin is replacing him, but Pry is back to lead the defense.
It seems like a perfect match and a place Franklin can stay for a long time.
Lane Kiffin, LSU Tigers
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Love him or hate him, Lane Kiffin wants you talking about him. And everybody in the college football world was abuzz with his comings and goings toward the end of last season.
The drama has been rehashed by now, as the then-Ole Miss coach openly flirted with Florida and LSU during the Rebels' College Football Playoff run, and his future overshadowed a historic season for a program not used to winning at that level.
Ole Miss did just fine without Kiffin once he parted ways with the Rebels and wound up at LSU, but the Bayou Bengals are certainly happy to have him.
They paid handsomely for him and pumped tons of money into the roster with the nation's top transfer portal class. Now, everything is set up for LSU to win big immediately.
With all the money, resources and talent around him in Baton Rouge, Kiffin could be on the cusp of a juggernaut. The man has proven time and time again that he can coach. He's established himself as one of the most brilliant offensive minds in the sport.
Everybody loves him or loves to hate him, which makes LSU a lightning rod in '26 and beyond.
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