There are plenty of teams showing that they’re capable of cracking the College Football Playoff this year, but which coaches have done the best job thus far based on offseason expectations?
Urban Meyer gave that honor to Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin on Week 6’s edition of “Big Noon Kickoff.”
“It’s a rebuild year at Ole Miss,” Meyer said. “He lost [starting quarterback] Jaxson Dart. He lost 17 starters, and he’s 5-0 with a new quarterback and new everything — and he also beat No. 4 LSU.”
No. 4 Ole Miss is already 3-0 in SEC play, most notably beating then-No. 4 LSU in Week 5. Kiffin is in his sixth season at Ole Miss, with the Rebels 49-18 under him since 2020.
Elsewhere, FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt has been impressed by what Joey McGuire has going on at Texas Tech.
“I think in this day and age, as the head coach has to be a CEO, you’ve got to build a roster, but then you have to have that roster perform,” Klatt said. “Well, they went out and built the roster, and a couple of weeks ago when we saw them at Utah, that roster performed, and I just think Joey McGuire’s done an excellent job at Texas Tech. That’s my Big 12 favorite. I’m going to be pretty surprised if that team is not in the College Football Playoff.”
No. 11 Texas Tech is coming off a bye, which followed a win on the road against then-No. 16 Utah. The Red Raiders lead the Big 12 in points (52) and total yards (573) per game, while also being first in opponent points (11.3) and opponent total yards (238.8) per game. McGuire is in his fourth season at Texas Tech, with the team 27-16 under him.
Brady Quinn loves what he’s seeing from South Florida head coach Alex Golesh.
“He’s had back-to-back winning seasons — 2-0 in bowl games,” Quinn said. “They have an identity. They’re a balanced offensive attack. Defensively, too, they’ve improved mightily. Now, it’s a long stretch the rest of the way. They might be the best group-of-five team, though, out there when you look at what they’ve accomplished so far. A lot of credit goes to Alex Golesh, one of the better young coaching minds, I think, out there.”
USF is 4-1, with its lone loss coming on the road against No. 3 Miami, which followed wins over then-No. 25 Boise State and on the road against then-No. 13 Florida. Golesh is in his third season as USF’s head coach, with the Bulls a combined 17-13 since 2023.
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