Forty names, games, teams and details that make college football news, where Steve Young has proven himself to be a savant when it comes to game selection. First trimester: Now it’s a crisis. Second trimester: The SEC squeeze.
Third trimester: allow me to introduce myself again
As the saying goes, no one is perfect. There are bad games. Bad seasons, even. Nick Saban lost to Louisiana-Monroe his freshman year at Alabama. Bear Bryant went 1-9 in his first year at Texas A&M (the “Junction Boys” season). Woody Hayes was 2-6 in his first year as head coach, at Denison. Knute Rockne had a 5-4 season at Notre Dame. Curt Cignetti just lost a match. It happens.
But the good ones bounce back. Sometimes after being fired from something in the same job. A hello Dash to 10 coaches who had to fight through difficult times to enjoy the current good times.
Kalani Sitake (21)BYU head coach
At 90-45 years old, his overall record is phenomenal. The body of work is why the guy at Crumbl Cookies, CEO Jason McGowan, fought with his wallet and on social media to keep Sitake from going to Penn State last year. But Sitake was 4-9 in his second season at the helm of the Cougars, in 2017, then climbed to 7-6 the next two years. After a good three years, BYU experienced another decline upon entering the Big 12, going from 5 to 7.
After that, the school realized what it would take to compete in the toughest conference it had ever been a part of. Armed with better resources, Sitake is 29-4 over the last two and a half seasons. The Cougars’ current ranking of second is their highest since they won the national championship in 1984.
Willie Fritz (22)Houston head coach
Fritz is an old war dog who has won everywhere from Blinn Junior College to the Central Missouri Mules, the Sam Houston Bearkats, the Georgia Southern Eagles and the Tulane Green Wave. His work at Tulane earned him a chance to attend a power conference in Houston. It was tough at first: the Cougars went 4-8 in 2024 and averaged just 14 points per game, 133rd out of 134 teams.
Since then, Fritz has propelled Houston to prominence (with the help of a nice NIL bankroll). He’s 17-4 over the last year and a half, with former five-star QB Conner Weigman playing at a very high level. The defense is also improved under a coordinator who was vilified at his previous stop, Austin Armstrong. This stop was in Florida with…
Billy Napier (23)head coach of James Madison
There are clearly benefits built into the Sun Belt Conference at James Madison, which is why the school is seeking greater challenge and greater revenue in Conference USA starting next year. But the difference between Sun Belt Billy and SEC Billy is stark.
He was 22-23 at Florida, the first coach to have a losing tenure since Raymond Wolf in 1946-49. In Louisiana and now at James Madison, he’s 49-12. The Dukes are 7-0 with an average margin of victory of 23 points, positioning themselves as a contender for a second straight College Football Playoff Group of 6 automatic bid. The term was derogatory in Gainesville, Florida, but there are worse things in life than being Sun Belt Billy.
Jeff Traylor (24)UTSA head coach
He was 39-14 in his first four seasons at the helm of the Roadrunners, then dropped to 7-6 each over the last two years. The 2025 team has been particularly inconsistent, with five wins by 22 points or more and three losses by 18 or more.
This season, UTSA moved to the top of the American at 6-1 and 3-0. If the Roadrunners continue, they will be another G6 playoff contender, with their only loss coming to Texas.
Jim Knowles (25 years old), Tennessee defensive coordinator
He received a $3 million salary to leave Ohio State for Penn State last year, then participated in the collapse of a program that swept away James Franklin and almost everyone else. Knowles landed in Knoxville, Tenn., and rebuilt the defense on a 6-1 team, cutting points allowed by nearly half (28.8 to 14.7) and yards allowed by more than 100 (397.2 to 280.4). Bringing defensive line terror with him Penn State’s Xavier Gilliam worked well: he’s third in the SEC in tackles for loss with 10.5.
Chip Kelly (26 years old), Coordinator of the Northwest Offensive
The last few years have run the gamut for Kelly, from coordinating a national championship offense at Ohio State in 2024 to being fired 11 games last season as OC of the Las Vegas Raiders. David Braun wisely moved Kelly back to the college ranks, where he confounds Big Ten defenses with the 5-1 Wildcats. The single-season school record for most yards per play is 6.2, in 2005; the current team has an average of 6.7.
Dan Enos (27)Wake Forest offensive coordinator
Since he was head coach at Central Michigan from 2010-14, he has worked nine jobs and been fired from several of them, including two at Arkansas. But he also served as quarterback coach at Alabama during Tua Tagovailoa’s breakout season in 2018. Enos teamed up with rising star head coach Jake Dickert at Wake Forest in 2025 and did an exceptional job.
This year’s Demon Deacons are 6-1 and averaging 37.4 points per game. Quarterback Gio Lopez, himself a player of the year candidate after a tough 2025 season at North Carolina, was brilliant, throwing 17 touchdowns and an interception while averaging 314 offensive yards per game. Don’t sleep on the Deacons as a potential ACC Championship Game participant.
Tim Lester (28 years old), Iowa offensive coordinator
He was fired as Western Michigan’s head coach in 2022 despite a winning record (37-32), which probably shouldn’t happen in the melee world of MAC football. After spending a season as an analyst with the Green Bay Packers, Lester was brought to Iowa to breathe life into a long-dead offense. He succeeded, immediately improving this unit upon its arrival in 24 and gradually improving the product since then. The Hawkeyes can actually throw the ball competently most of the time and have been effective playing Jeremy Hecklinski or Hank Brown at quarterback.
Bobby Petrino (29 years old), North Carolina offensive coordinator
Despite all the shenanigans, the man can still establish ball games. The Tar Heels’ surprising 4-2 record at midseason is more a result of defense than anything else, but Petrino makes the most of journeyman quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. and a sporadic running game. They are playing at Belichickian, a football supplement in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, this season, which gives the Heels a chance to win up to nine games.
Several people Arizona (30)
Everyone wanted Brent Brennan to leave Tucson after a 4-8 first season, but he has since gone 14-5. (Brennan also started 3-22 at San Jose State before going 31-26 for the remainder of his tenure in a very tough job.) Wildcats defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales was fired after an 11-32 run as head coach at New Mexico before being hired at Arizona. After allowing 31.8 points per game in 2024 (one of the reasons everyone wanted Brennan fired), the Wildcats’ defense dropped to 19.3 points allowed last year and 19 this year.
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