The Big 12 Conference may have changed dramatically with the addition of eight new teams over the last two years — but those eight new teams bring their own histories to the league and some of those histories are pretty incredible.
Here’s a look at the greatest head coach of all time from all 16 current Big 12 football programs:
Arizona, Dick Tomey (1987-2000): Tomey coached some of Arizona’s greatest teams, including two teams that finished in the Top 10 in the final AP Top 25 poll in 1993 (No. 10) and 1998 (No. 4). Tomey died in 2019, at 80 years old.
Arizona State, Frank Kush (1958-1979): Kush guided the Sun Devils through three conferences in three decades — the Border Conference, WAC and finally the Pac-10. Kush was a winner of the highest order and finished his career with a 176-54-1 win, including two undefeated seasons in 1970 and 1975 and four one-loss seasons. Kush, who died in 2017, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995.
Baylor, Art Briles (2008-2015): Briles turned the Bears into one of the nation’s elite teams, including coaching a Heisman Trophy winner in quarterback Robert Griffin III in 2011. Briles was fired in 2015 after a sexual assault scandal involving his team — he sued the school for wrongful termination and the case was settled with a $15.1 million payout to Briles in 2018.
BYU, LaVell Edwards (1972-2000): The man who BYU’s stadium is named after won 257 games as the Cougars’ head coach and led his team to the national championship in 1984. Edwards, who died in 2016, also coached a Heisman Trophy winner with quarterback Ty Detmer in 1990 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
Cincinnati, Luke Fickell (2017-2022): Fickell was only at Cincinnati for six seasons but led the Bearcats to a Top 25 finish in the final AP Poll four times before leaving to become the head coach at Wisconsin.
Colorado, Bill McCartney (1982-1994): McCartney turned Colorado into one of the nation’s elite programs, winning three consecutive Big Eight Conference titles from 1989 to 1991, including a national championship in 1990. McCartney was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013.
Houston, Bill Yeoman (1962-1986): Yeoman coached the Cougars for 25 years and won four Southwest Conference titles — all in the final decade of his career. Yeoman was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001 and died in 2020, at 92 years old.
Kansas, Mark Mangino (2002-2009): Mangino’s star burned hot and fast in eight seasons at Kansas, where he led the Jayhawks to arguably the program’s best season in 2007, when the Jayhawks went 12-1 and won the Orange Bowl. Mangino was fired after the 2009 season after repeated incidents of misconduct toward players.
Kansas State, Bill Snyder (1989-2005, 2009-2018): Bill Snyder might have never won a national championship but he might be the greatest coach in college football history. Snyder guided Kansas State from being the nation’s worst football program to a national power and did it over two different stints as head coach.
Oklahoma State, Mike Gundy (2005-present): Gundy played quarterback at Oklahoma State in the 1980s and has been the program’s head coach for 20 years. He’s been named Big 12 Coach of the Year three times and was Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year in 2011.
TCU, Gary Patterson (2000-2021): Patterson won six conference titles across three conferences — Conference USA, the WAC and Big 12 — and was National Coach of the Year twice. From 2009 to 2011, TCU went 35-3 including a 13-0 season and No. 2 finish in the final AP Top 25 Poll in 2010.
Texas Tech, Mike Leach (2000-2009): One of the most unique figures in college football history, Leach was never better than the decade he spent at Texas Tech, where he led his team to five Top 25 finishes in the final AP Poll in his last six seasons. Leach’s most amazing career stat? It’s 18 wins over ranked teams while his team was unranked — the most in college football history. Leach died of a heart attack in 2022 while he was the head coach at Mississippi State. He was 61 years old.
UCF, George O’Leary (2004-2015): O’Leary won four conference championships at UCF — two in Conference USA and two in the AAC — and turned the Knights into a team that compete on the national level for the first time. O’Leary’s best season at UCF came in 2013 when he led his team to a 12-1 record, Top 10 finish and Fiesta Bowl victory … but resigned two years later after an 0-8 start.
Utah, Kyle Whittingham (2005-present): The future College Football Hall of Famer won a WAC title in 2008 as the Utes went 13-0 and finished No. 2 in the final AP Poll. He also won back-to-back Pac-12 titles in 2021 and 2022.
West Virginia, Don Nehlen (1982-2000): Nehlen spent almost a decade at Bowling Green before becoming WVU’s head coach and leading the Mountaineers to one win from the national championship following the 1988 season. Nehlen was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
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