Whittingham and Klieman Top the Big XII Coaching Tiers

By Kyle Golik

The Basement

Dave Aranda, Scott Satterfield, Kenny Dillingham

At one time, Dave Aranda was amongst the hottest coaching commodities in the nation. Now not so much. Is the basement place harsh spot for Aranda? Sure, but I feel both Baylor and Aranda need changes of scenery.

Another one-time coaching darling in Scott Satterfield is another “square peg in round hole” at Cincinnati. The odds were stacked against the Bearcats to adequately replace Luke Fickell, who took the Bearcats into the College Football Playoff in 2021, but Satterfield’s whiff in Louisville is only exacerbated by the success of Jeff Brohm. Satterfield is a mediocre Power 4 coach at best, but in the Big XII, Satterfield dwells in the basement.

Arizona State is just a tough job, I feel it is overwhelming Kenny Dillingham and the Big XII won’t do him any favors. Dillingham has to get redshirt freshman quarterback and Michigan State transfer Sam Leavitt to progress this season. If the Sun Devils aren’t even remotely competitive, Dillingham needs more seasoning before ascending back to being a head coach.

Unknown Commodity

Brent Brennan

Brennan inherits a strong program left by Jedd Fisch, with high-end pieces at quarterback in Noah Fifita , wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan , and tackle Jonah Savaiinaea . Brennan has been a grinder previously at San Jose State where the Spartans won or shared two conference championships. While Brennan inherits a 10-win program, Brennan still needs to prove at the Power 4 level, his coaching philosophy translates.

Grinders

Kalani Sitake, Neal Brown, Joey McGuire

Joey McGuire looked broken in Year 1 at 4–5, a four-game winning streak that included a Texas bowl win against Ole Miss showed the folks in Lubbock the character McGuire possesses. Tech won’t be an easy out for anyone and look for the Red Raiders under McGuire to steal a game as well being that seven or eight win program.

Brown was stuck in what seemed to be perpetual mediocrity at West Virginia, something that was raising the temperature of his seat. Last season’s 9-4 season was the Mountaineers' highest win output since 2016. The Mountaineers look to play spoiler to visiting Penn State in Week 1, but what will define Brown are trips to Oklahoma State and Arizona that will determine if WVU is a Tier 3 program in the Big XII or bumps to a Tier 2 program.

Sitake molded BYU into one of the dangerous Independents, between 2019 and 2021, where the Cougars defeated Tennessee at Neyland Stadium and had a 6-2 record against Pac-12 teams during that stretch. First-year Power 4 woes sat in as the Cougars went 5-7. This season does no favors for Sitake as BYU has SMU out of conference along with Kansas State, Kansas, Arizona, Oklahoma State, and rival Utah. Time will tell if Sitake can complete another grind once again, but the Cougars won’t be an easy out for anyone.

The Delusional

Mike Gundy, Deion Sanders

Both Mike Gundy and Deion Sanders exude weird vibes and in both men’s worlds, the skies are not blue.

Gundy, by his resume, should be an easy Penthouse dweller. With a Big XII Conference championship, three Big XII Championship Game appearances, five New Year’s Six bowl berths, and a .678 winning percentage should firmly have up top.

It’s Gundy’s behavior on and off the field that makes him delusional. Whether it is pointing out he is a man, his lack of sensitivity during various political protests that had players threatening to boycott, or his recent doozy about weighing how impaired he is to drive drunk about a thousand times .

Gundy’s behavior brings a lack of leadership or accountability, but it seems in Stillwater if you win just enough to be relevant, those things don’t matter.

If Stillwater allows Gundy to be an imbecile because he wins, I don’t know what the excuses are in Boulder.

I will be the first to admit if I am wrong about the Coach Sanders experience in Boulder, but I don’t feel Sanders is at all putting it together right.

The transfer portal isn’t where you build your foundation. When you look at Sanders' attitude towards recruiting, he has the attitude of a Hall of Fame championship coach, something Sanders is not.

The only reason Colorado has any remote shot at a bowl is through his son at quarterback and Travis Hunter . I don’t see many more four-star quarterbacks in the Sanders’ clan for him to pick from, and looking at Colorado’s recruiting classes there isn’t much there.

Once Penthouse Denizens

Gus Malzahn, Sonny Dykes, Matt Campbell

In a lot of ways, the major glory days are far away from each of these coaches, and there doesn’t seem to be any on the horizon.
Sonny Dykes and Gus Malzahn each struck gold their first seasons at TCU and Auburn, each making surprise National Championship Game appearances.

Throughout Dykes career, he seems to have the one major uptick and typically has jettisoned programs. Dykes has never demonstrated being able to sustain excellence at his various stops.

While Dykes is closer in the rearview mirror, UCF is hoping Malzahn rekindles that magic he had on The Plains where his successful predecessors Scott Frost and Josh Heupel excelled.

There was a time when Matt Campbell was the hottest coaching commodity in the country. He had Iowa State winning the Fiesta Bowl and in the Big XII Championship Game. I feel Campbell is where he wants to be at Iowa State. Campbell will be like his instate counterpart Kirk Ferentz, he will always have the program competitive with a few elite upticks here and there.

Knocking On The Penthouse’s Door

Lance Leipold, Willie Fritz

Lance Leipold is another Kansas miracle worker as he has guided the Jayhawks from a national punchline to a solid Tier 2 Big XII program. Last season’s 9-4 record and Top 25 finish was the program’s first since 2007. The loss of offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki will sting but the health of quarterback Jalon Daniels will be the difference between a six or seven-win season and flirting with nine or double digits.

Houston won’t make many waves this season or maybe the next three seasons as Willie Fritz has to clean up the mess Dana Holgorsen left. Much like Leipold, Fritz demonstrates the resolve and ability to be a builder and reach heights few dream of. In 2022, Fritz guided Tulane to their first New Year’s Six bowl win since the 1935 Sugar Bowl.

Fritz has won championships at every stop in his long coaching journey, if he can keep the Houston talent at home, the Cougars should be where they were when Tom Herman had them back in 2015 and 2016.

The Penthouse

Kyle Whittingham, Chris Klieman

Chris Klieman has a golden opportunity to assert Kansas State as the premier program of the Big XII with Texas and Oklahoma now gone from the Big XII. The Wildcats have a favorable schedule with Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma State at home and avoiding Utah altogether. Klieman’s 2022 Big XII Championship is great on the coaching resume, along with his four FCS national championships from North Dakota State.

To me, the best coach in the Big XII was arguably the best coach in the Pac-12 in Utah’s Kyle Whittingham. Whittingham has the hall of fame resume with back-to-back Pac-12 Championships in 2021 and 2022 and two other Pac-12 Championship appearances in 2018 and 2019.

The ultimate goal for Utah is make the College Football Playoff, and a healthy super senior quarterback in Cam Rising and a deep receiving and defensive line units bode well for Whittingham.