We here at CBS Sports recently released our ranking of all 68 coaches at the Power Four level, from 68 all the way down to No. 1. Naturally, the top 25 — and especially the top 10 — tends to dominate conversation and consternation among fans that believe their coach is too low, or another team’s coach is too high.
But for those that like to look beyond, it’s a fascinating exercise to debate which coaches will move the most between this year’s rankings and the 2026 crop. Every year, plenty of coaches make a rapid ascent or take a precipitous fall in these rankings, based largely on performance in the season prior.
For instance, Colorado’s Deion Sanders leapt a whopping 28 spots from No. 61 all the way to No. 33 after winning nine regular season games with the Buffaloes last season. Then there’s Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham, who jumped 46 spots to No. 18 after guiding the Sun Devils to a Big 12 title.
So, in light of the rankings release, it felt appropriate to take a look at the Power Four coaches that can boost their stock the most during the 2025 season.
2024 rank: 36 | 2025 rank: 23
Bielema bounced back from a disappointing 2023 to deliver Illinois its first 10-win campaign in 23 years last season. The Fighting Illini return a litany of key players from that squad and, as such, have real College Football Playoff upside entering the 2025 campaign. Quarterback Luke Altmyer is back as one of the Big Ten’s best signal callers, though Illinois has to overhaul its wide receiver room this offseason. The defense is anchored by standouts like edge rusher Gabe Jacas, a potential first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, and defensive back Miles Scott. Illinois also has a very manageable schedule — it only plays two teams that finished 2024 with a winning record in conference play — that lends itself to at least 10 wins, which might just be sufficient for an at-large College Football Playoff bid.
2024 rank: 67 | 2025 rank: 46
Brown blew all reasonable expectations out of the water in his first season at Syracuse. The rookie head coach led the Orange to their first 10-win season since 2018, and just their third 10-win campaign since the turn of the century, while beating three ranked teams along the way. Now all eyes are on what Brown’s Syracuse does an encore. Gone are quarterback Kyle McCord, who was selected in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, and leading receivers Jackson Meeks (NFL) and Trebor Pena (transferred to Penn State). Syracuse will turn to either LSU transfer Rickie Collins or Notre Dame transfer Steve Angeli to take over at quarterback. The Orange definitely have major questions, but Brown’s upside as a coach is undeniable.
Hugh Freeze, Auburn
2024 rank: 33 | 2025 rank: 47
Freeze almost has to move up, right? Not that it’s a guarantee, but more in the sense that, if the Tigers don’t see some serious improvement, Freeze could be on the way out. As the rankings indicate, he’s certainly been trending in the wrong direction. Going back to his last season at Ole Miss, he’s 7-17 in SEC games. Auburn missed out on a bowl last season after barely making it to the postseason in Freeze’s debut year on The Plains. He’s done a good job upgrading Auburn’s talent level, and he may have found the answer at quarterback in former five-star prospect and Oklahoma transfer Jackson Arnold. Arnold has plenty of weapons to throw it to, an experienced offensive line to play behind and a defense across the ball that should keep opposing scores low. The pieces are there for Freeze to have a respectable year. He just has to deliver.
2024 rank: 54 | 2025 rank: 30
It hasn’t taken too long for Key to pick up the pieces left by former Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins. Last season, the Yellow Jackets opened the year by downing a top-10 Florida State team (though that win aged like milk), crushed No. 4 Miami’s CFP hopes in November and then took Georgia to eight overtimes in the regular season finale after taking a lead deep into the fourth quarter. The Yellow Jackets have 14 wins over the past two seasons and have finished no worse than fourth in the ACC. They bring back veteran quarterback Haynes King and one of the nation’s best running backs in Jamal Haynes. Tech could shake the ACC up in 2025, and Key may make his way into the vaunted top-25 of our coach rankings.
2024 rank: 44 | 2025 rank: 48
Few preseason darlings have generated as much buzz as Texas Tech. Landing the No. 2 class in 247Sports’ Team Transfer Rankings, with more four-star transfers signed than any other program, probably has something to do with it. It’s clear that the Red Raiders are all-in on the NIL era of college athletics. Now they’re primed to take advantage of a perennially wide-open Big 12 race. Winning the conference and qualifying for the playoff could mean McGuire takes a Dillingham-esque ascent in next year’s coach rankings.
Sherrone Moore, Michigan
2024 rank: 52 | 2025 rank: 58
Michigan’s 2024 season was a lot better than the 8-5 record may indicate. The Wolverines beat a top-15 USC team and closed the year with wins against Ohio State (the eventual national champs) and Alabama. Three of those five losses came against College Football Playoff teams. Of course, Jim Harbaugh reset the expectations at Michigan, but realistic minds knew that the Wolverines would take some step back in 2024 given what they lost off of their national title-winning squad. Now Moore has two hand-picked quarterbacks in Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene and five-star freshman Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 prospect in the class of 2025. It seems like a question of when, and not if, Underwood takes over Michigan’s offense. If he lives up to the hype, the Wolverines could push for the Big Ten once again.
Brent Venables, Oklahoma
2024 rank: 34 | 2025 rank: 52
Venables’ Sooners did not take the SEC transition well. Sure, they pulled off a gigantic upset against Alabama, but they were outscored by an average of 15 points in their other four games against ranked conference opponents and then capped the whole campaign with a loss against Navy in the Armed Forces Bowl. So, in an effort to ensure Oklahoma doesn’t fall too far behind, Venables made sweeping changes in the offseason. He’ll handle defensive play-calling duties while handing the offensive coordinator role to Ben Arbuckle, who engineered some of the nation’s most effective passing offenses at Western Kentucky and Washington State. Arbuckle’s Wazzu QB, John Mateer, followed him to Norman. Oklahoma also signed five wide receiver transfers to bolster a position decimated by injuries and portal departures. As long as the offensive line takes a big leap, the rest of Oklahoma’s offense should follow, and that would mean improvement for the Sooners.
This news was originally published on this post .
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