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https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6527033/2025/08/14/college-football-coach-tiers-rankings/
Tier 3: High–level consistency
| Coach | 2024 Tier | |
|---|---|---|
| Bret Bielema | 4 |
| Jeff Brohm | 3 | |
| Troy Calhoun | 3 | |
| Matt Campbell | 3 | |
| Jamey Chadwell | 3 | |
| Mario Cristobal | 3 | |
| Spencer Danielson | N/A |
| Eli Drinkwitz | 3 | |
| Sonny Dykes | 3 | |
| Kirk Ferentz | 3 | |
| Luke Fickell | 2 |
| P.J. Fleck | 3 | |
| Hugh Freeze | 3 | |
| Willie Fritz | 3 | |
| Mike Gundy | 3 | |
| Josh Heupel | 3 | |
| Lane Kiffin | 3 | |
| Chris Klieman | 3 | |
|
| Rhett Lashlee | 5 |
| Bronco Mendenhall | 3 | |
|
| Dan Mullen | N/A |
|
| Mike Norvell | 2 |
| Rich Rodriguez | 3 | |
| Jonathan Smith | 3 | |
| Mark Stoops | 3 | |
|
| Jon Sumrall | 4 |
This tier, 2025's largest, is a group of consistent winners. Bret Bielema moves into this tier after a 10-win season at Illinois, capped by a bowl victory against South Carolina, and his run at Wisconsin with three top-10 finishes and Big Ten titles helps wash out a difficult tenure at Arkansas. Jon Sumrall also moves up into this group. He’s 32-9 in three seasons as a head coach and has reached a conference championship game each year, finishing 9-5 in his Tulane debut.
There's also a pair of CFP participant coaches here, on different trajectories. SMU’s Rhett Lashlee moves up two tiers after taking SMU to its first conference title in 40 years in 2023, then joining the ACC last year and immediately reaching the conference title game and CFP. The only reasons he’s not higher are that it’s been only three years and he took over a healthy program. Luke Fickell took Cincinnati to the four-team field in 2021, but he’s 12-13 in two full seasons at Wisconsin, with last year’s 5-7 record the Badgers’ first losing season since 2001.
Recent results also bring Mike Norvell down to this group. Norvell and Florida State missed out on a CFP appearance in 2023 despite an undefeated regular season, but FSU’s drop to 2-10 last year was truly stunning. Mike Gundy just went 0-9 in the Big 12, his worst season as a head coach, but the 18 consecutive bowls before that give him a mulligan before dropping just yet.
New to this list is Dan Mullen, back in coaching at UNLV. This ranking is based on his time at Mississippi State and Florida, which included five top-15 finishes and four New Year’s Six bowls. P.J. Fleck stays put after an 8-5 season, making six consecutive bowls in non-COVID seasons.
“You know, you have to give it to P.J. Fleck,” the first agent said. “We all might think he's corny or whatever, but he does a good job.”