For several decades, one of the most viewed post season awards is the National Coach of the Year Award. There are currently approximately twelve such awards. Often, these have a different set of criteria on which they judge the nominees. In many seasons, you end up with multiple coaches being named as Coach of the Year.
My basis for the award is based on simple criteria–Who did more with less? Who exceeded expectations? Who had their teams playing at a high level? One of the biggest arguments is about coaches that are expected to do well-should they be included? In my personal opinion, if you were expected to contend for championships and then did, you didn’t exceed expectations. It is with these points that I am nominating the following coaches for this award.
The turnaround for Vanderbilt has been something to watch. Just two years ago, the Commodores lost ten straight games, all by double digits. In 2024, yo could see glimpses that improvement was looming when they finished the season with a win in the Birmingham Bowl and a 7-6 record. That said, nobody expected what happened in West Nashville in 2025. Coach Lea led his black and gold unit to it’s first ever ten win season, going 10-2 and contending for a college football playoff spot. The preseason expectations from national media set this units win total at four.
When Tony Elliott took the head coaching position at Virginia, the program was mired in transition. At that point it was trending backwards, and his first season mirrored that. Since that time, his next two squads both posted losing records, making the 2025 season completely unexpected. While national media projected their win total to be at six, the Cavaliers capped a ten win regular season while going 10-3 and landing in the ACC Championship. Picked to finish ninth in the ACC, it is safe to say Coach Elliott far surpassed expectations.
Since the start of the 2021 season in Denton, Texas, the Mean Green have hovered at the five to seven win mark. Projected to win six games in 2025, Coach Morris rode the arm of redshirt freshman Drew Mastemaker to an unheard of eleven wins and a spot in the AAC Championship, where the winner was guaranteed a spot in the College Football Playoffs. For a school that had never won more than nine games in any season in it’s history, Eric Morris has this program in uncharted territory, leading him to being named the new head coach at Oklahoma State.
In just their second season at the FBS level, the Owls from Atlanta completely flipped the script from the 2024 season in which the black and gold team went just 2-10. Arriving in and winning the Conference USA championship, Jerry Mack has led his team to a 10-3 despite an 0-2 start to the season with losses to Wake Forest (10-9) and Indiana (56-9). A program that had found success at the FCS level since it’s inception in 2015, the Owls were projected to win just three games. What Jerry Mack has done in his first year as the Owls head coach far exceeds any expectations.
After a magical season and a trip the the college football playoffs in 2024, it was going to be difficult to top Coach Cignetti’s first season at Indiana. While the preseason prognosticators set them to be a top five team in the Big 10 and a top fifteen unit, the Hoosiers surpassed that in winning the conference championship as well as a #1 ranking and the #1 overall seed entering the college football playoffs. Coach Cignetti has firmly set a high bar at Indiana despite it’s history of being stuck at mediocrity or below.
I have selected Jerry Mack as the winner of National Coach of the Year. While flipping the script from a 2-10 season in 2024, Mack inherited a team full of cast offs from much bigger programs in the state such as Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia Southern to name a few. In just his first season as the head coach, the Owls won the Conference USA Championship and won ten games. The amazing turnaround can only be attributed to the leadership of Coach Mack.
Rags To Riches When surveying the landscape of college football, the University of Virginia doesn’t stand out as a perennial power. In fact, many wouldn’t identify the program as relevant in today’s jargon. Having had only one season of 9 or more wins dating back to 2008, the 2025 season in Charlottesville, Virginia becomes a […]
When the No. 22 Pitt Panthers (7-2, 5-2) take on the No. 9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-2) on Saturday, the Panthers will have All-American RB Desmond Reid back to full health. Reid has been fighting through injuries all season, but according to head coach Pat Narduzzi, Reid is ready to play. “He’s as healthy […]
Broadcast Information No. 12 Clemson (1-1, 0-0) (-9.5) at Georgia Tech (2-0, 0-0) Time: noon EST Date: Saturday, September 13, 2025 Where: Bobby Dodd Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia TV: ESPN Georgia Tech welcomes in the Clemson Tigers to kick off ACC play. This match-up will set the pace for both teams. Both teams seek to make […]
