Biggest Winners, Losers Among College Football Coaches From 2026 NFL Draft

On NFL draft day, college football coaches’ roles are mostly ceremonial. Smile, applaud and send your players off into the world like a proud parent on the first day of school.

However, on a deeper level, the draft is a good barometer of where your program is and where it’s going. A bevy of picks can be a double-edged sword—on the one hand, it can attract recruits; on the other, it can start fans wondering why your trophy case isn’t fuller.

In this vein, here’s a look at which coaches can come away from this weekend satisfied—and which will be heading back to the drawing board in 2026.

Winner: Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State

In 2024, Dillingham led the Sun Devils to a Big 12 title and the CFP, where Arizona State nearly knocked off Texas in the Peach Bowl. That season cemented Dillingham as one of college football’s brightest young minds, and while his team regressed a bit in 2025, he helped produce two first-round picks to show for another winning season. The Saints took wide receiver Jordyn Tyson eighth while the Steelers grabbed offensive tackle Max Iheanachor 21st, the first pair of Sun Devils to go in the first round since 2001.

Loser: Bill Belichick, North Carolina

On Saturday, Sports Illustrated’s Bryan Fisher pointed out that a year after hiring Belichick, the Tar Heels failed to produce an NFL draft pick for the first time in 2016. Let’s say that again: North Carolina hired the greatest coach in the history of professional football, and then failed to produce an NFL draft pick. Astute Tar Heels fans may point out that North Carolina was quite good (11–3, No. 15 to end the year) in 2015, and returned considerable talent the year after. The Tar Heels were not in ’25, and need to back up their posturing about running an NFL-style program in the year to come.

Brian Newberry gives an interview after a game against Memphis. — Brian Newberry has helped Navy capture glimpses of its former glory. | Wesley Hale-Imagn Images

Winner: Brian Newberry, Navy

Midshipmen being drafted are rare enough, given the logistical difficulties that often arise from working around players’ service commitments. On Saturday, though, the Bengals took nose tackle Landon Robinson and Pittsburgh took fullback Eli Heidenreich four picks apart in the seventh round. The last time two Navy players were drafted was 1956, when the Cardinals took quarterback George Welsh (later a Hall of Fame coach) and end Ron Beagle. Newberry’s immediate reversal of the Midshipmen’s early 2020s decline cannot be overstated.

Loser: Luke Fickell, Wisconsin

The Badgers’ player development this century has drawn the envy of a number of more successful programs, so it was jarring to see an NFL draft come and go without any Badgers taken. That is an unfortunate testament to how much Fickell—a man who helped Cincinnati produce nine draftees in 2022—has struggled in his first three seasons. As he hinted at this week, Fickell seems to know what kind of pressure he’s under from a fanbase unexpectedly nostalgic for the days of coach Paul Chryst.

Ja’Juan Seider moves a trash can during a practice. — Ja’Juan Seider’s history-making first round as Notre Dame’s running backs coach was cause for celebration. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Winner: Ja’Juan Seider, running backs coach, Notre Dame

No position coach in the game was riding higher this weekend than Seider, who watched Arizona (Jeremiyah Love) and the Seahawks (Jadarian Price) both make Fighting Irish running backs first-round picks. Here’s a capsule bio of Seider: the ex-West Virginia and Florida A&M quarterback helped the Mountaineers churn out three 1,000-yard rusher in the 2010s, coached Penn State’s running backs for seven years under James Franklin, and replaced veteran coach Deland McCullough before ’25. He even found time to pen an essay on Love for The Athletic. Still just 49, Seider is clearly a name worth watching.

Loser: Lincoln Riley, USC

Riley’s weekend was bad on three different levels. First and foremost, only three Trojans being drafted for the second straight year—one fewer than Boston College—was wild (last time that happened: 2001 to ’02). Second, three ex-USC players—Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch, Texas Tech defensive end Romello Height and Oregon guard Emmanuel Pregnon—went on Day 2, advancing fairly or unfairly the perception that Riley has driven away talent. Third, the fact that Riley had all these players at one time reflected unflatteringly on his 35–18 record with the Trojans—good, but a step down from his 55–10 mark with Oklahoma. He’ll be hoping his recruiting successes lead to happier draft days in the year to come.

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