Three Pac-12 Coaches Rank in Top 25 Power Rankings

It is often said that things happen in threes, and the Pac-12 will have the final say on that.

We're just days away from spring practices getting underway across the country, as preparations for the 2022 season are right around the corner. 

The Athletic's Bruce Feldman recently pieced together a top 25 list that ranked college football head coaches, and by no surprise, Alabama's Nick Saban topped the list. Clemson's Dabo Swinney and Georgia's Kirby Smart followed to round out silver and bronze placements on Feldman's list. 

Feldman offered the following quick explanation prior to going deep into his list:

"Ranking college football’s top 25 coaches is one of the trickier exercises Stewart Mandel and I do. I tend to value more a coach’s total career, whereas Stew has more recency bias. I did consider a few coaches like Michigan State’s Mel Tucker and Baylor’s Dave Aranda, but I think it’s too soon to have them on my list. We just need to see a little more in their bodies of work. (And another caveat: I do consider this more of a body of work, so I steer clear of coaches who have had two seasons or less at the FBS level.)"

The Pac-12 saw three of their own land on Feldman's list (former Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal would have been No. 4), with two coaches placing inside his top 10.

Three Pac-12 Coaches Rank in Top 25 Rankings

No. 6: Lincoln Riley, USC (2021: No. 4)

• Analysis: "His 2021 was his worst season at Oklahoma, 10-2 and finishing No. 10. Overall, he went 55-10 in Norman and produced a couple of Heisman Trophy winners and a bunch of prolific offenses. His move to Los Angeles was a coup for the Trojans, who are in the midst of a big rebuild, but Riley has the cache and the system to shake things up on the West Coast."

No. 8: Kyle Whittingham, Utah (2021: No. 12)

• Analysis: "The man who produced the most physical team out West never seems to get enough credit. In 2021, the Utes dealt with much adversity, but still responded by going 10-4 and finishing No. 12. It was his eighth Top 25 finish with the Utes — quite a statement considering the program only had two Top 25 finishes in the school’s history before he took over."

No. 16: Chip Kelly, UCLA (2021: NR)

• "One of the top game-planners and play callers in football. Year 4 in Westwood proved to be his breakthrough season as the Bruins went 8-4. Before that, Kelly had three shaky years trying to rebuild the Bruins. He’s still known as one of the sharpest offensive minds in all of football and also one of the game’s biggest innovators for his Xs and Os work but also in preparation and sports science. At Oregon, his Ducks went 46-7 and 33-3 in the Pac-12. His career mark of 64-32 merits a top-20 spot on this list."

Mandel also compiled his own rankings, and listed only Riley (No. 6) and Whittingham (No. 7).