Joel Klatt’s five candidates for college football’s Coach of the Year

On Wednesday’s edition of The Joel Klatt Show, the Fox Sports’ college football analyst announced his candidates for college football’s Coach of the Year award at the mid-season mark. A pair of Big Ten coaches highlight the list, which included five total candidates.

What will likely not come as a surprise is the list features five coaches leading undefeated ball clubs. If you were to look at this list before the season, however, a few names would be unexpected.

Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire is likely one of those names on Klatt’s list that would have been a surprise pre-season. The Red Raiders have a marquee win over No. 16 Utah, and are beating opponents by an average of over 35 points per game en route to a 6-0 record.

Joey McGuire has led Texas Tech to a perfect 6-0 start and No. 7 ranking in the AP Top 25 so far this season. | Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Similarly, Mike Elko over at Texas A&M was not a popular pre-season candidate for Coach of the Year honors. However, a Week 3 win over Notre Dame in South Bend put the country on notice that the Aggies were for real in 2025, and they have only validated that sentiment with wins over Auburn, Mississippi State and Florida in consecutive weeks.

Mario Cristobal has led Miami to a No. 2 national ranking and also made Klatt’s list. The Hurricanes also had an early statement win over Notre Dame, and then went out and played season spoiler to a couple of teams that had good starts in South Florida and Florida State.

“He has built Miami into a team in his own image,” Klatt said of Cristobal. “They are physical at the point of attack on both sides of the ball, defensively and offensively.”

The Miami Hurricanes are off to their second straight 6-0 start to a season under head coach Mario Cristobal. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Two Big Ten head coaches rounded out Klatt’s five mid-season Coach of the Year candidates. Ryan Day may not be a surprise pre-season after leading Ohio State to a National Championship last season, but the Buckeyes took down pre-season No. 1 Texas in the season opener and have fended off all challengers with that target on their backs.

Even if you were to look at Klatt’s list in the pre-season it maybe should not be a surprise that Indiana’s Curt Cignetti has made the list, after what he was able to accomplish in Bloomington last season. However, the Hoosiers have definitely taken a step forward from even last year’s impressive campaign, and now boast a No. 3 national ranking.

“This is not a roster you would expect to compete in the Top 10, and here you are not only competing, but dominating in the Top 10,” Klatt said of Indiana. “That win at Oregon was a groundshaking win in college football. It is a seismic event when you take a program like Indiana that has had little to no success in their history, and now all of the sudden they are sitting there and are a bonafide national championship contender.”

Klatt compared what is happening at Indiana under Cignetti to the turnarounds Bill Snyder orchestrated at Kansas State and Gary Barnett accomplished at Northwestern in the 1990s. To conclude his mid-season Coach of the Year list, Klatt named Cignetti his winner at this point in the season.

Curt Cignetti, head coach of the No. 3 ranked Indiana Hoosiers, is Joel Klatt's mid-season Coach of the Year. — Curt Cignetti, head coach of the No. 3 ranked Indiana Hoosiers, is Joel Klatt's mid-season Coach of the Year in college football. | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

Klatt then had Cignetti on live Wednesday later in the same show. They discussed the elements that have contributed to Indiana’s success this season, but avoided the conversation about Cignetti being a likely candidate for head coaching jobs that have opened up across the country already this season.

What was discussed was the lack of respect for Indiana coming into the season even after their College Football Playoff appearance in 2024. Cignetti acknowledged the way the Hoosiers ended the season, with losses to Ohio State and Notre Dame, as well as his own boisterousness may have led to lower expectations entering 2025.

However, with a 6-0 record and No. 3 national ranking, the believers are now lining up and Cignetti could very well win college football’s Coach of the Year award if he can keep this momentum going. The Hoosier’s next challenge will come against a 3-3 Michigan State team that travels to Bloomington this Saturday.