New Big Ten Coaching King Crowned Ahead of 2026 College Football Season

The Big Ten boasts one of the strongest head coaching fraternities of any league in college football.

Of the four active head coaches who have won national championships, two reside in the Big Ten. New coaches to the league, like Matt Campbell at Penn State and Kyle Whittingham at Michigan, have winning track records at previous Power Four stops in their head coaching careers.

CBS released updated rankings of the Big Ten's coaches on Tuesday morning. Indiana's Curt Cignetti leaped into the No. 1 slot in the rankings, passing four active head coaches and James Franklin, who Penn State parted ways with last October.

Why is Cignetti the best coach in the Big Ten?

The transformation of Indiana under Cignetti's leadership is unlike anything college football has ever seen.

The Hoosiers failed to win more than 10 games under all of their previous head coaches; they were a tie with Northwestern away from a perfect 10-win season in 1945. Indiana won 11 regular-season games in Cignetti's first year on the job and a national championship victory in his second, both of which were wild dreams for the Hoosier faithful before his arrival.

Cignetti did all of this without prior Power Four head coaching experience. He consistently won at each of his previous head coaching jobs, but his final two seasons at James Madison were his only prior seasons in the FBS ranks.

Who else did Cignetti pass in CBS' updated rankings?

Ryan Day during 2026 Big Ten media days. — Jul 29, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; Ohio State Football head coach Ryan Day speaks during Big Ten Media Days at Hilton Chicago. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Ryan Day was the previous No. 1 in the CBS rankings. While Day's national championship run and nine-year tenure are proof of sustenance, Ohio State had long been one of college football's most dominant powers when he inherited the reins from Urban Meyer.

Dan Lanning's head-to-head results slot him behind Cignetti after holding the No. 2 spot last season. Indiana left Oregon with a 30-20 victory last October to prove its belonging on the national stage. It crushed the "hard to beat a good team twice" cliche against the Ducks, dominating its way to a 56-22 triumph in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Lincoln Riley and Kirk Ferentz were the other two current coaches Cignetti passed in his jump to the No. 1 spot. USC and Indiana have yet to meet since the Trojans joined the Big Ten, but Riley's relative underachievement at two historic powers ultimately keeps him from rising above Cignetti. Iowa has remained steady under Ferentz, but it has never participated in a national championship in his 28-year tenure.

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