Ranking the top 20 college football coaches for 2021

16. Paul Chryst, Wisconsin

Paul Chryst is one of the hardest head coaches to properly rank at any time. Because when it comes to the success of the Wisconsin head coach, his track record with the Badgers has been undeniable to this point.

Since taking over in 2015, Chryst has won at least 10 games in four of his six seasons at the helm and has accrued a 56-19 overall record while going 37-13 in the Big Ten. In the conference, he’s paved the way to three appearances in the Big Ten Championship Game, though he’s yet to get over the hump there. However, it’s been consistent winning football coming out of Madison since he took over.

While that’s all inarguable, the fact of the matter is that many coaches have enjoyed success at Wisconsin since Barry Alvarez got his hands on the program. It’s been a simple formula of building through the offensive line and with defense and the run game. That has been good at producing wins under Alvarez, Bret Bielema and Chryst.

However, what makes me confident in putting Chryst at No. 16 in these rankings is the recent uptick in recruiting. The Badgers have gone from good to very good on the recruiting trail as of rate, which speaks even higher of the head coach and the job he’s done with such a storied program thus far.