Some of these grades will be easy to figure out. Others might be controversial. No matter what though, these are the official rankings. At least in this writer’s opinion.
Jon Sumeral, Florida Gators
- Grade: A++
While Billy Napier was not the right on-field coach for Florida, he could recruit like few others and this left Sumrall in a wonderful position coming into Gainesville.
Napier came from the Group of Six level and so did Sumrall. After listening to his opening press conference, and seeing the results on the field so far, that is where the similarities end between the two.
Sumrall is just as good of a recruiter as Napier, and he is already building the future for Florida. Bringing in Buster Faulkner was a boon as his offense has allowed the Gators to score points on all their first four opponents. Including 41 against Auburn in Week 3 and 52 against the No. 4 Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday.
Quarterback Aaron Philo has done just enough to win these games and push Florida up the rankings and into the top-10. With Philo and running back Jadan Baugh leading the path forward, do not count out Florida as a playoff contender. The Gators can very much make it and, if they do, they can be dangerous.
Eric Morris, Oklahoma State Cowboys
- Grade: A
If not for the opening loss to Tulsa, the grade for Morris and the rest of the North Texas Cowboys would have been an A+ like Sumeral. But the loss does move him down just a smidge.
Oklahoma State did not have a win in 2025 over a team at the FCS level going 1-11 before prying Morris from North Texas. This season, the Cowboys already have wins over Oregon and then on Saturday on the road against West Virginia by a score of 41-24.
Quarterback Drew Mestemaker and running back Caleb Hawkins have again provided plenty of offense for their team and the defense is good enough to hold teams down. In an open conference like the Big XII, who is to say that Oklahoma State cannot make a run to the conference title game?
The team is dangerous and they are playing better and more confident under Morris than they did for at least five seasons under Mike Gundy. The only issue for Oklahoma State now will be how long they can keep Morris at the school.
James Franklin, Virginia Tech Hokies
- Grade: A
Franklin should never have been fired by Penn State. He was the best coach the school has had since Joe Paterno, and he was doing far better than others would have under the same conditions.
The athletic director did not seem to want to keep Franklin, and this is the reason the move was made so quickly and the search for a new coach done so hastily.
Franklin, always downed by others for not being able to beat top five teams in Michigan, Ohio State, and Oregon on a regular basis never had losses surprising losses Those big games were his only losses, and this is what frustrated Nittany Lions fans.
Now that Franklin has moved south to Blacksburg, Penn State’s loss is Virginia Tech's gain.
Quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer and five-star tight end Luke Reynolds went with him to Virginia Tech. Both are now starters for the Hokies and, in Week 3, Reynolds had 12 receptions on 12 targets from his quarterback, allowing us to once again see the connection the pair built up in practices at Penn State.
Franklin was also able to bring in the top-25 recruiting class despite having little time to get things together. He decided to just ask the best players in the Penn State class if they wanted to join him and more did.
Pete Golding, Ole Miss
Grade: A
It would have been nice to see Golding come out after the LSU game and put up a better effort against Florida. Had the Rebels won over Florida, the rank of Sumrall and Golding would have been flipped here.
But Golding is still doing great with the Rebels and when Kewan Lacy returns to the lineup, Ole Miss will remain a threat to all the teams on their schedule.
Golding showed his chops last season as he led Ole Miss to wins over Mississippi State, Tulane and Georgia before losing to Miami in the national semifinals. This alone showed his fitness for the position. All that his time this season has done is proven that he is ready.
Bob Chesney, UCLA Bruins:
Grade: A
The next in line from James Madison, Chesney, after taking the Dukes to the playoffs, left for the bright lights of Los Angeles. Well, I guess USC gets bright lights. But I am sure Chesney is fine with being forgotten about.
Chesney, who currently has the Bruins at 4-0, is allowing this team to show the talent they have while also bringing the standards of recruiting up to the level of Jim Mora Jr. UCLA is finally starting to back NIL for football and Chesney is taking full advantage of it as he continues to build his 2027 recruiting class.
His team just defeated Maryland 54-3 on Saturday and he's bringing refreshing energy and better recruits who want to play for a players-first coach at a school in the Big Ten.
Will Stein, Kentucky Wildcats:
- Grade: A
Kentucky is getting exactly what they wanted when they hiried Will Stein to replace Mark Stoops.
As the offensive coordinator with Oregon, Stein had led some of the most exciting offenses in the country. He returned to his home state of Kentucky (where he played quarterback for Louisville) and will look to help their arch-rival Kentucky get back to what it had for many years under Stoops. If you ask Stein, he wants to get even better than this — the same thing Curt Cignetti said during his opening press conference.
Even with the shine of their road win against Texas A&M taking a hit this week with the Aggie’s loss to LSU, it was still huge for the program and for the direction of the program moving forward. There is proof of concept and if Stein remains at the school, Kentucky will continue pulling off upsets against plenty of top SEC competition in the coming years.
Lane Kiffin, LSU
- Grade: A-
If just going by headlines and media coverage, Kiffin and the LSU Tigers would be at the top of the list. But, with Ole Miss being able to defeat Kiffin upon his return, and the slight stumble they had against Louisiana Tech before pulling away, this is where he belongs.
After the loss to Ole Miss, LSU returned home and found an easy 35-6 win over Texas A&M, showing their ability to come back after a tough loss.
Kiffin might have his team go further into the playoffs than anyone else on the list this season. But, in the first month, he is just slightly behind some others who are doing even better.
Morgan Scalley, Utah Utes
- Grade: B+
Utah has looked great under Scalley since he took over for Kyle Whittingham before the season. The Utes are 4-0 and are coming off a 31-17 win over Iowa State on Saturday, finding the ability to get out of Ames in one piece.
Utah has not been challenged yet in 2026 and the Utes have few games on their schedule which can present one for them. The only reason Scalley is not higher is the fact that, despite being the head coach for the first time, Scalley is from Utah and has been there for years getting ready for this.
This has made him able to find success quickly and it will be more important to see how he can sustain it over future years. After Whittingham players are off the roster and they are full of Scalley’s own recruits.
If he can continue to succeed, Utah will have made the right move in hiring him. If things turn with him having his own players, Utah may be forced to bring in a new coach to resurrect the team.
Matt Campbell, Penn State Nittany Lions
- Grade: B
On Saturday, Penn State jumped out to a 20-3 lead over Wisconsin in the first conference game for both schools.
Wisconsin was able to rally back and win 24-20 after Campbell played too conservative, something the Nittany Lions know all too well. This is after all, the same weekend in which Penn State lost to Oregon last season, starting the three-game slide which cost Franklin his position with the team.
If this causes Penn State to start another slide here, it will not turn out well with teams like USC and Washington coming up on the schedule. These teams are not UCLA or Northwestern, who the Nittany Lions lost to last season as 20-point favorites. Campbell and the Nittany Lions will still be alright, and for the most part fans are happy. But it will go south quickly if Campbell and the team continue to lose games and finish any worse than 9-3.
Collin Klein, Kansas State Wildcats
- Grade: C+
Collin Klein returns to Manhattan as a Wildcats legend. While this will buy him time at K-State, he will want to get them back to the success he had while playing under coach Bill Snyder.
Kansas State started the year with three wins over opponents which did not present much of a challenge. In their first Big XII game, having to travel to Cincinnati, the Wildcats lost to another team looking for an identity. 31-26 — a result which could help Scott Satterfield save his job with the Bearcats.
Klein has not done anything bad so far this season. He beat the teams he was supposed to, but he lost to Cincinnati when the team turned. The schedule will only get more challenging from here with conference play starting. With the Wildcats losing two starting offensive linemen in the preseason, the lack of depth will begin to show over the next couple of weeks.
Klein has been given a few tough breaks but, with his name in Manhattan, he has also been given several advantages in fundraising and support that other coaches would not receive. If he can fully leverage this, the Wildcats can begin to challenge Texas Tech, Utah and BYU for the top of the conference on a yearly basis. But, so far, Klein is treading water and hoping.
Kyle Whittingham, Michigan Wolverines
- Grade: C
The way Michigan has played, it is reasonable to have Whittingham even lower than a C.
The loss to Western Michigan notwithstanding, Michigan has not looked good in any of their first four games, all of which came to at home in The Big House.
At the time, the 17-10 win over Oklahoma looked good. After the Sooners only won 14-6 over New Mexico in their following game and lost 41-13 against Georgia on Saturday — not so much.
Quarterback Bryce Underwood has not progressed the way the coaching staff had hoped, and it may be time to bench him for Tommy Carr soon.
Pat Fitzgerald, Michigan State Spartans
- Grade: C
He is bringing discipline back to East Lansing, but, to this point, the winning has not much followed.
In their first true challenge of the season, Michigan State lost to Nebraska 31-13. This Nebraska team is better, but not to the level of cross-state Michigan or even Wisconsin and Illinois, whom the Spartans play in their next two games.
Wisconsin just went to State College on Saturday and beat Penn State 24-20 and Illinois, despite getting throttled by Ohio State, is still ahead of Michigan State in the hierarchy of the Big Ten.
This has been a perfectly ok season for Fitzgerald, and this is why he gets a C.
Tosh Lopoi, Cal Bears
- Grade: C-
Lopoi came back to his alma mater with a lot of promises after being the defensive coordinator for the Oregon Ducks.
So far, it has been mixed results at Cal and less than mixed results for Oregon.
Lopoi knew exactly what he needed to do when he got to Cal. He needed to keep Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. To do so, he left directly from his introductory press conference to the airport to get a plane to Hawaii. Arriving at midnight, Sagapolutele was already in a visit and Lopoi waited in the dark for hours before speaking with and landing the re-commitment of the sophomore quarterback. After landing the commitment, he found a bench on the beach and slept sitting up for a few hours until going back to the airport to go home again — the whole time, sitting there in his suit and tie.
This agreement for Sagapolutele to return has been the biggest win so far as Cal has not looked good on offense despite having good players.
Cal was a team with expectations in the ACC heading into the season. With Sagapolutele set to take off as a sophomore, the Bears were a trendy pick to challenge Miami for the ACC title. After four weeks, these thoughts have faded and so has the current excitement over the quarterback.
Cal got a new coach, and they renewed their commitment to NIL. So far, it has not worked.
Alex Golesh, Auburn Tigers:
- Grade: C-
Had Golesh found his way to Arkansas, maybe he would have been more successful. But, with the way he has coached and quarterback Byrum Brown has played, maybe not.
Golesh brought excitement with him when he arrived. He started out with several wins in the recruiting realm for 2027, and anticipation was high that he could lead Auburn back to eight or nine victories in his first season.
This has changed since the start of the season as both Golesh and Brown have struggled. Even with the Tigers being 3-1 so far on the season, there have been too many close wins and bad play for fans to feel overly excited.
There is talk swirling around whether Brown needs to be benched and even more about whether Golesh is up for the task.
My thought is that Auburn will get better next season. Despite the way this season has gone and the way it continues, next year should be better for Auburn. Golesh has experience in the SEC as offensive coordinator at Tennessee. He knows what it takes to win. He just needs to get all the ingredients in place.
Ryan Silverfield, Arkansas Razorbacks:
- Grade: F
Silverfield was not the first choice for Arkansas.
With Sumrall set to go to Auburn, Arkansas thought it would be looking at Golesh coming to Arkansas. The expectation was changed when Auburn missed out to Florida on Sumrall after pivoting quickly to him when Kiffin chose LSU. This left Golesh to Auburn and forced the Razorbacks to another option in Bryan Harston. I mean Ryan Silverfield.
Just last season, podcaster and writer Andy Staples mentioned on his show that Silverfield might just be the product of Memphis having one of the best NIL situations in the Group of Six. So far in 2026, this seems to be the case as Silverfield is already on the hot seat and Memphis has just one loss to Boise State and two good quarterbacks to choose from — both of whom they got through NIL.
Silverfield’s seat just got hotter when the Razorbacks were dominated by Georgia and the school called an all-hands-on-deck meeting to discuss finances.
Arkansas has plenty of money to fund NIL. They also have arrogance like all other SEC schools. This means that if a booster does not get the coach they want, they refuse to finance them, hoping they fail and get fired. They would rather fund a $50 million buyout than a $50 million roster.
The final thing hurting Silverfield is the fact that basketball is succeeding again under John Calapari and the school wants to remain a contender. Therefore, Calipari gets anything he wants and needs. This does take money from the football program.
Jimmy Rogers, Iowa State Cyclones:
- Grade: Incomplete
If forced to give Rogers a grade for the season thus far, it would be a C+.
In a challenging situation, Rogers has done everything he could to get the Cyclones ready for the 2026 season. Unlike schools with financial resources, Iowa State cannot put much NIL money together to stay competitive. On top of this, any money they do raise, goes to the top 25 men’s basketball team.
This was not a good situation once Matt Campbell left for Penn State, taking all his players with him. Where other schools do not deserve the benefit of the doubt, Iowa State does.
Add us as a preferred source on Google