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Brant's Group of 6 head coach rankings for 2026. His top 15 coaches ranked from worst to first, including Dan Mullen, Spencer Danielson, Jim Mora, and more.
College football will undergo a major revamp this upcoming season with the rebirth of the Pac-12. After being home to just Washington State and Oregon State for the past two seasons, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Texas State, and Utah State join to make a fun new Group of 6 conference.
In the current CFP format, the Group of 6 is incredibly relevant. Last season, we saw not just one, but two G6 teams earn a berth in the College Football Playoff. We also saw six coaches jump up to power conference programs, as Jon Sumrall, Alex Golesh, Ryan Silverfield, Eric Morris, Bob Chesney, and Jimmy Rogers will all be coaching at larger programs next season.
Group of 6 football is incredibly important to the college football landscape. Here are the top fifteen coaches at the G6 level heading into the 2026 season.
15. Jerry Mack, Kennesaw State
Career Record: 10-4
In just his first season as an FBS head coach, Jerry Mack took a team one year removed from jumping up from the FCS and winning two games to a 10-4 season. He led Kennesaw State to the Conference USA title in what was the most unlikely turnaround in college football last season.
Mack was the CUSA coach of the year after his historic run, but this was not the first time he’d received such an accolade. Mack was the head coach at North Carolina Central from 2014-2017, winning the conference in three of four seasons while winning the coach of the year award in 2016.
Mack will look to keep Kennesaw State’s good fortunes flowing in 2025, and if he does, he’ll likely find himself due for a promotion.
14. Jeff Monken, Army
Career Record: 127-79
The cousin of Cleveland Browns’ head coach Todd Monken, Jeff Monken, has hammered out his own level of success at the collegiate level. Monken has coached at Army since 2014 after coming over from Georgia Southern.
Jeff Monken has the one of the three rarest leadership job in college football.
He told me how he leads future soldiers on the football field ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/P51ny7TKPz
— Adam Breneman (@AdamBreneman81) February 5, 2026
He won just six games in his first two seasons, but has only missed a bowl game once since then. Monken has led Army to five nine-plus win seasons and won the American Conference in 2024 with a 12-2 record. No power conference team wants to put Army on their schedule, and Monken is a big reason why.
13. Chuck Martin, Miami (OH)
Career Record: 72-74
The most well-known coach in the MAC, Chuck Martin, has been at Miami Ohio since 2014 after coming over from Notre Dame. Martin has won two MAC titles and has made a bowl game every season since 2018.
Miami has only hit double-digit wins once during Martin’s reign, but he gives them a very safe floor. The RedHawks have played for the MAC title each of the past three seasons under Martin’s leadership.
12. Jamey Chadwell, Liberty
Career Record: 64-35
Jamey Chadwell rose to prominence in the 2020 season, when he led Coastal Carolina to an 11-1 record. He followed that up with an 11-2 record, becoming one of the hottest names in coaching.
Chadwell ended up sticking at Coastal for one more season before moving to Liberty. He finished 13-1 in his first season, but the Flames have regressed every season since then. They finished 4-8 last year, Chadwell’s lowest mark since year one at Coastal Carolina in 2017.
He’s been trending the wrong way as of late, but Chadwell is still a well-known name at the G6 level based on past success.
11. Charles Huff, Memphis
Career Record: 39-25
Charles Huff has quietly been rising through the ranks of the G6 over the past few seasons. Huff found some success at Marshall, going 32-20 over four seasons before failing to reach an extension. He then landed at Southern Miss, turning the Golden Eagles around to finish 7-5.
Huff was named the head coach of Memphis following Ryan Silverfield’s departure this offseason. The Tigers’ last three coaches all landed power conference head coaching jobs. With his experience as an assistant at Penn State, Mississippi State, and Alabama, Huff may become a hot candidate should he continue his success at Memphis.
Career Record: 26-12
Joining the Navy coaching staff in 2019, Brian Newberry took over as the head coach in 2023. He led the Midshipmen to back-to-back double-digit win seasons in 2024 and 2025, going 21-5 over the past two seasons.
Newberry will look to capitalize on the reshuffling of the American Conference hierarchy, with Jon Sumrall, Eric Morris, Ryan Silverfield, and Alex Golesh all moving on from their respective schools.
9. Jason Eck, New Mexico
Career Record: 9-4
Jason Eck is quickly rising through the coaching ranks. Taking over at Idaho in the FCS in 2022, Eck quickly transformed a losing program into a contender. He was hired at New Mexico prior to the 2025 season and went 9-4 with a reconstructed roster.
In a reconstructed Mountain West, look out for Eck and the Lobos to make noise.
8. G.J. Kinne, Texas State
Career Record: 23-16
G.J. Kinne is a name that all college football fans need to make sure they familiarize themselves with. Kinne was hired before the 2023 season and has boasted one of the most exciting offenses in college football since taking over.
Mission Complete ✔️🇺🇸#EatEmUp | @ArmedForcesBowl pic.twitter.com/UJpvF2tKck
— Texas State Football (@TXSTATEFOOTBALL) January 2, 2026
The Bobcats were on a nine-season streak of having a losing record until Kinne came in, instantly winning a program-high eight games in his first season. He’s 23-16 at Texas State, and it only seems like a matter of time until he gets a shot to coach on a bigger stage.
7. Bronco Mendenhall, Utah State
Career Record: 146-95
The longtime BYU head coach jumped back into coaching in 2024 at New Mexico after taking a three-year hiatus following his Virginia tenure. Bronco Mendenhall is well-traveled and has had success at multiple levels of collegiate football.
His first season at Utah State ended with a 6-7 record, a major upgrade over the previous season’s 4-8 mark. Mendenhall will look to make a jump in year two as his home-state team transitions to the Pac-12.
6. Billy Napier, James Madison
Career Record: 62-35
Yes, I know it didn’t work out at Florida. People are quick to forget how successful Napier was at Louisiana prior to making the jump to the SEC. Napier is now back in familiar territory as he takes over a James Madison program that has been on fire for the past few seasons under Curt Cignetti and Bob Chesney.
Much of last year’s College Football Playoff roster is gone, but Napier has reloaded through the portal and will have the Dukes ready to play ball. Napier went 40-12 during his time at Louisiana and will be looking for similar success in Harrisonburg.
5. Jeff Traylor, UTSA
Career Record: 53-26
After fourteen years as a high school head coach in Texas, Jeff Traylor jumped up to college football as an assistant with Texas. He was hired as UTSA’s head coach in 2020 and led them to a program-best 12 wins in 2021. Traylor is 53-26 as the Roadrunners’ head coach and has won two C-USA Coach of the Year awards.
Traylor has won his last three bowl games and has UTSA considered as one of the premier G6 programs in the country.
4. Jason Candle, UConn
Career Record: 81-44
Jason Candle had been on staff at Toledo since 2009 and had been the Rockets’ head coach since 2016, prior to departing this offseason to take over at UConn.
It’s a new era of UConn Football. Get your season tickets now and #PackTheRent this fall!
🎟️: https://t.co/CQour4gf4K pic.twitter.com/EmZAjmy8UB
— UConn Football (@UConnFootball) January 22, 2026
Candle has been very successful in his career thus far, accumulating an 81-44 record, two MAC titles, and two MAC Coach of the Year awards. He will attempt to continue the momentum that Jim Mora has built with UConn over the past few seasons as he takes on a new challenge in 2026.
3. Jim Mora, Colorado State
Career Record: 73-53
The former Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks head coach completely turned around UConn football over the past four seasons. Jim Mora inherited a program that had nearly folded after going Independent after the 2019 season, and didn’t even play in 2020, and went 6-7 in his first season after they had gone 1-11 the previous year.
Year two wasn’t as strong as the Huskies went 3-9, but Mora rebounded and went 18-8 over the past two years. UConn had a program-defining win over Duke, the eventual ACC champion, last season in front of their largest home crowd since 2013.
Mora is now off to Colorado State, where he is tasked with rebuilding a Rams team that went 2-10 a season ago as they transition to the new-look Pac-12.
2. Spencer Danielson, Boise State
Career Record: 24-8
Spencer Danielson has been on the Boise State staff since 2017 as a graduate assistant and assumed the role of head coach in 2023. Since then, he’s compiled a 24-8 record and even made the College Football Playoff in 2024.
Here's the @ESPN story on the new deal for Boise State coach Spencer Danielson, who led the Broncos to the College Football Playoff in his first season as full-time head coach. The school has also made significant commitment to staff and support staff. https://t.co/MKNJCgRvwA
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) April 29, 2025
Last year was his worst season, finishing at 9-5, but Danielson and the Broncos are looking to bounce back in 2026 as they join the Pac-12. Four of the previous five Boise State head coaches have gone on to be hired at a bigger school. Will Danielson follow in their steps?
1. Dan Mullen, UNLV
Career Record: 113-65
Formerly the head coach at Mississippi State and Florida, Dan Mullen took a three-year hiatus from coaching to work in the studio for ABC and ESPN before returning to the sidelines last season to restructure an annihilated UNLV roster.
The results were astounding, as Mullen led the Rebels to a 10-2 record in the regular season. They lost the Mountain West title game to Boise State, and also lost the Frisco Bowl to Ohio, but had an incredible season for a team whose roster had been pillaged by the transfer portal.
Mullen has had success in the SEC. Leading UNLV proved to come easily to him, and it would be shocking to see him stick around at UNLV beyond this season if he has similar success in 2026.
