Where Dan Lanning stands among Pac-12 coaches according to latest rankings

Lincoln Riley is in a race with Ryan Day and Brian Kelly as the best coach never to win a national title, and much his like aforementioned colleagues, USC’s second-year man hopes to scratch his name off that list as soon as next season.

The Utes are one of the most consistent programs in America, with eight Top 25 finishes under their longtime head coach. Whittingham has won at least nine games 11 times in 18 seasons. With the return of quarterback Cam Rising, Whittingham is looking to become the first Pac-12 coach to win the conference three straight years.

DeBoer is 90-11 as a head coach, including three NAIA National Championships. He’s been a better recruiter than some expected, too, and with USC and UCLA leaving the conference, he currently has the Huskies positioned to be one of the big boys in the league.

He’s slowly built up the Beavers from the basement of the Pac-12 (2-10 in Year 1) to a feisty contender. Despite Smith’s background as a QB coach, Oregon State was spearheaded by the league’s best defense in 2023.  The Beavers suffered close losses to USC and Washington (a combined six points), but they rallied to stun rival Oregon in the Civil War and then smashed Florida in the Las Vegas Bowl.

The program’s trajectory only looks up, with Lanning building a strong staff and recruiting better than any team in the conference. In two cycles under Lanning, Oregon has signed a pair of Top 11 classes (both best in the Pac-12) — plus become one of the premier transfer portal destinations for former blue-chip recruits.

Chip Kelly’s overall resume possibly merits a higher ranking on some lists, but this is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business, and the former Oregon head coach, who was 46-7 with the Ducks with three straight Top 5 finishes, has yet to deliver a 10-win season in six years at UCLA.

Sanders still hasn’t coached a game at Colorado, but he’s already delivered on his promise to overhaul the roster and shine a spotlight on a program that no one was talking about. Some 47 new faces will be on the roster in 2023 — and more additions are expected in the second transfer window in May. He flipped 5-star corner Cormani McClain from Miami and added transfers from 11 different Power 5 programs.

Dickert navigated Washington State through the Nick Rolovich saga quite well, and despite facing a harsh schedule (nine conference games and a road trip to Wisconsin), the Cougars went 7-5 with a win in Madison.

Due to state laws, Cal was among the programs hit hardest by the pandemic, as Wilcox and his staff were unable to hold traditional practices or a typical strength and conditioning program. After consecutive winning seasons in 2018-19, Cal is 10-18 the last three years (1-3 in 2020) and has failed to make a bowl game.

Fisch’s next goal is to lead Arizona back to bowl eligibility for the first time since 2017, but that could be challenging as the rest of the ‘Cats’ roster was hemorrhaged by the transfer portal so far. They lost their top edge rusher to LSU, while three key pieces transferred to USC — headlined by star wideout Dorian Singer.

Troy Taylor has been a successful coach as the FCS level, going 30-8 in three seasons at Sacramento State. The former Cal quarterback led the Hornets to a 12-1 record and a loss in the FCS quarterfinals in 2022, parlaying the success into the Stanford opening.

The Phoenix native is a hand-glove fit at Arizona State, returning to his alma mater where he started his coaching career. A former high school coach, Dillingham has connections all over the state and he retained beloved interim Shaun Aguano, which will further help ASU’s recruiting efforts. He also nabbed Washington State DC Brian Ward for the same role at ASU.