We've been at this a while now.
The great Patrick Stevens began this process in the offseason between the 2012 and 2013 seasons, and I shamelessly ripped it off from him thereafter. At that time, Mark Stoops was the senior member of the FBS head coaching rookies. Thirteen years later, only three members of the Class of 2013 remain, but what's true in 2013 is still true in 2026 -- in the longevity game, everyone's still looking up at Kirk Ferentz.
Ferentz's status is especially notable because the 2025 season saw No. 2 and No. 3 tap out in their pursuit at the No. 1 spot. Utah decided it could not make head-coach-in-waiting Morgan Scalley wait any longer to replace No. 2 Kyle Whittingham, and the game passed No. 3 Mike Gundy by, and yet there Ferentz remains, heading into Year 28 in Iowa City.
Air Force's Troy Calhoun slides up to No. 2 as he heads into Year 19 in Colorado Springs, and Clemson's Dabo Swinney is now No. 3. And pushing off Penn State's advances was great for Kalani Sitake's standing here -- he's now in the top-10 as he, Kirby Smart and PJ Fleck head into Year 11 at their respective jobs.
A few notes:
-- Illinois's Bret Bielema (Year 6) marks the top 25, and none other than Coach Prime (Year 4) is in the top 50 at No. 49.
-- The median hire date for FBS head coaches in 2026 is Dec. 9, 2023. Half of all FBS head coaches have been on the job less than three seasons.
-- A housekeeping note: We use the date that the school announced each hire as the date here, which is how Jimmy Rogers has technically been at Iowa State longer than Matt Campbell has at Penn State. Clunky in that case, sure, but overall it's still the best practice.
-- On that note, Nov. 30, 2025, will go down in history in the SEC. Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, LSU and Ole Miss all officially started new eras on the exact same day.
1998
1. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa -- Dec. 2
2006
2. Troy Calhoun, Air Force -- Dec. 22
2008
3. Dabo Swinney, Clemson -- Oct. 13
2012
4. Dave Doeren, NC State -- Dec. 1
2013
5. Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio) -- Dec. 3
6. Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan -- Dec. 11
7. Jeff Monken, Army -- Dec. 24
2014
8. Pat Narduzzi, Pitt -- Dec. 26
2015
9. Kirby Smart, Georgia -- Dec. 6
10. Kalani Sitake, BYU -- Dec. 19
2017
11. PJ Fleck, Minnesota -- Jan. 6
2018
12. Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky -- Nov. 27
13(t). Ryan Day, Ohio State -- Dec. 4
13(t). Mike Locksley, Maryland -- Dec. 4
2019
15. Thomas Hammock, Northern Illinois -- Jan. 18
16. Greg Schiano, Rutgers -- Dec. 3
17. Mike Norvell, Florida State -- Dec. 8
18(t). Ricky Rahne, Old Dominion -- Dec. 9
18(t). Jeff Traylor, UTSA -- Dec. 9
20. Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri -- Dec. 10
2020
21. Dave Aranda, Baylor -- Jan. 16
22. Shane Beamer, South Carolina -- Dec. 6
23. Butch Jones, Arkansas State -- Dec. 12
24. Clark Lea, Vanderbilt -- Dec. 14
25. Bret Bielema, Illinois -- Dec. 19
2021
26. Steve Sarkisian, Texas -- Jan. 2
27. Josh Heupel, Tennessee -- Jan. 27
28. Lance Leipold, Kansas -- April 30
29. Clay Helton, Georgia Southern -- Nov. 2
30. Joey McGuire, Texas Tech -- Nov. 9
31. Lincoln Riley, USC -- Nov. 28
32. Rhett Lashlee, SMU -- Nov. 29
33(t). Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech -- Nov. 30
33(t). Sonny Dykes, TCU -- Nov. 30
35. Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame -- Dec. 3
36(t). Michael Desormeaux, Louisiana -- Dec. 5
36(t). Brent Venables, Oklahoma -- Dec. 5
38. Mario Cristobal, Miami -- Dec. 6
39. Joe Moorhead, Akron -- Dec. 9
40(t). Ryan Carty, Delaware -- Dec. 10
40(t). Tony Elliott, Virginia -- Dec. 10
42. Dan Lanning, Oregon -- Dec. 11
2022
43. Timmy Chang, Hawai'i -- Jan. 22
44. Matt Rhule, Nebraska -- Nov. 26
45(t). Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State -- Nov. 27
45(t). Luke Fickell, Wisconsin -- Nov. 27
47. Brent Key, Georgia Tech -- Nov. 29
48. GJ Kinne, Texas State -- Dec. 2
49. Deion Sanders, Colorado -- Dec. 3
50. Jamey Chadwell, Liberty -- Dec. 4
51. Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati -- Dec. 5
52(t). Jeff Brohm, Louisville -- Dec. 8
52(t). Lance Taylor, Western Michigan -- Dec. 8
54. Brian Newberry, Navy -- Dec. 19
2023
55. David Braun, Northwestern -- July 14
56. Spencer Danielson, Boise State -- Nov. 12
57. Jeff Lebby, Mississippi State -- Nov. 26
58. Mike Elko, Texas A&M -- Nov. 27
59. Fran Brown, Syracuse -- Nov. 28
60. Sean Lewis, San Diego State -- Nov. 29
61. Curt Cignetti, Indiana -- Nov. 30
62. Willie Fritz, Houston -- Dec. 3
63(t). Jeff Choate, Nevada -- Dec. 4
63(t). Scotty Walden, UTEP -- Dec. 4
65. Bryant Vincent, ULM -- Dec. 5
66(t). Derek Mason, Middle Tennessee -- Dec. 6
66(t). Jay Sawvel, Wyoming -- Dec. 6
68. Manny Diaz, Duke -- Dec. 9
69. Gerad Parker, Troy -- Dec. 18
70. Tony Sanchez, New Mexico State -- Dec. 23
2024
71. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama -- Jan. 12
72. Jedd Fisch, Washington -- Jan. 14
73. Brent Brennan, Arizona -- Jan. 16
74. Major Applewhite, South Alabama -- Jan. 18
75(t). Pete Lembo, Buffalo -- Jan. 21
75(t). Ken Niumatalolo, San Jose State -- Jan. 21
77. Bill O'Brien, Boston College -- Feb. 9
78. Dell McGee, Georgia State -- Feb. 23
79. Scott Abell, Rice -- Nov. 26
80. Blake Harrell, East Carolina -- Nov. 27
81(t). KC Keeler, Temple -- Dec. 1
81(t). Jerry Mack, Kennesaw State -- Dec. 1
83. Zach Kittley, Florida Atlantic -- Dec. 2
84(t). Matt Entz, Fresno State -- Dec. 4
84(t). Mike Uremovich, Ball State -- Dec. 4
86(t). Joe Harasymiak, UMass -- Dec. 6
86(t). Bronco Mendenhall, Utah State -- Dec. 6
88(t). Dowell Loggains, Appalachian State -- Dec. 7
88(t). Willie Simmons, Florida International -- Dec. 7
90(t). Tim Albin, Charlotte -- Dec. 8
90(t). Scott Frost, UCF -- Dec. 8
90(t). Tony Gibson, Marshall -- Dec. 8
90(t). Tre Lamb, Tulsa -- Dec. 8
90(t). Barry Odom, Purdue -- Dec. 8
95. Matt Drinkall, Central Michigan -- Dec. 9
96. Bill Belichick, North Carolina -- Dec. 11
97(t). Dan Mullen, UNLV -- Dec. 12
97(t). Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia -- Dec. 12
99. Jason Eck, New Mexico -- Dec. 14
100(t). Jake Dickert, Wake Forest, Dec. 18
100(t). Phil Longo, Sam Houston -- Dec. 18
102. Charles Kelly, Jacksonville State -- Dec. 21
2025
103. Eddie George -- Bowling Green, March 9
104. Mark Carney, Kent State -- Oct. 30
105. James Franklin, Virginia Tech -- Nov. 17
106. Eric Morris, Oklahoma State -- Nov. 25
107(t). Tavita Pritchard, Stanford -- Nov. 28
107(t). JaMarcus Shephard, Oregon State -- Nov. 28
109(t). Pete Golding, Ole Miss -- Nov. 30
109(t). Alex Golesh, Auburn -- Nov. 30
109(t). Lane Kiffin, LSU -- Nov. 30
109(t). Ryan Silverfield, Arkansas -- Nov. 30
109(t). Jon Sumrall, Florida -- Nov. 30
114(t). Pat Fitzgerald, Michigan State -- Dec. 1
114(t). Jim Mora, Colorado State -- Dec. 1
114(t). Will Stein, Kentucky -- Dec. 1
117. Neal Brown, North Texas -- Dec. 2
118. Brian Hartline, South Florida -- Dec. 3
119(t). Collin Klein, Kansas State -- Dec. 4
119(t). Tosh Lupoi, Cal -- Dec. 4
121(t). Alex Mortensen, UAB -- Dec. 5
121(t). Jimmy Rogers, Iowa State -- Dec. 5
123(t). Bob Chesney, UCLA -- Dec. 6
123(t). Billy Napier, James Madison -- Dec. 6
125(t). Matt Campbell, Penn State -- Dec. 8
125(t). Jason Candle, UConn -- Dec. 8
125(t). Will Hall, Tulane -- Dec. 8
125(t). Charles Huff, Memphis -- Dec. 8
129. Mike Jacobs, Toledo -- Dec. 10
130(t). Blake Anderson, Southern Miss -- Dec. 11
130(t). Ryan Beard, Coastal Carolina -- Dec. 11
132. Kirby Moore, Washington State -- Dec. 12
133. Morgan Scalley, Utah -- Dec. 13
134. Casey Woods, Missouri State -- Dec. 19
135(t). John Hauser, Ohio -- Dec. 26
135(t). Kyle Whittingham, Michigan -- Dec. 26