“Unpack the Pac Offseason Edition” is a column by Jacob Hare that discusses offseason football news in the Pac-12 conference.
It’s been a long time since the Pac-12 had this much coaching talent. The Pac-12 has some of the brightest minds and best leaders in college football. But who are the best five coaches in the conference? You could make a case that more than half the coaches in the conference deserve consideration to be in the top five. However, these five coaches are the best of the best:
5. Kalen DeBoer, Washington
Washington Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer has already put himself in the top five after his first season in the conference. DeBoer and Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith were co-Pac-12 coaches of the year this past season. In his first season with Washington, DeBoer went 11-2 and won the Alamo bowl. DeBoer also did one of the best coaching development jobs of the season with Michael Penix Jr. DeBoer and Penix Jr. first worked together in 2019 when DeBoer was Indiana’s offensive coordinator and Penix Jr. was the Hoosier’s starting quarterback. Penix dealt with several severe injuries during his career at Indiana, including two ACL tears, and in 2021 it looked like his career was on the verge of ending. However, he transferred to Washington and became one of the best players in the country. Penix Jr. threw for 31 touchdowns and 4,641 yards, the second most in the FBS. This wasn’t the first time DEBoer made a quarterback into a superstar. During his brief tenure as the head coach of Fresno State, he molded Washington transfer Jake Haener into a legitimate player who is expected to get drafted in the upcoming NFL draft. DeBoer also won three NAIA championships in five years as the head coach at Sioux Falls. DeBoer knows how to win, and his offensive tactics are among the best in the game. This coaching hire was a slam dunk by Washington athletic director Jennifer Cohen.
4. Dan Lanning, Oregon
Another first-year head coach makes the list. Former Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning was superb in his first season as the Ducks’ head coach. In 2021, he led one of the most memorable defensive units in college football history and helped Georgia win a national title. He didn’t have anything close to Georgia’s talent in Eugene but made do with what he had, and Oregon became one of the best defenses in the conference. Lanning went 10-3 and beat UNC in the Holiday Bowl. Lanning also had the first offensive coordinator he picked, Kenny Dillingham, get hired to become the head coach at Arizona State. Dillingham’s hire is a very telling sign, as it’s infrequent for a first-year head coach to have a coordinator become a head coach in college football. Lanning also made great use of the transfer portal as he recruited former Auburn starting quarterback Bo Nix, who became one of college football’s premiere quarterbacks. Nix opted to stay for a fifth year since he gained an extra year of eligibility from COVID-19. As a second-year head coach, I fully expect Lanning to be competing for a Pac-12 championship next year.
3. Chip Kelly, UCLA
This will be the one I get hate from in my Twitter feed. But let’s face the facts: Chip Kelly is the only coach in the Pac-12 to have coached in a college football championship and for an NFL team. The NFL argument holds less weight since it’s college coaches I am ranking, but he did win a division championship and had two ten-win seasons. So the fact that he had at least some success gives him an edge over other coaches. While at UCLA, Kelly recently had success and started recruiting at a high rate. Kelly has never been the most prominent recruiter; his classes have always been mediocre. However, he is exceptional at developing talent. Even during his glory days at Oregon, he never had a top-10 recruiting class. But in terms of his keen ability to find talent and get the most out of them, I have to put him at three on the list. Even with what he did with outgoing UCLA senior quarterback and NFL prospect Dorian Thompson-Robinson has been sensational. After a miserable first two seasons as a starter, Kelly guided Thompson-Robinson to college stardom and helped him become UCLA’s all-time passing yard leader. This was a remarkable coaching job with a player who only a few people believed could find success in college. Kelly will now be paired with one of the best, if not the best, 2023 quarterback prospects, as Dante Moore will be a Bruin next season. Moore has legitimate potential to be a first-round pick in the NFL draft if he lives up to the possibility that he possesses. Kelly is on the brink of bringing UCLA to where he once had Oregon.
2. Kyle Whittingham, Utah
One of the winningest coaches in Pac-12 history and possible college football Hall of Famer, Kyle Whittingham, comes in at number two. Whittingham has been at Utah since 2004 as the head coach and has been a coach at the university since 1994. He had huge shoes to fill after replacing college football legend Urban Mayer who bolted for Florida after two seasons with the Utes. Whittingham has been the best hire the program has ever made. He has turned them into one of the premiere teams in college football. He helped lead them to a Pac-12 championship this season after upsetting USC in the title game. He is also one of the most intelligent defensive minds in the nation. Whittingham is known for his shutdown defenses, which always find a way to win the game. This is a big season for him, as a national championship would cement his legacy as an all-time great.
1. Lincoln Riley, USC
This is an absolute no-brainer, as Lincoln Riley has made three college football playoffs in his first six years as a head coach. While all three did occur during his five years as the head coach of Oklahoma, he was one win away in his first year at USC. Riley rarely loses, exactly why he is one of the best and on pace to be an all-time coaching legend. He’s gone 66-13 in six years as a head coach. Riley has produced three Heisman winners: Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray at Oklahoma and Caleb Williams at USC. He also had one runner-up, Jalen Hurts, who just took the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl. Riley is an offensive wizard and probably the country’s best quarterback whisperer. His current starter at USC, Caleb Williams, is the projected favorite to be the first overall pick in the 2024 draft. If Riley wins a national title in the next few years, we can pencil him as a first-ballot college football Hall of Famer.
“Unpack the Pac Offseason Edition” runs every Wednesday.