Each offseason, I circle 5-10 coordinator hires that I believe will have a significant impact on a team’s identity and production.
This list isn’t just about naming the best coaches, the best units or those hires most likely to improve a team’s win-loss record. It’s a blending of all three.
Here are the eight coordinators that I believe will have you saying to yourself, “That’s not what I remember them looking like in 2025.”
Top New Offensive Coordinators for 2026
Buster Faulkner, Florida
Former Georgia Tech OC
When you think Florida Gator football, what comes to mind? Steve Spurrier’s Fun-n-Gun? Urban Meyer’s deadly power spread with Tim Tebow at the controls?
Gainesville reaches a fever pitch when their offenses are really cooking, and to put it lightly, they haven’t been cooking with gas for a while now.
The Dan Mullen era ended with an offensive fizzle (49th scoring) and frustrating quarterback play. But then things got really ugly under Billy Napier.
Anthony Richardson wowed athletically, but he never mastered the finer points of the position. Graham Mertz was a steady hand, but they lacked pop. And then DJ Lagway crushed Gator fans’ hopes one interception at a time.
Well, Faulkner is here to turn things around, and he just did wonders at Georgia Tech.
His unique system is quarterback-friendly, specifically for those who can tote the rock. Florida will come out in a lot of bunch formations this fall, and you can expect shifts and pre-snap motion to confuse defenses.
He does all of this to create space in both the run and pass game, and he does it with precision.
With Haynes King as his triggerman, the Yellow Jackets finished 11th in total offense last season.
And what was more noticeable than anything was how he milked every ounce of potential out of King, making him both an efficient passer (71% completions last two seasons) and one of the best QB rushing threats in the country.
I have faith that this offensive maestro will find his muse in quarterback Aaron Philo.
Chip Kelly, Northwestern
Former Las Vegas Raiders OC
One of the strangest marriages in football has the potential to revive a moribund Northwestern offense.
The Wildcats' scoring offense hasn’t cracked the top 90 in nine years. But here comes one of the great offensive innovators the sport has ever seen to save the day.
A return to a spread running game should have visions of Damien Anderson and Zak Kustok running through the heads of Wildcat fans. And despite hard times in Evanston, the skill position cupboard is far from bare.
Aidan Chiles (No. 14 portal QB) has been named the starter, and Caleb Komolafe returns after generating 1,000 all-purpose yards and 12 touchdowns last season.
Griffin Wilde looked right at home after transferring up from the FCS (880 yards, eight TDs), and tight end Luke Dehnicke, a former D-II All-American, has been generating a ton of buzz in fall camp.
If the offensive line gels, this unit could be leaps and bounds better and really entertaining during the first half of their schedule.
Kevin Decker, Memphis
Former Old Dominion OC
If you’re looking for a rising star in the 40-under-40 category, Decker is your guy. He’s risen from Fordham to Old Dominion to Memphis in seven years.
At Fordham, he tinkered as a play-caller before really finding his confidence. And once he did, Ricky Rahne was wise enough to nab him at ODU.
By the end of his tenure in Norfolk, Decker had created a top-10 rushing offense and made quarterback Colton Joseph a ton of money in the transfer portal. CoJo ran for over 1,000 yards and punched in 13 rushing touchdowns with Decker at the controls.
What you’ll see from Memphis this season is an RPO-heavy scheme that isn’t just bubble screens and quick game. You’ll see starting quarterback Marcus Stokes rip seam shots and go for the jugular.
And Stokes is as rare a find as Decker was this offseason.
Stokes was a former Elite 11 passer who tore up D-II football at West Florida. His athleticism and sound decision-making under pressure could have Memphis in contention for the College Football Playoff in November.
Kendal Briles, South Carolina
Former TCU OC
Briles is a full-on quarterback whisperer. And I know that phrase gets thrown around loosely at the collegiate level, but the stats speak for themselves.
At Baylor, a combination of Seth Russell and Jarrett Stidham set the world on fire with 49 total touchdowns in 2015. Then his system took another step forward at Houston when he got his hands on D’Eriq King.
Briles unleashed King on the college football world, and the undersized quarterback exploded for 50 total touchdowns. Briles has always been on the bleeding edge of RPO exploration, and King created a devastating pick-your-poison dynamic.
And if you’re wondering if Briles can maintain this level of production in the SEC, look no further than his work with KJ Jefferson at Arkansas. Across two seasons as Briles' QB1, Jefferson completed 68% of his passes while accounting for 60 total touchdowns.
LaNorris Sellers has the athleticism to shine in this offense if the offensive line holds up.
Now, the quick game will help reduce sacks right away, but left tackle Jacarrius Peak will determine if Briles is a home-run hire or simply a ground-rule double.
Peak has been ruled out for South Carolina’s opener, but the Gamecocks will need him back before SEC play heats up in mid-September.
Top New Defensive Coordinators for 2026
Lance Guidry, Memphis
Former LSU DA
The former Broyles Award nominee is a wizard when it comes to generating pressure. In Guidry’s last two stops as a defensive coordinator at Marshall and Miami, his defenses’ average national finish in sack rate was 17th.
And if Memphis’ opener against UNLV was any indication (11 tackles for loss), he has the talent in the trenches to terrorize the American Conference this fall.
But Guidry isn’t just Dr. Blitz. His last unit at Marshall back in 2022 showcased how well-rounded his defenses can be against both the run and the pass.
In 2022, Marshall ranked second in the country in stop rate, third in yards per play allowed and top five in both turnovers generated and run defense.
And I’m here to tell you, he has more talent on this Memphis defense than he did at Marshall.
Of his three all-conference defenders from that 2022 Marshall defense, none made it in the NFL. This season’s Memphis team may have three in J’Mond Tapp, Mike Montgomery and Ian Foster.
They salted away their opener by generating pressure with four and five rushers late in the game, and I expect that to continue in the American.
Will Muschamp, Texas
Former Georgia DA
Coach Boom is back, and he’s looking to give this supremely talented Texas defense an edge this fall.
What we know for sure, as opposed to the Pete Kwiatkowski defenses that came before, is that this year’s UT defense will be far more aggressive.
Muschamp has the talent up front to really get creative, and one way that he thinks outside the box is with “Load Fronts” in passing situations. Essentially, he likes to load up on one side of the ball and create one-on-one matchups on the other side for someone like Colin Simmons to split out wide on the edge.
He was already a star last season (12 sacks), but that was with teams finding ways to double him or sending help from a chipping tight end or a running back. If Muschamp has his way, Simmons will be kicking down doors all season long.
And don’t think that he’s just a Havoc merchant; Muschamp has perfected run fits in his system. As co-DC with Georgia in 2022 and 2023, his defenses were particularly nasty against the run, giving up just 95 yards per game across those two seasons.
On the personnel front, Texas also nabbed one of the most underrated portal assets in Pitt linebacker Rasheem Biles.
Biles was everywhere for the Panthers in 2025, averaging over 10 tackles per game while generating 17 tackles for loss, two pick-sixes, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. He’ll be a missile in Muschamp’s scheme.
Vince Kehres, Syracuse
Former Toledo DC
The Kehres family can coach ball, plain and simple. Vince's father, Larry Kehres, won 11 D-III national championships at Mount Union. Vince followed in his father’s footsteps, winning two with three runner-up finishes in six years.
Then he landed at Toledo with Jason Candle and built elite G5 defenses year after year. His defensive backs were the stuff of MAC legend, from Tycen Anderson and Samuel Womack to Quinyon Mitchell and Emmanuel McNeil-Warren.
He lands on this Syracuse staff with a tall task in front of him. The Orange finished 126th in total defense last fall, and they generated just 10 takeaways.
But if Kehres works his magic with this defensive secondary, which is promising thanks to the duo of Chris Peal and Demetres Samuel, a top-100 defensive finish is absolutely possible.
The difference between an incremental improvement and a top-75 defense will be the defensive line.
The Orange are brand new up front, but intriguing pass rushers like Tunmise Adeleye on the edge and Dillan Fontus at defensive tackle have the talent and experience to turn heads.
This hire flew under the radar, but Kehres could be the reason the Orange are in the mix for a bowl bid late in the season.
Brent Pry, Virginia Tech
Former Virginia Tech HC
Being a great coordinator and being a great head coach are two different endeavors.
Recruiting players and coaches can fill your time as a head coach. Working the boosters is also a time suck that some coaches never quite figure out. But at the end of the day, modern head coaches…coach less.
It’s rare to see a head coach as a play-caller; in fact, it’s often a sign of desperation. But that doesn’t mean that coordinators who rise to head coaching jobs suddenly forget how to call plays.
Brent Pry may have flamed out as VT’s leading man (16-24 SU), but he was an excellent defensive coordinator under James Franklin at Vanderbilt and Penn State.
His multiple 4-3 scheme is built to stop the run and amp up the pressure in passing situations.
He’s a believer in five-man pressures, and he’s mastered the art of sim pressure and blending coverage so that quarterbacks are less confident in their hot reads.
I dabble in coaching lectures every offseason, and Pry is one of the most interesting coaches to listen to when it comes to scheme and philosophy.
In a world where offenses have made life easier on quarterbacks (read: RPO), he’s the counterbalance to that.
When you coach top-10 defenses at three power programs and two FCS stops, you simply get the benefit of the doubt. I’m excited to see what the Pry-Franklin reunion generates this fall.
