Every year we take the time to look at each head coach across the Mountain West and do our best to rank them from best to worst. With our coverage extending to the PAC 12 this upcoming season, we are going to be previewing both conferences. Without further ado, here are the Good, Bad, and Ugly of PAC 12 head coaches.
Danielson still has a lot to prove, but three consecutive Mountain West championships is nothing to scoff at. 2026 will be the year we learn what he is made of. The Broncos may have won a league championship last fall, but many fans considered the season a disappointment. Danielson and his staff have done an excellent job of retaining key players, and the Broncos should have one of the most experienced squads in the conference. The Broncos’ success will likely come down to Maddux Madsen’s ability to take the next step. Danielson is a loyal guy; this season we will learn if that loyalty will pay off or if Danielson will have to accept the fact that loyalty seems to be a forgotten concept in the world of college athletics.
The most experienced and perhaps the most decorated coach in the PAC 12 is Utah’s State’s Bronco Mendenhall. I went back and forth on where to put Mendenhall. He has coached some really good football teams, but what I have seen from his defenses the past two seasons has me concerned. But Mendenhall knows football and he has been around the college game for decades. It might take this team a year or two to hang with the Boise States and Washington States, but they will get there sooner rather than later.
Entz gets the award for most underrated coach in the conference. The former North Dakota State head coach is an old school tough guy and the style of play we saw from the Bulldogs last season reflects that. Entz is a winner and he’s proved that everywhere he has been. Fresno State showed significant growth last fall and if it weren’t for inconsistent quarterback play, they might have had a chance to win the Mountain West. Keep an eye out for this team this fall, I like their chances to sneak into the conference championship game.
The Aztecs showed a ton of progress this past season, but I’m not quite sold on Lewis yet. That’s why he’s just outside of the “Good” category. The Aztecs narrowly missed out on an opportunity to play for the Mountain West championship last season and it was largely because they struggled to put up points. Lewis was brought to San Diego to turn around an offense that has struggled for most of the last decade. However, last year’s team looked a lot like the squads we saw under Rocky Long and Brady Hoke. Lewis needs to prove he can get the offense going before he can move up in the rankings.
It might be my background as a Boise State alum, but this was my favorite hire of the offseason by a PAC 12 or Mountain West program. The Moore family knows football and they know the state of Washington. Moore still might be relatively new to the world of college football, but for a program that doesn’t have the cash it once had, this is the perfect hire to take a chance on. Moore has done a nice job of filling in holes on the offensive side via the transfer portal, but I’m not quite sold on the staff he is building in Pullman. The hiring of Matt Miller as offensive coordinator was a bit of a head-scratcher, and the inexperience on the defensive side of the ball could be a problem for the Cougars.
I was surprised to see the Rams get someone with Mora’s pedigree. After his success at UCONN, Mora was rumored to be a candidate for a number of Power Four openings. Mora brings with him almost all of his coaching staff from Hartford and a bunch of his players followed him to Fort Collins. While I have a ton of respect for Mora and think this will be a great hire in the long-term, I’m not sure he has the players to compete with the top half of this conference. The goal in Fort Collins should be a bowl game this fall. If they do that, their fans should feel really good about their future.
The Shepherd hire might work out great. He has a ton of energy and appears to be a great recruiter, but I felt this hire was a bit underwhelming. Shepherd does not have any experience as a coordinator and does not have much experience coaching on the West Coast. He is going to need to lean heavily on his assistant coaching staff and work on building relationships with high school coaches in California if he is going to build this program to what it once was. As I stated earlier, this hire might end up working out, but I’m not sold.
Kinne is young and has a great football mind, but let’s be honest, this isn’t the Sun Belt anymore. Texas State was wildly inconsistent last season and looked very undisciplined at times. Kinne is a good coach and if he sticks around, I believe he can turn this program into a consistent winner. However, he does not have the resume of many of the coaches in the PAC 12 and will need to prove himself this fall. I am a fan of his high school recruiting class and think this team has some young pieces that can help them compete in the future. But I expect the 2026 season to be a rough one for Kinne and the Bobcats.
How do you feel about your team’s head coach heading into the season? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.