17. Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia (2024: No. 25)
Rodriguez is back home in Morgantown after Jacksonville State reached a bowl game in each of its first two seasons after making the move to the FBS level. Previously, he went 60-26 from 2001-07 at West Virginia to become the second-winningest coach in program history, behind his old coach, Don Nehlen.Rodriguez, the godfather of the spread-option, led the Mountaineers to three consecutive top-10 seasons, including a No. 5 ranking in 2005, which matched the program’s best finish ever. In six seasons, Rodriguez led WVU to the same number of top-10 finishes as the rest of its coaches combined. He won 26 games in his first three seasons at Arizona; the Wildcats had never won more than that in any three-year stretch.
