Brent Vigen tops FCS coach rankings after Montana State title run

1. Brent Vigen, Montana State

Vigen sits alone at the top because Montana State turned a 41-year championship drought into a 35-34 overtime win over Illinois State and finished 2024 with a school-best 15-1 record. He entered 2025 at 47-10 with two Big Sky titles, four straight postseason trips and the Eddie Robinson Award already on his résumé, and the 2026 slate keeps the pressure real with Nevada on the road, a nationally televised trip there, and the season ending against Montana in Bozeman.

2. Brock Spack, Illinois State

Spack remains the standard for staying power in Normal, where he has won 123 games and stands far ahead of every other coach in Illinois State history. The Redbirds just took Montana State to overtime in the national title game, so anything short of another Missouri Valley push by midseason would make this No. 2 slot look generous rather than ambitious.

3. Dan Jackson, South Dakota State

Jackson inherits the hardest kind of expectation, the kind that comes with replacing a championship pipeline and being judged against the Jackrabbits' recent standard. South Dakota State already brought in 17 mid-year transfers, plays seven home games in 2026, and opens with Stetson before a road trip to Northwestern, so the first month will tell whether Jackson can keep the brand as sharp as it was under the previous regime.

4. Tim Plough, UC Davis

Plough gave UC Davis a school-record 11 wins, an 11-3 finish and a No. 5 national ranking in his first season, then got rewarded with a five-year extension through 2031. That kind of commitment says the Aggies believe they can stay in the Big Sky title conversation, and the only thing that will validate this ranking is another run that turns a fast rise into a habit.

5. Chennis Berry, South Carolina State

Berry has turned South Carolina State into an HBCU standard-bearer, going 19-6 overall and 10-0 in MEAC play while stacking back-to-back league titles and the 2025 HBCU national championship. He is already using the summer to sell the program through his 1-0 Mindset camps at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium, and the only thing that really matters now is whether that culture keeps producing the same clean conference dominance.

6. Tre Lamb, East Tennessee State

Lamb brought a clear winning résumé to ETSU after back-to-back conference championships and playoff appearances at Gardner-Webb, and the Buccaneers locked him in through the 2028 season. That contract matters because ETSU is trying to convert stability into actual Southern Conference noise, not just another respectable fall.

7. Kevin Cahill, Lehigh

Cahill turned Lehigh into a national talking point with the program's 13th Patriot League title in 2024 and the second-largest turnaround in FCS football that season, then followed it with a long-term extension after winning the 2025 Eddie Robinson Award. The Mountain Hawks now have to prove that one league crown was a breakthrough rather than a spike.

8. Trei Oliver, North Carolina Central

Oliver has given NCCU a real ceiling, not just a good season, with a 37-21 record in five years, a share of the 2022 MEAC title and a Celebration Bowl win over Jackson State for the HBCU national championship. The Eagles have gone 4-1 in MEAC play in each of the last four seasons, so the 2026 question is whether staff turnover changes the standard or just the names around it.

9. Joel Taylor, Mercer

Taylor arrives in Macon after leading West Georgia to 12 victories across its first two FCS seasons, and Mercer already has him framed as the man to chase a third straight Southern Conference championship in 2026. The opener against East Texas A&M in the 9th annual FCS Kickoff puts him on a national stage before the leaves even turn.

10. Bobby Wilder, Tennessee Tech

Wilder's first season at Tennessee Tech ended with a share of the Big South-OVC Football Association championship, 11 wins in 2025 and the school's first seven-win season since 2011. The standard now is no longer just competence, it is whether an aggressive offense and stingy defense can keep turning Cookeville into a real league threat.

Carthel has spent seven seasons turning East Texas familiarity into a recruiting edge, and SFA's own staff page credits him with four coach of the year honors and the program's 2022 WAC championship. The 2026 schedule opens at McNeese State and quickly runs through East Texas A&M, Abilene Christian and Prairie View A&M, which means his team gets tested immediately.

12. Damon Wilson, Morgan State

Wilson is a 25-year coaching veteran who has already put players and coaches into the NFL, AFL and other pro leagues, which gives Morgan State a level of credibility it has been trying to build for years. He was named the Bears' 23rd head coach in 2022, and the next step is turning that veteran résumé into a cleaner week-to-week MEAC climb.

13. Mike London, William & Mary

London enters 2026 as the Tribe's head coach after guiding William & Mary to five consecutive winning campaigns for the first time in nearly three decades and reaching his 100th career victory. That kind of record matters in the CAA because it shows the program is not just hanging around the playoff bubble, it is building a real annual floor.

14. Russ Huesman, Richmond

Huesman is into his 10th season at Richmond and remains the second-winningest coach in program history, a reminder that the Spiders' identity still runs through his staff. In a league where one bad September can ruin a seed chase, that kind of continuity is exactly what keeps Richmond relevant.

15. Tom Perkovich, UAlbany

Perkovich takes over at UAlbany as only the third full-time head coach in program history, a sign that the Great Danes are trying to turn continuity into a bigger CAA footprint. His hire came with more than two decades of experience, and his first season will be judged on whether Albany can keep rising instead of merely resetting.

16. Tony Trisciani, Elon

Trisciani begins his eighth season in 2026, and his background is exactly what a steady CAA program wants: 30 years of coaching, 19 of them in league country, with a track record of championship development on defense. Elon does not need a reinvention, it needs the same disciplined edge to keep winning close games.

17. Eric Kjar, Weber State

Kjar starts his first season as Weber State's head coach after being hired in December 2025 following unprecedented success as a Utah high school coach. The Wildcats are betting that local ties and a new voice can produce a faster rebound than a traditional rebuild would allow.

18. Bobby Kennedy, Montana

Montana turned to Kennedy as its 38th head coach on February 5, 2026, leaning on a veteran with championship pedigree who had just spent 2025 as the Grizzlies' wide receivers coach. The schedule gives him a fierce proving ground, with three straight home games to open and a regular-season finish at Montana State.

19. Clint Killough, UIW

Killough took UIW to the FCS semifinals in the best season in program history, then became the Cardinals' all-time winningest head coach with 25 victories in his third season. That is the kind of rise that can slip into national relevance quickly, but only if UIW's flashes turn into another deep bracket run.

20. Alonzo Hampton, Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Hampton's pitch at UAPB is rooted in recruiting and retention, and he said this year's class is among the best he has signed since arriving because it fits the culture of accountability, discipline and development. If that 26-signee haul becomes actual SWAC production, the Golden Lions can climb out of the footnotes and into the conversation.