Big 12 Coaches Talk Anonymously About Conference Foes for 2026

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May 19, 2026
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It’s not easy getting college football coaches to honestly comment on another coach, player or team. Most coaches don’t want to give opposing teams bulletin board material, which is why there is a lot of coach speak or overused cliches used during the year.

In order to get an accurate assessment of teams heading into 2026, Athlon asked coaches in the Big 12 to talk anonymously about their opponents.

Note: These scouting reports come directly from coaching staffs and do not necessarily reflect the views of Athlon’s editorial staff.

[Editor’s note: This article is from Athlon Sports’ 2026 College Football Preview print magazine. Order your copy today online, or pick one up at retail racks and newsstands nationwide.]

“[QB Noah Fifita] is freaking electric. He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the country. His off-schedule playmaking ability is unbelievable. When he gets flushed out of the pocket, the play begins.”

“I thought their wideouts were really good. Obviously, they didn’t have a guy that was like [former Arizona wide receiver] Tetairoa McMillan, but they were pretty deep, and it felt like every other week, it was a different guy making plays.”

“On defense, they’re so different with [defensive coordinator] Danny Gonzales. No one in the league really plays like them. They’re innovative up front, and they like to play a lot of man coverage on the back end. They had some corners and DBs who could win in man coverage, and any time you can do that, that’s a recipe for success.”

“I’ve been impressed with who they picked up in the portal. The question is, how do those pieces in the portal come together? They’re a tough, physical team, and in the Big 12, it’s more finesse offenses.”

“They’re better across the board; they’re better at wideout. I know they had Jordyn Tyson, but he was kind of in and out of the lineup. [Colorado transfer receiver] Omarion Miller is a special player, [Boston College transfer receiver] Reed Harris is a special player, and they have some young guys that they like.”

“I think they’ll be better on both sides of the line of scrimmage, just with the way they’ve been recruiting. They’ll lose a bit of production in the backfield because I thought Raleek Brown was really, really good. But I’m expecting them to be good.”

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“There are times on film when that defense looks phenomenal. Certain games last year, they’d look great on film, and then there were certain games when they couldn’t stop the run. Against Utah, they were giving up 80-yard runs like it was a cup of water. That’s gonna be their challenge. It’s the consistency. Right now, they’re lacking consistency.”

“I think [head coach] Dave Aranda is the real deal. Scheme-wise, he’s phenomenal. But he’s just a little weird. Maybe a little socially awkward. But he knows football.”

“Maybe he should just be calling plays the whole time. They go through a lot of coaches on defense, too. When you go through a lot of coaches on your staff, that’s a sign.”

“They’re the best team in our conference. They’re the most physical team. They have the best coaches, and they have great energy. They play complementary football — offense, defense, special teams.”

“At the line of scrimmage, they look totally different than any other Big 12 team. I think that program is about to skyrocket.”

“This is the year that they’ll get over the top. If they don’t this year, I don’t know that they ever will. The reason I say that is because of the influx of money they got with their roster.”

“Year 2 with [QB] Bear Bachmeier, Year 4 with LJ Martin, who is one of the best backs in the country, you return a lot of guys on defense that were really productive. [Faletau Satuala] was one of the best — if not the best — safeties we played all year.”

“Losing [quarterback Brendan Sorsby] to Texas Tech is a major loss. He was the engine of that team. He made that team go with his ability to pass the ball, and he helped in the run game a lot. He was just a dynamic player for them. He wasn’t an NFL quarterback in terms of throwing the football, but he was a really good athlete, and he’s a winner. Losing him just shows you in this conference, not everybody is playing by the same rules with revenue sharing. It’s the haves and the have-nots.”

“I’m very intrigued by their defensive coordinator hire [Nate Woody]. He’s got a great track record at Army, and he’s had really good numbers.”

“They’re interesting because you’ve got a young, hungry offensive coordinator who was a head coach [Brennan Marion], which is great experience. I love the defensive coordinator hire, Chris Marve.”

“I really like some of their skill players that they have. They’re always gonna have receivers and DBs. That’s just Deion’s deal.”

“It’s really gonna depend on if they can protect the passer and how good can [Julian Lewis] be in Year 2 while still being a young guy. You just watch them on tape last year, and they didn’t do one thing to help the O-line, help the quarterback to get the ball out to the perimeter or moving the pocket. They get schemed up every week from a protection standpoint. Now, with a new coordinator, you’d hope that would change somewhat.”

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“[Willie Fritz] is a ball coach. You win 10 games at Houston in Year 2 — that’s big-time.”

“Last year, they weren’t as good up front as they’re going to be this year. I thought they got one of the better guards in the portal from Tulane [Shadre Hurst].”

“Getting [Oregon running back transfer] Makhi Hughes will help.”

“[QB] Conner Weigman is a stud. Tough, gritty, winner. Can beat you with his legs, and they’ll run the hell out of him, too. He really understands how to run their offense they want to run.

“They’ve got a couple of really good receivers back. They’ve always been an explosive team, and that’s what I expect them to be again.”

“They lost their best DT, but their DC [Austin Armstrong] is good. They have a lot of speed everywhere.”

“They’ll feel the loss of [former head coach] Matt Campbell more than the loss of [QB] Rocco Becht this year because of how many players and recruits they took [to Penn State href=”https://athlonsports.com/college/penn-state-nittany-lions”]. You’ve also gotta count how many kids they lost to high school recruiting with them getting out of their NILs. Man, it is really, really hard to replace that amount of guys that late.”

“[New head coach ] Jimmy Rogers is a really good coach. I mean, he beat North Dakota State when he was at South Dakota State. Even when he was at Washington State last year, he didn’t have a really good draw. They didn’t have any money. He’s a good coach, but it’s just gonna take time, especially because of how late he got the job.”

“They’re intriguing. You’re no longer the old Kansas, obviously, and now every week, people know that you’re not the old Kansas, and you still get everyone’s best.”

“They have money in the program now. [Head coach] Lance Leipold has some juice.”

“I know that they lost a safety in the portal, and I don’t know what to make of their quarterback situation, but Leipold brought back his old offensive coordinator [Andy Kotelnicki] from Penn State. That’s gonna be good because they also kept their quarterbacks coach [Jim Zebrowski]. When Leipold has had the most success, it’s been when he’s paired with Kotelnicki.”

“I’m interested to see if [new head coach] Collin Klein takes the old Kansas State approach where it’s 12 personnel, two-tight end offense, or kind of what he did at Texas A&M, which is get the ball out in space in 11 personnel.”

“They lost a lot of players in the portal. So with the guys that he signed, what does he want to run? Is it gonna be run the ball, run the ball, power run, use the tight ends, play-action pass? Or is it more 11 personnel, gun-run, get the ball in space? We’ll find out what [Klein] really wants to focus on.”

“Yes, [the North Texas offense] can translate to the Big 12 because of the trigger man. [North Texas transfer] Drew Mestemaker is special. He’s got great vision, and he’s a quick processor. They’ll have a chance because he’s playing quarterback. Now I know that they brought a lot of players in. I get that, but having that elite quarterback, they’ll have a chance. What that means, I don’t know. But they’ll definitely have a chance on offense.”

“[Head coach] Eric Morris has all the right pieces, and he brought pretty much his entire staff from North Texas. I expect them to pick up right where he left off, and he has a background in this conference as well that holds weight.”

“I still think they have good athletes. They can get the ball in space, and they have great team speed, so that’s still gonna be a challenge. But I think the biggest challenge is gonna be when they can play complementary football; they’re always on defense. They need to develop some consistency with what they want to do. Can they get to a power-run game to slow down the game? Can they help the defense out when they’re tired and they’re not having success that game?”

“But they have great talent. Great speed. Great running backs. And they have a great offensive system. They can get the ball in space and to their playmakers, and they do a really good job of creating mismatches for the defensive coaches and players.”

“[Brendan Sorsby] is not gonna be able to play, no matter what they say. There’s no way because once you open Pandora’s Box, it’s over.”

“It’s hard every year when you recruit the portal. Obviously, last year, they hit on all four of those D-linemen. Are they really gonna do that every year? I mean, that’s hard.”

“[Backup QB] Will Hammond is talented, but we all know with an ACL, it takes a long time to recover.”

“I think they’re still ultra-talented, so they can still [win the Big 12]. It’s just not gonna be easy. To me, it was BYU vs. Texas Tech for the Big 12 championship. Can you say that now? I don’t know.”

“I think that once they get the quarterback situation figured out there, they’re going to skyrocket.”

“[Head coach] Scott Frost knows how to win there. Every head coach has won there except for Gus [Malzahn]. But before that, every coach has won big from George O’Leary to Frost, to [current Tennessee head coach] Josh Heupel. They’ve all won and had a lot of success.”

“Frost has a really good offensive scheme, and there are certain players down there [in Florida] that fit his scheme. Once he gets a quarterback at the level that he wants, watch out for them. I’m high on Frost, and I’m high on that program.”

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“I’m really curious what it looks like without [former head coach] Kyle Whittingham.”

“They cause a lot of mismatches because they’re plus-one in the run game with the quarterback and all the pullers and gap schemes that they did.”

“It’s gonna be really interesting to see what their new philosophy is on offense and defense because they did struggle to stop the run last season. I think they were the worst in the Big 12 against the run last year. That’s not them. They’ve always been great up front, so that’ll be interesting.”

“But yeah, it’s definitely a relief that [Whittingham] is out of the Big 12 because he’s a great football coach, and he’s an even better person.”

“It’s very similar to UCF. Once they get a triggerman, watch out for them.”

“[Head coach] Rich Rodriguez wants to get the speed. Those offenses excel when he’s got legit speed at quarterback, at running back and at receiver. I think he’s solving that problem through the portal, with junior-college recruiting and with high school recruiting down in Florida.”

“Once he gets the speed with the gun-run, and the quarterback plus-one in the run game, they’ll have a chance. They didn’t have that last year. We played them, and they didn’t have any team speed. At least not what [Rodriguez] is used to having.”

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on May 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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