We have been having some fun debates at SGI on who we think is leading our College Football Coach of the Year for the 22 College Teams we cover?
For our All-SGI College Football teams, the vote for Coach of the Year looks like it is going to be one of our most hotly debated votes.
We have 6 clear leaders right now for Coach of the Year….all of them are deserving of being Coach of the Year if we counted votes only through Week 7.
Our Top 6 in no particular order….
E.J. Peterson, a proud alumnus of Grand View University, he stepped into the role of Head Coach after six seasons as the Vikings’ Defensive Coordinator and Assistant Coach. He has led the defending National Champion Vikings to a perfect 6-0 start and #1 NAIA ranking.
Joel Penner became the head coach of the Dordt Defender football program in 2016, and has built them into a top #10 team in NAIA. Dordt only started football in 2008. Coach Penner’s Dordt Defenders are off to 6-0 start in 2025.
Chris Winter is in his fifth season as the head coach at Wartburg in 2025, after serving with the Wartburg football coaching staff for 16 years. He has won 50 games already and taken the Knights to the NCAA DIII semi-finals in 2022 and 2023. The Knights are perfect 7-0 so far this season.
Central College’s Jeff McMartin is the seventh-winningest active football coach in the NCAA Division III. McMartin, who took over in 2004, has posted an impressive 163-50 (.765) record. The Dutch are 7-0 so far in 2025.
Marc Benavidez is in his third year as Head Football Coach at William Penn. The Statesmen are 6-1 and ranked #25 in NAIA. The Statesmen have been playing football since 1892 with a .396 winning percentage. They are exceeding all preseason expectations in Oskaloosa, by far this fall.
Joe Woodley, became Head Coach for Drake this spring. He had just led the Grandview Vikings to the NAIA National title. During his time as Head Coach at Grandview he amassed a record of 72-5 and never lost a regular season game. He has jumped in with both feet at Drake, and the Bulldogs lead the Pioneer Football League (FCS) with a 3-0 start. When a coach leaves (Drake Coach Todd Stepsis moved to UNI this fall) at the FCS or FBS level in the portal age, it is a huge roster rebuild. Coach Woodley putting Drake right back at the top of the PFL with a major roster rebuild is very impressive.
Who would we vote for as Head Coach of the Year today?
Any of these six head coaches are deserving. We will thankfully get to see how the entire season plays out, as we will weigh postseason performance heavily in our votes.
It’s been a special fall Iowa College football season this year, with 10 of the 22 teams that we cover in postseason playoff contention (Morningside, Coe, Upper Iowa, and Northwestern all still may make the playoffs). Those postseason runs will make our decision on Coach of the Year easier, and it is likely that many of these Head Coaches will be winning their conference and regional coach of the year awards…and contend for national recognition.
As always, we appreciate your comments and support.
