High Expectations: Black Head Coaches and the 2025 College Football Season

Frank J. Matthews

Black head football coaches in the elite Power 4 conferences remain a small group for the 2025 college season. There are only 8 among the 68 teams that make up the Power 4. According to The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) the number of Black football players continues to be roughly 46%, which is significantly more than the 12% the 8 Black head coaches represent.

Based on current AP rankings, the 8 head coaches have some of the biggest games of the season. And 3 of the 8 have good odds to make it into the College Football Playoff. Penn State and James Franklin are ranked the highest, currently at number 2. Followed by Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman at number 8 and Michigan and Serrone Moore at number 23.

Here’s a closer look at some of the biggest games for Black head coaches during the 2025 season:

UVA (Tony Elliott) vs. Florida State 9/26/25 – Florida State is currently ranked 10^th so this will be a chance for Virginia to prove itself against a top ranked team.

Syracuse (Fran Brown) vs Clemson 9/20/25 – Clemson is currently ranked 12^th over an unranked Syracuse, based on a close game last year Syracuse could pull off the upset.

Notre Dame (Marcus Freeman) vs Texas A&M 9/13/25 – Notre Dame is currently ranked 8^th and Texas A&M is 16^th. This matchup of top 25 ranked teams will be pivotal for both teams.

Penn State (James Franklin) vs Oregon 9/27/25 – Penn State is currently ranked 2^nd and Oregon is 4^th so this matchup will be epic.

Michigan (Sherrone Moore) vs Ohio State 11/29/25 – Michigan is currently ranked 23^rd while Ohio State is ranked 1^st. Ohio State is the defending National Champion, but Michigan did beat them last season in Columbus, Ohio.

Maryland (Mike Locksley) vs Illinois 11/15/25 – Illinois is currently ranked 9^th so this could potentially give Maryland a chance to beat a top 10 program.

Colorado (Deion Sanders) vs Iowa State 10/11/25 – Iowa State is currently ranked 14^th so Colorado could have a quality win against a top 25 team in this game.

UCLA (DeShaun Foster) vs. Penn State 10/4/25 – Penn State is currently ranked 2^nd so this game will give UCLA the chance to win against the one of the best teams in the country.

Here is a breakdown of Black head football coaches in the Power 4 conferences and dates for some of their biggest games:

Count on Diverse for an end of season update on the outcomes for these 8 coaches and their programs.