Did Jimmy Rogers (2023) and Tim Polasek (2024) start a new trend after winning FCS titles in their first years as head coaches for their programs? If so, here are the top candidates to continue the trend of rookie title-winning head coaches.
Thomas Ford 鈥 Idaho
Idaho has advanced to the FCS quarterfinals in each of the last two seasons. Now with Thomas Ford taking over, the goal is to keep climbing upwards this fall. Ford leads the No. 12 preseason-ranked Vandals into a season where they look to prove to doubters that they still belong at the top of the Big Sky.
RANKINGS: AFCA Coaches Poll | STATS PERFORM | Preseason HBCU Power Rankings
Dan Jackson 鈥 South Dakota State
South Dakota State鈥檚 last head coach, Jimmy Rogers, won an FCS title in his first year as head coach in 2023. The standard in Brookings is now championship or bust, and Dan Jackson, a former Jackrabbit player, knows the expectations this fall. This is a team with championship talent and championship goals. We鈥檒l soon find out if they have a championship coach.
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Travis Johansen 鈥 South Dakota
Travis Johansen helped South Dakota have the No. 2 total defense in the MVFC and No. 7 scoring defense in the FCS as the defensive coordinator last year. Now Johansen takes over as the head coach for a team that received the No. 4 seed in the FCS playoffs a season ago.
Expectations are high for South Dakota this fall as the Coyotes finally look to get over the hump. Johansen could be the head coach to lead them to the promised land.
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Brennan Marion 鈥 Sacramento State
Brennan Marion has a championship-level roster in his first year at the helm. He brings the GoGo offense that could also shake up the FCS. If Sacramento State鈥檚 newcomers gel quickly, the Hornets and Marion could be title contenders.
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Todd Stepsis 鈥 Northern Iowa
Drake made the FCS playoffs for the first time in the program鈥檚 history in 2023 and then followed that up with another appearance in 2024. The head coach of those teams was Todd Stepsis, the new head coach at Northern Iowa.
While it鈥檒l be an uphill battle for Stepsis to win a title out of an MVFC where his team was predicted to finish eighth, it鈥檚 not impossible. Stepsis won six games in his first year back in 2019 at Drake, so he鈥檚 used to a quick turnaround.
