Ranking the Best Defensive Coordinators In College Football In 2025

Football is locked in an age of offense. That means that a defensive coordinator who is both creative and effective is more valuable than ever.

While there is no shortage of talented defensive coordinators in FBS college football, the following names are the elite crop of assistants in 2025.

Some will probably be head coaches soon, while others have led programs in the past. But all of them make their teams more dangerous by sharpening the defense’s ability to complicate movement for opposing offenses. 

Best Defensive Coordinators In College Football (2025)

Pete Kwiatkowski – Texas

Like Kyle Flood – who appears on my list of the best offensive coordinators in college football – Kwiatkowski benefits from an unusually long tenure on Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian’s staff.

Kwiatkowski has worked in Austin since 2021 after an extended time in the Pacific Northwest at Washington and Boise State. That time has allowed him to tweak and fine-tune a defense that extensively relies on Texas’ elite athletes in the middle and secondary portions of the defense.

Brad White – Kentucky

White is one of the more unheralded names on this list. The under-the-radar Kentucky DC has consistently kept the Wildcats punching above their weight in the SEC with stingy defenses that limit explosive plays and emphasize down-to-down efficiency.

White has some NFL background, having previously worked with the Colts, and he might one day return to the professional game. Until then, he’s a key reason why Kentucky remains a tough out on the SEC schedule.

Morgan Scalley – Utah

Scalley took up residence with head coach Kyle Whittingham back in 2016 and has made a life of it in Salt Lake City. His units are coached to play RSNB football: relentless, smart, nasty, and ballhawking. 

Utah succeeded in the Pac-12 in part because the trench talent and defensive toughness of Utah played well as a contrarian style against West Coast finesse offenses. With Utah now in the Big 12 – a conference that has become more physical in recent years than outsiders might realize – it remains to be seen how competitive an advantage Utah will retain.

Blake Baker – LSU

A former Manny Diaz assistant at multiple locations, Baker gained greater notoriety after helping transform Missouri’s defense in 2023. 

Baker is now running the show on defense at LSU, where he surely has better recruits and more stopping power than he’s ever had before as a coach. His performance over the next 1-2 years could have an outsized effect on his career trajectory. 

Tony White – Florida State

White is a classic 3-3-5 coordinator who creates aggressive pressures with combination blitzes and secondary ballhawking.

After building strong defensive units at Syracuse (2020-22) and Nebraska (2023-24), Mike Norvell brought him to Tallahassee to help with a much-needed turnaround after Florida State’s dreadful 2024 campaign. Expect the Seminoles’ defense to get good, fast. 

Bryant Haines – Indiana

I’m a little biased here, as I saw Haines work up close during his time at James Madison (2019-23). 

But consider, for a moment, what Haines (and head coach Curt Cignetti) have done. They built a sick defense at a well-funded FCS transition team, then moved the core players of it over to the Big Ten. And at that Big Ten school – which has traditionally never won anything – they ripped off 11 wins and posted an outstanding statistical year.

I get that the schedule was friendly, but Haines is the real deal. His defenses at JMU and Indiana have proven that. When he takes over a defense at a five-star program, watch out.

Jon Heacock – Iowa State

Iowa State was a trendsetter in the Big 12, adopting a contrarian style that focused on defense and ball control when the conference was still in its air raid era.

A big part of that is Heacock, who has steadily developed his defenses on the sidelines in Ames since 2016. Under Matt Campbell, the former Youngstown State head coach has become one of the top assistants in FBS, earning the nod as a Broyles Award finalist on four separate occasions.

Glenn Schumann – Georgia

Schumann has had the benefit of an outstanding real-world education. Having never played college football, he started as a student assistant at Alabama in 2008. He stayed with Saban for six years, then jumped to Athens with Kirby Smart in 2016.

In 2019, Schumann finally earned a role as a coordinator, helping the Bulldogs get over the hump as back-to-back national champions. Georgia’s blended coverages and aggressive pressure packages have become a Schumann special.

Jim Knowles – Penn State

Jim Knowles is officially a national champion after leading the Buckeyes’ elite defense in 2024. 

The former Cornell head coach (2004-09) and longtime assistant spent much of the 2010s at Duke. His work with Ryan Day in Columbus (2022-24) yielded career-best results.

Knowles made the short trip east to Happy Valley in 2025, and now Knowles has a real chance to do what few high-level FBS coaches can: win consecutive national championships at different programs. He’s become one of the top coordinators in all of college football.

Phil Parker – Iowa

Next time you think you have it hard at your job, spare a thought for Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker. This man consistently puts elite defensive units on the field, year after year, with virtually no offensive pressure from the other half of the team to help him. And he’s been there since 2013!

Parker’s accolades include the 2023 Broyles Award and the 2023 AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year – honors that were very nearly required by law after how bad the Iowa offense was that season.

One day, Iowa City will figure out what complementary football is. Until then, they’ll have Parker to just do it all on his own.