It should come as no surprise that Power 5 coaching staffs are, on average, younger than their Group of 5 counterparts. The Power 5 is a higher level of ball, so it stands to reason it would require some paying of dues to get there.
Now we have some numbers that prove that hunch.
Paul Myerberg of USA Today dug deep to chronicle the ages of 114 of 130 FBS coaching staffs and found that Old Dominion, led by 39-year-old Ricky Rahne, has the youngest staff in FBS with an average age of all its on-the-field coaches at 32.4 years. The next youngest staff belonged to Charlotte and its 35-year-old head coach Will Healy, with an average of 34.
The oldest staff in the country is LSU’s, led by 58-year-old Ed Orgeron with an average of 55.2 years. The defending national champions are easily the oldest staff in the country, beating out Pitt and the Panthers’ 50.1 year average.
In all, 22 of the top 25 and the entire top seven youngest staffs were all at the Group of 5 level.
That’s not to say everyone at the Power 5 level is collecting their AARP card. Far from it. Five Power 5 schools have an average age of 40 or younger, led by Boston College’s 36.7. Duke, led by 65-year-old David Cutcliffe, has an average age of 36.7.
