The most reliable broad team metric for discipline is penalties.
Of the names we've seen thrown around for Texas including the current head coach only Indiana, OSU and Oregon are in thr top 20.
In 2024 Oregon and OSU were top 20. Indiana was 28, but it was his first year.
If discipline is your top metric those are probably your top 3.
In total offense for 2025 Oregon, Indiana, Ole Miss and Notre Dame are top 20. OSU comes in at 25. In 2024 only Oregon and Texas made the top 25 none top 20.
In total defense for 2025 OSU, Oregon and Indiana are all top 5. Georgia and Alabama are in the top 20 and Texas comes in at 23. In 2024 Indiana, OSU and Texas were top 3, while Ole Miss, Oregon and ND were top 20.
If discipline, defense and offense is your goal the data point to Lanning, Day and Cignetti. Freeman would appear to be a distant 4th with Lane following not to far behind.
That is without consideration of SOS or SOR. However, those have near zero impact on discipline or penalties in broad terms. The metrics for Texas/Sark in penalties is... not good in 2025, 2024, 2023 with the highest ranking twice being 73 out of 133 and considerably lower at 119 this year.
Also this in no way spells out who Texas COULD get as an HC. In that instance Lane appears the most open to a change.