Top-25 HCs in College Football-2026

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/2026-college-football-coach-rankings-top-25-power-four/

1. Curt Cignetti, Indiana

Google him, and you'll now see "CBSSports.com's No. 1 coach" come up in the results. Well, assuming Google still even shows search results anymore, anyway. Curt Cignetti has taken college football by storm. He's done the seemingly impossible by turning Indiana into a national champion in only two seasons. It's not simply that he did it, either, but how he did it. He went on the road and beat Oregon during the regular season. He beat No. 1 Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship. He crushed Alabama by 35 in the Rose Bowl and followed it up with a 34-point win over Oregon in the Peach Bowl. Then he took down a Miami team that was peaking at the right time in the postseason. Cignetti and the Hoosiers overcame every obstacle in their path, often obliterating it beyond recognition and did something nobody could've dreamed of only three seasons ago. If he can do that, how can any of us be surprised to see him No. 1 here too? 2025 rank 21 (+20), High 1, Low 3

2. Kirby Smart, Georgia

Kirby Smart is in a similar boat to Day right now. He's one of the most accomplished coaches in the country. He's won two national titles, and every year his program is expected to compete for another. But last year ended on a sour note. The Dawgs won the SEC again but failed to win a playoff game. They have not won a playoff game since winning the national title in 2022. I don't think that's why Smart fell out of the No. 1 spot (it's more about the accomplishments of the man who usurped him), but it probably played a role. Smart still received four first-place votes (one from me), but it wasn't enough to hold onto No. 1. 2025 rank 1 (-1), High 1, Low 3

3. Ryan Day, Ohio State

Ohio State was unable to follow up its national title with another in 2025. The Buckeyes finished 12-2 overall and went 9-0 in conference play before falling to eventual national champion Indiana in the conference title game. They were also upset in their lone playoff game by the Miami team that would also lose to Indiana. So while Day finally got over that Michigan hump, nobody at Ohio State will ever be happy about finishing the season on a two-game losing streak. Given what he's accomplished through his entire career, though, nobody on our panel even thought about ranking him lower than third. That said, Day didn't garner a single first-place vote after picking some up last year. 2025 rank 2 (-1), High 2, Low 3

4. Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame

The way Notre Dame's season ended doesn't sit well with me (I don't care if you got screwed, you're a football team, play football), but I didn't let that affect how I ranked Marcus Freeman on my ballot. I was one of five voters to rank him fourth, and no one ranked Freeman lower than seventh. He has taken what Brian Kelly built at Notre Dame and improved upon it in many ways. Once viewed as one of the most overrated teams year after year, Notre Dame is now seen as a legitimate national title contender, and Freeman is a massive reason why. 2025 rank 6 (+2), High 4, Low 7

5. Dan Lanning, Oregon

Dan Lanning has been at Oregon for four seasons and gone 48-8 with a conference record of 32-4 across two leagues. After winning the Big Ten in his first season, Oregon failed to reach the Big Ten title game last year, but won its first two playoff games since beating Florida State in the first CFP back in 2014. Lanning has achieved a lot, and many view him as the next coach to win their first national title. He has the resume of one of the five best coaches in the country, but until he breaks through with that national title, it's hard to justify moving him up higher than this. 2025 rank 5 (0), High 4, Low 7

6. Steve Sarkisian, Texas

The 2026 season might be career-defining for Steve Sarkisian. Texas began last season at No. 1 in the polls and quickly failed to live up to the expectations. They lost their season opener to Ohio State, and then lost a game they shouldn't have against Florida before losing (again) to Georgia later in the season. That Florida loss ultimately kept Texas out of the playoffs. Now we enter the 2026 season, and the Longhorns will have similar expectations. Sarkisian has gone 35-8 over the last three seasons and is 13-3 in the SEC. He's won two playoff games. But if Texas comes up short again, I don't know what might happen, especially if Texas Tech and Texas A&M continue to succeed. 2025 rank 4 (-2), High 6, Low 10

7. Mario Cristobal, Miami

Mario Cristobal is genuinely one of my favorite kinds of coaches. He had plenty of successful seasons at Oregon before the Miami job, but as good as he was at so many aspects of the gig, he had shortcomings. However, unlike many people who choose to "block out the haters," Cristobal acknowledged his shortcomings and then took a crazy approach: he went to work on fixing them. He surrounded himself with staff members who could help him. That's what great leaders do! The result was a run all the way to the national title game, where Cristobal's Miami team came a touchdown shy of winning a national title. 2025 rank 20 (+13), High 4, Low 11

8. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama

The way Alabama's season ended leaves a sour taste in fans' mouths. The Tide lost to Georgia in the SEC Championship by 21 points, and then followed up a first-round road playoff win over Oklahoma with a 35-point drubbing by Indiana in the Rose Bowl. Nobody at Alabama will be happy with four-loss seasons any time soon, but DeBoer has led two different programs to the playoffs in the last three seasons. That's not an achievement that's easily overlooked. 2025 rank 9 (+1), High 5, Low 14

9. Lane Kiffin, LSU

Lane Kiffin shies away from the spotlight as much as possible, but darn it, that doesn't stop us from recognizing his abilities as a coach! OK, so, in all seriousness, a lot of things can be said about Kiffin and how he handles his business off the field. There aren't nearly as many things that can be said about his ability as a coach other than "he's pretty damn good at it." He left a program that he had in the playoffs for one he believes gives him a better chance to win a national title. That means he'd better do it (and soon), or he could suffer the same fate as the LSU coach who we had ranked in the top 10 at this time last year, too. 2025 rank 12 (+3), High 7, Low 15

10. Kyle Whittingham, Michigan

Kyle Whittingham didn't want to leave Utah, but he probably can't feel too bad about where he ended up. Whit has long been either in our top 10 or just on the periphery of it, so this spot is not a result of him being at a blue-blood program. However, like Matt Campbell at Penn State, I wonder how he'll be judged going forward, given the very different expectations at his new job than at his last gig. 2025 rank 11 (+1), High 7, Low 18