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USA Today's Top 25 College Football Coaches
Posted on 5/12/24 at 9:26 am
Posted on 5/12/24 at 9:26 am
#25 -- MARK STOOPS, Kentucky
Kentucky is no longer just known for basketball -- and Mark Stoops is the primary reason why. Using his extensive recruiting ties in both Florida and Ohio, he's built a very strong roster in Lexington. The Wildcats have eight bowl appearances with Stoops as the head coach -- including two 10-win seasons. Considering the history of the program, and the fact they play in the SEC, this is essentially unheard of.
#24 -- JOSH HEUPEL, Tennessee
In just three seasons, Heupel has already brought Tennessee back to national prominence. The Vols are in a spot that they haven't resided in since the late '90s/early '00s. And, Heupel can be credited for that turnaround. He joined Tennessee in the 2021 season after three winning seasons at UCF. Heupel's Vols won 11 games last year and boasted the nation's top-scoring offense. Though some of his biggest playmakers left for the NFL following the '22 season, it doesn't seem like Tennessee's attack will slow down any time soon as long as Heupel is at the helm.
#23 -- Jamey Chadwell, Liberty
#22 -- Jedd Fisch, Washington
#21 -- Dave Doeren, N.C. State
#20 -- ELIAH DRINKWITZ, Missouri
Only 40 years old, Drinkwitz should have a long coaching career ahead of him. Drinkwitz's rise to becoming one of the hottest names in college football seemingly came out of nowhere. Before joining Missouri in 2020, Drinkwitz had been a head coach for one year. In 2019, he led Appalachian State to a 12-1 record. His work that season was enough to convince Mizzou to bring him on as head coach, and that faith is being rewarded. The Tigers were great in 2023 -- finishing the year with an 11-2 record and a national ranking of No. 8.
#19 -- James Franklin, Penn State
#18 -- Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
#17 -- Luke Fickell, Wisconsin
#16 -- Jeff Brohm, Louisville
#15 -- Chris Klieman, Kansas State
#14 -- Lincoln Riley, USC
#13 -- Willie Fritz, Houston
#12 -- Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
#11 -- Dan Lanning, Oregon
#10 -- STEVE SARKISIAN, Texas
Sark is throwing up the horns and is feeling great about the state of his program. Earlier in his coaching career, Sarkisian had underwhelming stints as the head coach at both Washington and USC. His reputation took a hit following his USC tenure, but a nice run as Alabama's offensive coordinator resulted in one more crack at guiding a program. Sark took over as Texas' headman in 2021, and the program took a huge step in '23. The Longhorns knocked off Alabama in Tuscaloosa, went on to win the Big 12, and reached the College Football Playoff for the first time. Now, Sark will look to take over the SEC.
#9 -- LANE KIFFIN, Ole Miss
Kiffin knows how to coach offense -- and he knows how to recruit. The former USC headman seemingly has gotten humbled in recent years. That'll happen when you go from head coach of the (then) Oakland Raiders to running the Florida Atlantic program. This perspective seemingly has done Kiffin a ton of good. He's now a more likable, seemingly down-to-Earth figure. In the process, he took the Ole Miss job with the hopes of turning it into a threat in the loaded SEC West. He's led Ole Miss to Bowl Games in each of his four seasons, and has finished in the top-30 in scoring every year.
#8 -- Mike Norvell, Florida State
#7 -- BRIAN KELLY, LSU
Brian Kelly's decision to leave South Bend for the LSU job was a bit of a gamble. In his last five years at Notre Dame, Kelly won 54 games. He's just over 10 years removed from having the Fighting Irish in the National Title game. However, Kelly believed that making a move to an SEC power could be highly beneficial. In Year 1 with the Tigers, Kelly led LSU to a 10-4 record capped off with a dominant 63-7 Citrus Bowl victory over Purdue. The Tigers are still a step behind the elite teams in the conference, but Kelly has started his tenure with back-to-back 10-win seasons.
#6 -- Lance Leipold, Kansas
#5 -- Ryan Day, Ohio State
#4 -- Dabo Swinney, Clemson
#3 -- Kyle Wittingham, Utah
#2 -- KALEN DeBOER, Alabama
Following a quick rebuild at Fresno State, Kalen DeBoer was plucked by a Washington team in desperate need of a makeover. In his first year with the Huskies, DeBoer led the team to an 11-2 record and a win in the Alamo Bowl. With stars such as QB Michael Penix Jr. and WR's Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan, the Huskies reached the National Championship Game in 2023 -- where they came up short against Michigan. Following Nick Saban's retirement, DeBoer was convinced by Alabama brass to take over the program.
#1 -- KIRBY SMART, Georgia
At only 48 years of age, Kirby Smart is sitting pretty. Smart is coaching a premium program in the heart of the most talent-rich region in the country. He's winning recruiting battles versus Alabama, and can even stake the claim as the current best program within the SEC. Smart has won two National Championships with the Bulldogs, and Georgia should find itself in the playoffs once again in 2024 -- and that's thanks in large part to the job Smart has done building this program and establishing its identity as the current national juggernaut.
Kentucky is no longer just known for basketball -- and Mark Stoops is the primary reason why. Using his extensive recruiting ties in both Florida and Ohio, he's built a very strong roster in Lexington. The Wildcats have eight bowl appearances with Stoops as the head coach -- including two 10-win seasons. Considering the history of the program, and the fact they play in the SEC, this is essentially unheard of.
#24 -- JOSH HEUPEL, Tennessee
In just three seasons, Heupel has already brought Tennessee back to national prominence. The Vols are in a spot that they haven't resided in since the late '90s/early '00s. And, Heupel can be credited for that turnaround. He joined Tennessee in the 2021 season after three winning seasons at UCF. Heupel's Vols won 11 games last year and boasted the nation's top-scoring offense. Though some of his biggest playmakers left for the NFL following the '22 season, it doesn't seem like Tennessee's attack will slow down any time soon as long as Heupel is at the helm.
#23 -- Jamey Chadwell, Liberty
#22 -- Jedd Fisch, Washington
#21 -- Dave Doeren, N.C. State
#20 -- ELIAH DRINKWITZ, Missouri
Only 40 years old, Drinkwitz should have a long coaching career ahead of him. Drinkwitz's rise to becoming one of the hottest names in college football seemingly came out of nowhere. Before joining Missouri in 2020, Drinkwitz had been a head coach for one year. In 2019, he led Appalachian State to a 12-1 record. His work that season was enough to convince Mizzou to bring him on as head coach, and that faith is being rewarded. The Tigers were great in 2023 -- finishing the year with an 11-2 record and a national ranking of No. 8.
#19 -- James Franklin, Penn State
#18 -- Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
#17 -- Luke Fickell, Wisconsin
#16 -- Jeff Brohm, Louisville
#15 -- Chris Klieman, Kansas State
#14 -- Lincoln Riley, USC
#13 -- Willie Fritz, Houston
#12 -- Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
#11 -- Dan Lanning, Oregon
#10 -- STEVE SARKISIAN, Texas
Sark is throwing up the horns and is feeling great about the state of his program. Earlier in his coaching career, Sarkisian had underwhelming stints as the head coach at both Washington and USC. His reputation took a hit following his USC tenure, but a nice run as Alabama's offensive coordinator resulted in one more crack at guiding a program. Sark took over as Texas' headman in 2021, and the program took a huge step in '23. The Longhorns knocked off Alabama in Tuscaloosa, went on to win the Big 12, and reached the College Football Playoff for the first time. Now, Sark will look to take over the SEC.
#9 -- LANE KIFFIN, Ole Miss
Kiffin knows how to coach offense -- and he knows how to recruit. The former USC headman seemingly has gotten humbled in recent years. That'll happen when you go from head coach of the (then) Oakland Raiders to running the Florida Atlantic program. This perspective seemingly has done Kiffin a ton of good. He's now a more likable, seemingly down-to-Earth figure. In the process, he took the Ole Miss job with the hopes of turning it into a threat in the loaded SEC West. He's led Ole Miss to Bowl Games in each of his four seasons, and has finished in the top-30 in scoring every year.
#8 -- Mike Norvell, Florida State
#7 -- BRIAN KELLY, LSU
Brian Kelly's decision to leave South Bend for the LSU job was a bit of a gamble. In his last five years at Notre Dame, Kelly won 54 games. He's just over 10 years removed from having the Fighting Irish in the National Title game. However, Kelly believed that making a move to an SEC power could be highly beneficial. In Year 1 with the Tigers, Kelly led LSU to a 10-4 record capped off with a dominant 63-7 Citrus Bowl victory over Purdue. The Tigers are still a step behind the elite teams in the conference, but Kelly has started his tenure with back-to-back 10-win seasons.
#6 -- Lance Leipold, Kansas
#5 -- Ryan Day, Ohio State
#4 -- Dabo Swinney, Clemson
#3 -- Kyle Wittingham, Utah
#2 -- KALEN DeBOER, Alabama
Following a quick rebuild at Fresno State, Kalen DeBoer was plucked by a Washington team in desperate need of a makeover. In his first year with the Huskies, DeBoer led the team to an 11-2 record and a win in the Alamo Bowl. With stars such as QB Michael Penix Jr. and WR's Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan, the Huskies reached the National Championship Game in 2023 -- where they came up short against Michigan. Following Nick Saban's retirement, DeBoer was convinced by Alabama brass to take over the program.
#1 -- KIRBY SMART, Georgia
At only 48 years of age, Kirby Smart is sitting pretty. Smart is coaching a premium program in the heart of the most talent-rich region in the country. He's winning recruiting battles versus Alabama, and can even stake the claim as the current best program within the SEC. Smart has won two National Championships with the Bulldogs, and Georgia should find itself in the playoffs once again in 2024 -- and that's thanks in large part to the job Smart has done building this program and establishing its identity as the current national juggernaut.
This post was edited on 5/12/24 at 10:48 am
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Posted on 5/12/24 at 9:32 am to JetDawg
Good list. I’m surprised to see Leipold that high when he has done nothing much as of yet unless KU defeating OU and getting to a bowl is considered a big deal.
I’d think Gundy and Riley would be higher.
Swinney is falling. His relevance is slowly declining but those two national titles still help.
Smart is easily the undisputed #1.
I’d think Gundy and Riley would be higher.
Swinney is falling. His relevance is slowly declining but those two national titles still help.
Smart is easily the undisputed #1.
Posted on 5/12/24 at 9:35 am to JetDawg
DeBoer is a good coach, but there's absolutely no reason to have him ranked #2 in the nation.
Posted on 5/12/24 at 9:48 am to JetDawg
What a copy-and-paste pile of worthless material. Those thoughts had to come from either a junior in high school or a 1000-mile-high worldview.
Posted on 5/12/24 at 10:23 am to JetDawg
I like how both sources and methodology where presented with the list. Mostly because no standard methodology was employed and the talking head that created list likely doesn’t know anything about the coaches other than they coach at X school plus a blurb from Wikipedia.
Posted on 5/12/24 at 11:47 am to JetDawg
quote:
Heupel has already brought Tennessee back to national prominence.
National prominence must be a low bar for that writer.
Posted on 5/12/24 at 12:28 pm to JetDawg
The Freeze snub is obvious. They even ranked his replacement at Liberty in the top 25 
This post was edited on 5/12/24 at 12:29 pm
Posted on 5/13/24 at 9:39 am to JetDawg
Hard to argue that Kiffin, Sark and Drink (unfortunate word combination that) are doing a spectacular job at their respective schools. Kiffin has Ole Miss in the conversation for a natty, Sark was a few plays away from one and Drink has Missouri in a position of being a tough out that no one wants to face....time will tell with DeBoer
Posted on 5/13/24 at 9:55 am to JetDawg
I might get some grief from other Mizzou fans but I think Drink's ranking is a little high, or higher than some other coaches that shouldn't. I hate Tennessee, but I would probably put Heupel higher right now. 2022 for Tenn was 2023 for Mizzou, or pretty close. Tenn probably had a better season outside of the USCe loss. They kinda blew it. But I want Drink to string together top 25 seasons in a row. This year is such a huge season and he has momentum. I think there is some recency bias. Leipold at #6 is crazy to me, he has resurrected a dead fake bird program, but is not better than the 20 or so ranked behind him. Same with Fritz.
Posted on 5/13/24 at 9:58 am to JetDawg
Fat Josh too high at #24
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