This is the 11th season we've ranked Power Four coaches at CBSSports.com, and this year's top 25 might have the most changes year-over-year since we started. To start, four coaches climbed at least 15 spots from last year in our top 25, with three of them climbing at least 20 spots.
Furthermore, we also saw two of our top 10 coaches last season lose their jobs during the 2025 season. One of them remains in our top 25 this year, though he's no longer in our top 10. He's not the only coach to suffer that fate: four of our top 10 coaches in 2025 are no longer considered top 10 in 2026.
Oh, and we have a new No. 1. I don't want to spoil anything, but let's just say that our new No. 1 coach is the first in history to jump from outside the top 20 one year to the top spot the next. Any guesses?
Before we get to the list, don't forget to check out where the coaches who finished outside the top 25 were ranked. Also, if you haven't read that story yet, I will remind you that there is no set criterion for how we ask our panel of 10 voters to rank coaches. It's an inexact science in an inexact world, baby.
25. Bret Bielema, Illinois
Illinois has won eight or more games in a season only five times this century. Bret Bielema is responsible for three of them in the last four years. Bielema's Illini finished 9-4 last year and have gone 11-7 in the Big Ten and 4-0 against the other three Power Four leagues over the last two seasons. 2025 rank 23 (-2), High 18, Low 32
24. Jeff Brohm, Louisville
Louisville has been remarkably consistent under Jeff Brohm. They've finished each of his three seasons with four losses, but the problem is that after going 7-1 in the ACC in Brohm's first season, they've gone 5-3 and then 4-4 last year. That's led to Brohm sliding down our voters' ballots, but for now, he remains one of the 25 best. 2025 rank 17 (-7), High 19, Low 45
23. Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri
Mizzou took a step backward last year, finishing 8-5 after posting a mark of 21-5 the prior two seasons. Quarterback injuries played a big role in that slide, but Drinkwitz's Tiger teams have finished each of the last three years at .500 or better in SEC play. Still, if he's going to climb into the top 20 or higher, he probably needs to start winning more games against the top tier of SEC programs. 2025 rank 24 (+1), High 16, Low 32
22. Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State
The Sun Devils didn't return to the College Football Playoff in 2025, finishing 8-5, but they still went 6-3 in the Big 12. As a result, Dillingham only slips a bit in the rankings after a massive 46-spot climb last year. He lost his quarterback to the portal this winter, but Dillingham has a successful enough track record with signal callers that expectations remain high. There's a reason you hear his name floated about at "bigger" jobs when they have an opening. 2025 rank 18 (-4), High 13, Low 27
21. Joey McGuire, Texas Tech
So I guess if you finish 12-2, win your conference, and get to the CFP after putting together an incredible transfer class, our voters will reward you for it. Yeah, I was not surprised to see McGuire climb 27 spots to No. 21 in our rankings this season, and you shouldn't be either. This is a Texas Tech program poised to be a Big 12 powerhouse for a while. 2025 rank 48 (+27), High 15, Low 29
20. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
Kirk Ferentz falls a spot in our rankings this year, and it's primarily due to one rogue voter. The lowest he finished on any of our ballots was 32nd, but that voter was the only one of us who had Ferentz outside their top 25. Every other vote placed him between 14 and 25. That was enough to drag him beneath a couple of names that, with all due respect to those coaches, Ferentz should not be ranked behind. 2025 rank 19 (-1), High 14, Low 32
19. Josh Heupel, Tennessee
It's not a strong argument, but an argument can be made that Heupel's 8-5 mark in 2025 was more impressive than his 10-3 mark and playoff berth in 2024. Given the losses the Vols team had, both natural (draft departures, injuries) and otherwise (The Nico Saga), there was potential to see them bottom out in 2025. It didn't happen, and Heupel deserves plenty of credit for that. 2025 rank 16 (-3), High 15, Low 26
18. Willie Fritz, Houston
Willie Fritz has always been a favorite among many on our panel, and seeing him win 10 games with Houston last year gave us the excuse we've long wanted to rank him even higher this year (it was hard to justify coming off a 4-8 season in 2024). Fritz is one of the year's bigger climbers, jumping 23 spots from 41st last year. If the Coogs flirt with 10 wins again this year, I can't promise we won't put him in the top 10 next year. 2025 rank 41 (+23), High 13, Low 27
17. Lincoln Riley, USC
Riley's star continues to fade among our panel, but there's still far too much respect for what he accomplished at Oklahoma to ding him too much. He was considered a top 25 coach by every one of our 10 voters, but I don't know if that'll still be the case next year if USC doesn't make a serious playoff push in 2026. 2025 rank 13 (-4), High 12, Low 25
16. Matt Campbell, Penn State
It'll be interesting to see how Campbell is viewed by our voters going forward. For years, he received plenty of credit for his ability to punch up and play the underdog role at Iowa State. Now he's at the helm of a Penn State program that wants to compete for Big Ten and national titles. An 11-3 record at Iowa State was viewed as an incredible achievement. At Penn State, it's just another season. 2025 rank 10 (-6), High 11, Low 22
15. Rhett Lashlee, SMU
While I can't speak for all our voters, there was a sense of "that was an impressive first season in the ACC, but I'd like to see you do it again" to Lashlee's results last year. While the Mustangs didn't quite do it again in 2025, they did still go 6-2 in the ACC. That's a 14-2 mark in conference play since joining the league. In four years at SMU, Lashlee has gone 27-5 in conference play across two leagues. It's starting to feel a lot more like signal than noise, and that's reflected in his climb to the top 15. 2025 rank 22 (+7), High 10, Low 19
14. Mike Elko, Texas A&M
Mike Elko is one of the coaches who climbed from outside the top 25 last year into it this year. That tends to happen after a CFP berth. Elko has already delivered what Jimbo Fisher never could in College Station, and only needed two seasons to do so. He's 12-4 in the SEC and has consistently fielded one of the more talented teams in a conference full of talent. Now all he has to do is maintain that level of success. That's easy to do, right? 2025 rank 29 (+15), High 10, Low 27
13. James Franklin, Virginia Tech
How many Penn State fans are fuming that the coach they fired is ranked three spots higher than the coach they hired to replace him? Probably a few. Things clearly did not go as planned for Franklin at Penn State last season. It's why he was fired, and it's why he's no longer in our top 10 after falling six spots in these rankings. Still, while Big Game James might've been given that moniker sarcastically, there are few coaches in the sport with the overall success Franklin has achieved in his career. Nobody will be surprised if Virginia Tech returns to the top of the ACC soon. 2025 rank 7 (-6), High 8, Low 20
12. Kalani Sitake, BYU
Kalani Sitake finished 26th last year, just outside our top 25, but climbs 14 spots after another strong season at BYU. Sitake's Cougars are 23-4 over the last two seasons and reached the Big 12 Championship last year. If they can figure out how to get over the Texas Tech hump and reach the CFP in 2026, Sitake will likely climb into our top 10. Maybe our voters will receive free cookies if he does. 2025 rank 26 (+14), High 5, Low 24
11. Dabo Swinney, Clemson
It seems the respect for Dabo's past accomplishments has begun to wane among our panel. Swinney has won two national titles, so I don't know how one of our voters can truly justify ranking him 28th (nobody else had him lower than 15th), but none of us can ignore recent results, either. Swinney has been slow or unwilling to adapt to the sport as it has evolved, and it's having an adverse effect on Clemson's performance on the field. 2025 rank 3 (-8), High 5, Low 28
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
