Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt ranked the Top 10 head coaches in college football following the 2025 campaign and going into 2026. The list is surely going to make some fanbases happy or mad.
It’s easy to see who’s at the top, the usual suspects. But this lsit is subject to change as the offseason progresses and we get into the next college football season .
So without further ado, let’s dive into Klatt’s rankings and break them down. We’ll start at the top!
Klatt put Cignetti at the top of his head coaches list. The Indiana Hoosiers just capped off a 16-0 season and won the national championship.
Through two seasons at IU, Cignetti is 27-2 and he is 146-37 overall. No one is coaching better than him right now.
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Klatt kept it to te BIg Ten when it came to No. 2 on his head coaches list. Day won the national title the year prior but fell short of a repeat this year.
Plus, Day’s Ohio State squad fell to Indiana in the Big Ten Championship. But after getting the Michigan monkey off his back, Day is full steam ahead for 2026. He is 82-12 since 2019 in Columbus.
Let’s not forget about Smart when it comes to the elite head coaches in college football. Klatt has him topping the SEC and No. 3 overall.
Georgia has unfortunately lost in the Sugar Bowl right away in two straight CFPs, but finished in the top 10. Smart is still a two-time champ, is 117-21 overall and will have the Bulldogs in contention year to year.
Lanning is next up on Klatt’s head coaches list. The Ducks have improved year to year under his watch, including nearly making this year’s national championship. Oregon went 2-1 in this year’s CFP.
Lanning is 26-3 since 2022 when took over and has a Big Ten title under his belt as well. Now, it’s time to win it all in 2026.
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Freeman has led Notre Dame to double digit wins every year except his first full season in 2022 (9-4). Among head coaches, Klatt has the Irish HC around the best of the best.
Freeman is 43-12 in his career and led Notre Dame to the national championship in 2024. They declined a bowl invite after missing out on this year’s CFP following a 10-2 finish.
Sarkisian has proven he has the chops amongst the other top head coaches. Klatt has him right here at No. 6 following a 10-3 campaign.
With Arch Manning as his QB, it might be national championship or bust in 2026 now that his signal caller found his groove. Sark has made the CFP twice and is 48-20 in his career at Texas since 20121/
Whittingham is considered, pound for pound, one of the best head coaches in college football. It seems like he’s refreshed for a new challenge at Michigan as Klatt has him firmly in the top 10.
From 2004-25 at Utah, Whittingham went 177-88 and won conference titles in the Mountain West and Pac-12. They were 10-2 this past year in the Big 12 and then he stepped down and was granted, fortuitously, the Michigan gig. His no nonsense approach should work well in Ann Arbor.
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Sitakes has really turned it on lately, going 23-4 in the last two seasons. BYU won the Pop-Tarts Bowl this season after making the Big 12 championship.
Sitake is 84-45 in his career at BYU since 2016, but is really starting to win at a high level. He can become the latest, out of this head coaches list, to make the CFP. Klatt has him in the top 10 going into next year.
It might be controversial to have him this low, but Mario Cristobal comes in No. 9 among college football head coaches per Klatt. He had the best season of his career in 2025, leading the Hurricanes to the national championship game.
They came agonizingly close to beating Indiana. Cristobal is 35-19 at Miami and 97-79 overall at FIU, Oregon and Miami. It;s gonna be even harder to return to CFB’s biggest game.
Whatever you think of Lane Kiffin, he’s been a winner as of late at FAU and Ole Miss.Now at LSU, the pressure is on for him to be one of the best head coaches in college football.
Klatt rounds out his top 10 with the Lane Train, who went 55-19 at Ole Miss, including 11-1 this year prior to leaving before the CFP. But in Baton Rouge, national championship wins are a must.