The college football offseason is upon us, with the coaching changes now settled and teams getting ready for spring football. But who are the top coaches in the sport?
That’s a question that college football analyst Josh Pate attempted to answer on Sunday night’s edition of Josh Pate’s College Football Show. Pate ranked his top 10 coaches.
He did so using four main criteria: (1) on-field results with a weighting toward championships, (2) relative talent acquisition through recruiting and the transfer portal, (3) organizational strength and overall culture, and (4) a forward-facing lean with an eye to the future.
So without further ado, let’s see what he came up with. Here are the top 10 coaches in college football going into the 2026 season.
Day is one year removed from winning the national championship, doing so in the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff. In seven years and change at Ohio State he is 82-12 overall and 55-5 in the Big Ten.
Pate points out that he has the organization humming across the board. Ohio State has not finished outside the CFP top seven during his run as head coach. Even with the four-game losing streak against Michigan, Day managed to keep the Buckeyes near the top of the national rankings. Elite.
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Smart has won two national championships and has managed to keep Georgia operating on that lofty plane ever since. In 10 full seasons, Smart has gone 117-21, with a 69-12 record in conference play.
For Pate, Smart clears the bar as having the best recruiters in the nation. The team isn’t heavily portal-oriented, but has built a dependable, trustworthy structure. And Smart is excellent at adjusting on the fly.
Cignetti had strong stints at IUP, Elon and James Madison. But it’s his work at Indiana that has caught everyone’s eye. He’s 27-2 in two seasons, with a 17-1 conference mark.
Pate is quick to note that Cignetti could easily be ranked No. 1 or No. 2 on his list and he would have no issues with it. How’s this? Cignetti has beaten Dan Lanning twice and beaten Kalen DeBoer, Ryan Day and Mario Cristobal. How does it get any better than that, he wonders?
Lanning has been a head coach for only four years, but he’s been elite enough that he’s considered one of the best already. In those four years, he’s 48-8 overall and 32-4 in conference games.
The question with Lanning is mostly that he’s been blown out a few times by elite teams. But he has dominated just about everyone else. He’s a high level college football recruiter and portaler. And for Pate, it “kind of feels like a matter of time with him.”
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Like Lanning, Freeman doesn’t have a lengthy track record. He’s only got four years and change in charge. But he’s 43-12 overall in that timeframe and has been to a national championship game.
Notre Dame was on the verge of the playoffs last year. Meanwhile, recruiting and the on-field production are a clear step up from Brian Kelly, Pate said. The Fighting Irish also have the current best odds to win the national title in 2026.
Kiffin goes into his fifth different stint with a college team, this time at a powerhouse like LSU. He’s had incredible success, showing a clear upward trajectory. At Ole Miss? Three straight 10+ win seasons and a 55-19 overall record.
As Pate notes, Kiffin did things at Ole Miss that were never before accomplished (three straight 10+ win seasons). He has managed the portal as well as anyone and innovated through necessity. Now with elevated resources, how high can he take the Tigers?
DeBoer’s overall track record as a coach might be more impressive than his Alabama stint. He took Washington to a national championship game. In two years at Alabama he’s 20-8, with a 12-4 mark in SEC play.
The biggest factor for Pate in these college football head coach rankings? Recruiting hasn’t fallen off from Nick Saban. The big question is the predictive outlook. Some would argue Alabama is trending down. Fixing the run game is imperative to halting that narrative in its tracks, Pate said.
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Sarkisian is on his third different college football program and so far the results have been, by far, his best. Texas has reached the College Football Playoff semifinals multiple times. Sarkisian is 48-20 at Texas, with a 30-13 conference mark.
Pate points out Sarkisian is finally harnessing Texas’ full power. He moves Sarkisian up the rankings because he’s predicting big things in the near future. He also notes this is the best portal program in America.
Cristobal won 12 games at Oregon once and twice reached 10 wins there. He’s done even better at Miami, hitting 13 wins last season and reaching the national championship game. He’s 35-19 at Miami and 18-14 in ACC play.
Recency is helping prop Cristobal up for Pate in these college football coaching rankings, with a clear upward trajectory established. Bad losses, especially in a weak ACC, offer some question, but the talent acquisition is great. The intensity is off the charts, and Pate believes in the organizational structure going forward.
Elko won nine games at Duke, then had a bit of a “down” year before moving to Texas A&M. He had Texas A&M on the cusp of an undefeated regular season last year. Can that be closer to the norm going forward? Or is it a one-off blip?
Pate likes the way Elko recruits, and A&M is one of the premier portal destinations, he said. The Aggies are very strategic about acquiring talent, which is helped by the fact that Elko is a great developer of that talent.