ESPN Writers Discuss Brian Kelly Being Left Off Top-10 College Coaches List

Several ESPN writers recently teamed up to rank the Top 10 "best coaches in college football for 2025," leaving LSU coach Brian Kelly out of the group.

After unveiling the Top 10, Andrea Adelson and Adam Rittenberg wrote about Kelly being left out:

quote:

---

I had Brian Kelly in my top 10, and I see he was close to making it. The bottom line for me is he is a consistent winner, no matter where he has coached. While I understand he has not won the way people expect at LSU, it is hard to argue against a .728 career win percentage in 21 years as an FBS coach, including a 113-40 record at Notre Dame. He left the Irish as the winningest coach in school history. As for LSU, I know people see him as underperforming there. But he has won 29 games in three years, produced a Heisman Trophy winner and has a team that should be a CFP contender this year. -- Adelson

I'm with AA on BK. People need to separate how they feel about an individual from what that coach has accomplished. Kelly brought incredible stability to a Notre Dame program that talked about winning national titles but honestly wasn't set up that well to compete for them. He needs to deliver at LSU this fall, but he's clearly a top-10 coach in the sport. Army's Jeff Monken certainly deserves some consideration after the work he has done at a program that was rarely beating Navy and had only one winning season between 1997 and 2013. I would love to see what Monken could do at a Power 4 program with more resources and a wider recruiting base. -- Rittenberg

---

Here's the Top 10:

1. Kirby Smart, Georgia
2. Ryan Day, Ohio State
3. Dabo Swinney, Clemson
4. Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame
5. Steve Sarkisian, Texas
6. Dan Lanning, Oregon
7. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama
8. James Franklin, Penn State
9. Kyle Whittingham, Utah
10. Matt Campbell, Iowa State

Also receiving votes: Brian Kelly, LSU, 13; Bill Belichick, North Carolina, 10; Curt Cignetti, Indiana, 10; Lance Leipold, Kansas,10; Jeff Monken, Army, 8; Jeff Brohm, Louisville, 6; Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State, 5; Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss, 3; Deion Sanders, Colorado, 3; Josh Heupel, Tennessee, 3; Rhett Lashlee, SMU, 3; Chris Klieman, Kansas State, 1; Kirk Ferentz, Iowa, 1