Sporting News Ranks College Football Coaches 1-138 For The 2026 Season

by Staff Reporter

June 11, 202610 Comments

John David Mercer-Imagn Images

Sporting News unveiled its annual 1-138 Coach Rankings this week, with eight SEC coaches landing in the Top 25.

Kirby Smart, Kalen DeBoer, Steve Sarkisian, and Lane Kiffin all landed in the Top-10.

SEC Coaches:
2. Kirby Smart, Georgia
6. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama
7. Steve Sarkisian, Texas
8. Lane Kiffin, LSU
11. Mike Elko, Texas A&M
16. Josh Heupel, Tennessee
17. Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri
23. Brent Venables, Oklahoma
31. Clark Lea, Vanderbilt
33. Pete Golding, Ole Miss
36. Jon Sumrall, Florida
46. Shane Beamer, South Carolina
49. Ryan Silverfield, Arkansas
50. Alex Golesh, Auburn
62. Jeff Lebby, Mississippi State
67. Will Stein, Kentucky

Top 25:
1. Curt Cignetti, Indiana
2. Kirby Smart, Georgia
3. Ryan Day, Ohio State
4. Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame
5. Dan Lanning, Oregon
6. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama
7. Steve Sarkisian, Texas
8. Lane Kiffin, LSU
9. Mario Cristobal, Miami
10. Dabo Swinney, Clemson
11. Mike Elko, Texas A&M
12. Kyle Whittingham, Michigan
13. Rhett Lashlee, SMU
14. Jeff Brohm, Louisville
15. Lincoln Riley, USC
16. Josh Heupel, Tennessee
17. Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri
18. Sonny Dykes, TCU
19. Joey McGuire, Texas Tech
20. James Franklin, Virginia Tech
21. Matt Campbell, Penn State
22. Kalani Sitake, BYU
23. Brent Venables, Oklahoma
24. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
25. Bret Bielema, Illinois

Filed Under: SEC Football

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10 Comments

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ManBearSharkReb•3 days

33. Pete Golding, Ole Miss

Imagine the first game of your career as a head coach is against Kirby smart in the Sugar Bowl and you beat up. And no one gives you any credit. Crazy.

LSU Tiger Eyes•5 hours

I think Cignetti is "one-hit wonders!"

hookem33•3 days

I think Sark at 7 is ok. He's not a championship level coach but he's a "good" coach that wins a lot of games. I would probably rank Dabo ahead of him, however. He has rings.

Freon•3 days

Dabo at 10th? Naaaaah

FLTech•22 hours

Hey Chat GPT, pretend that you are a writer at a clueless magazine, please make a list of the Top 138 coaches in college football and put my favorite team's coaches at the top of the poll so I can use this to create a ClickBait Article

scrybe•3 days

I've seen some dumb rankings in my day, but…

PrettyLights•3 days

8 out of the top 10 either coached or played at Alabama, “Where Legends are Made.”

RTRcdub•1 day

Deboer also has a winning record against two of the coaches ranked higher on that list.

tygerphan•22 hours

And yet...zero non-Covid championships since 2018.

faraway•2 days

I'd take Lane over any of them.

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