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Chris ranks the top 10 head coaches for the 2025 college football season. Where do coaches like Kirby Smart, Ryan Day, and Marcus Freeman rank? Who was left off?
After a wild season that saw Ohio State's Ryan Day best Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman in the national championship, we do it all over again for 2025. When it comes to the offseason, it is natural to take a way-too-early look at what may happen this coming fall and winter.
Who are those top head coaches? Besides Freeman and Day, who else might be on this list? Some of the answers may surprise you.
Below are the top 10 head coaches for the 2025 college football season.
10. Curt Cignetti - Indiana
This is simply not an easy list to compile. Coaches like Kalen DeBoer, Brian Kelly, and others were left off this top 10. Each one can make a case, along with several others, to belong. However, there is something about Curt Cignetti. For better or for worse, one believes in the coach.
Look at what Indiana managed this year. Yes, its playoff showing was not great but it made the playoff when schools like Ole Miss and Alabama did not.
Now, Cignetti faces the same question coaches like this often do. Ok, can you do it again? Indiana has a chance, although Michigan and Ohio State may have something to say about that, for starters. One thing is a given: Indiana will be a story in it of itself in 2025.
9. Josh Heupel - Tennessee
Josh Heupel showed everyone that he could get Tennessee to the playoff. Now, what is next? The SEC is loaded again heading into the 2025 season. If Heupel can get out of Nico Iamaleava what many expect, the Volunteers are going to be a force in the conference again. Honestly, they might even be more equipped to advance in the playoff.
The good news for Heupel is that they play Georgia early at home. Now, the bad news is road trips to Alabama and Florida later in the season. If the Volunteers can pass enough of these tests, they could find themselves in the SEC Championship.
The test for coaches like Heupel is whether he can do it again on the big stage.
8. Lane Kiffin - Ole Miss
With an incredible mid-transfer class and solid recruiting once again, Lane Kiffin is in a position to finally get Ole Miss into the playoff. There is one problem. Most pundits said this last year, too. Look at what happened. Receivers dropped the ball and ultimately the Rebels dropped a playoff spot.
However, it has to be said that Kiffin has put his teams in a position to succeed in the past couple of years. Sometimes it just does not work out. In the SEC, that is not good enough. It never has been and never will be. Kiffin needs a season where Ole Miss is playing in the SEC Championship and the playoff.
Kiffin actually would be higher on this list if his team did not drop so many passes in 2024. The coach cannot catch the ball but does have to put players out there who can. Let's see if Kiffin finally delivers this year.
7. James Franklin - Penn State
2024 saw Penn State win 13 games. It was a historic season. Despite this, we saw the same familiar ending refrain. Penn State was going up and down the field against Notre Dame and then the Irish found their defense just enough. Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman made the adjustments that Franklin seemingly could not.
Quarterback Drew Allar and Franklin are tied to the hip at this point. Allar will return and Franklin needs to find a way to beat Ohio State. First, they draw Oregon at home, which will be a major test. As always, the question with Franklin is adjustments in crunch time. If he makes the right decisions, Penn State will be in the College Football Playoff again.
6. Dabo Swinney - Clemson
The last few years have not been kind to Dabo Swinney. Despite this, he won the ACC Championship and stayed close against Texas for a good while. He is a coach who has won the national championship multiple times.
“To be an over achiever, you have to be an over believer”
Dabo Sweeney#AlwaysForward
— John McAfee (@OleCoachMac) January 15, 2025
The statement is so true. One has to believe in the coach and the team. Despite three losses last year, Swinney picked himself and the team off the mat to a win over SMU. Simply, they found a way. With the method in how they have won championships, he cannot be counted out in 2025.
5. Dan Lanning - Oregon
The debates keep heating up when it comes to the top coaches. Oregon withered in the pressure of the quarterfinal. Now, was that a fluke or a trend? After going the whole year undefeated, should one half define Dan Lanning and Oregon?
34-0 will be etched into Lanning and the Ducks' memory banks all season in 2025. Can Lanning and a new roster find a way to get over the top? It will not be easy as they go to Penn State early in the season. However, the Ducks avoid Ohio State and Michigan until the Big 10 title game.
This comes down to whether Lanning can beat Ohio State. He has the talent to do so in 2025, which could bump him up the list for next year.
4. Steve Sarkisian - Texas
2024 was a great year for Texas but then it happened again. The Longhorns could not put away Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. Texas got to the playoff semifinal before stumbling late against Ohio State. Who runs that play on the 1-yard line will be a question for eternity.
On the bright side, Quinn Ewers is not the quarterback anymore. Now, this is the time of Arch Manning. If Manning lives up to the hype, Sarkisian has a talent on his hands that will be a nightmare for SEC opponents.
Texas will be one of the favorites to get out of the SEC. However, it will not be easy. Going up against Georgia and Florida on the road will be a challenge. Sarkisian has a chance to right the wrongs.
3. Ryan Day - Ohio State
Can we count on taking a little heat here? Absolutely. Ryan Day's smartest move was letting his coordinators do their job while he coached and recruited. The results speak for themselves. The Buckeyes won the national championship by holding off Notre Dame with ease. Yes, Ohio State lost to Michigan, but few outside of Michigan care much about that now.
Day has assembled another talented roster to try and win another title. His toughest tests will be in the playoff again but the question will be asked. Anyway, with Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith, opposing defenses are going to have plenty of long days.
The feeling is Ohio State and Day could be in the national championship game once again.
2. Marcus Freeman - Notre Dame
Anything can happen once the College Football Playoff starts. Just ask Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame. It will be intriguing to see what Freeman does being the hunted in a way. Notre Dame was a few plays from winning the national title. The Fighting Irish found a way past Penn State with their defense. It was the defense that almost won a championship but faltered some in the end.
Injuries did derail Notre Dame a little but the coach found a way to almost overcome them all. Going into 2025, the Fighting Irish will be tested early but their schedule sets up well for another late run into the playoff. From there, there is no conference championship to stumble.
Prominent CFB analyst ranks Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman against his peers, and has some familiar faces already in the rear-view https://t.co/uwzJqIDQv2
— Ryan Roberts (@RiseNDraft) February 4, 2025
The fun thing is Notre Dame could find itself in the very same position come January 2026. Marcus Freeman will be a big reason why if that happens.
1. Kirby Smart - Georgia
Kirby Smart had a down year by his standards for Georgia. The Bulldogs did not advance far in the College Football Playoff. Smart tried everything. The master adjuster and recruiter could not overcome the bevy of mistakes made by his team against Notre Dame. His record with playoffs and national titles speaks for itself.
That is why it is so difficult to count Smart out. Look at what they did against Texas in the SEC Championship. Georgia probably was a seven- or eight-win team without Smart at the helm. It speaks volumes how Smart is so relentless in his preparation and in-game management.
Georgia probably has one of the toughest schedules in the country, if not the toughest. If anyone can get to the playoff, it would be Smart and the Bulldogs.
