CBS Sports ranks all 68 Power Four head coaches ahead of 2026 college football season

Power Four college football coaches have spent the month of May debating everything from the future of the College Football Playoffs to threatening potentially breaking away from the NCAA all-together. And that’s just at the annual SEC Spring Meetings this week in Miramar Beach, Fla.

But as the other Power Four conferences work through whether the Playoff will eventually expand to 16 or 24 teams at their annual league meetings, CBS Sports’ experts took the opportunity to overhaul their annual ranking of all 68 Power Four college football head coaches. Following last season’s history-making run at perfection from Indiana, CBS Sports’ new Power Four coach ranking includes a brand-new name at No. 1. And given one of the more chaotic coaching carousels in recent memory, this year’s ranking features widespread movement, including seven coaches that jumped 20 or more spots from a year ago.

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With that in mind, let’s check out CBS Sports’ complete ranking all 68 Power Four head football coaches entering the 2026 college football season:

1. Curt Cignetti, Indiana (+20)

While there may be some recency bias here, there’s no argument Cignetti has cemented his status as one of the elite coaches in college football after last season’s magical 16-0 run to the College Football Playoff national championship. Cignetti is an incredible 27-2 in two seasons at Indiana, including last year’s historic season of perfection. But it shouldn’t be THAT much of a surprise, the former Nick Saban disciple has won any everywhere he’s been with a 146-37 record in 15 seasons as a head coach. Does that merit being No. 1 on this list ahead of other national championship-winning coaches? That’s for you to decide.

CBS Sports: “Curt Cignetti has taken college football by storm. He’s done the seemingly impossible by turning Indiana into a national champion in only two seasons. … If he can do that, how can any of us be surprised to see him No. 1 here too?”

2. Kirby Smart, Georgia (-1)

As the most recent of the active Power 4 head coaches to win multiple national titles, there’s an argument to be made that Smart should be No. 1, but that was what, four years ago now? That’s a lifetime in college football. And while Smart has won back-to-back SEC championships, it’s hard to overlook Georgia’s back-to-back one-and-done CFP quarterfinal exits in the last two Playoffs. Still, Smart is 117-21 all-time in 10 years in Athens, and his 2021 and 2022 national championships make him one of two active P4 coaches with two titles (the other is a little further down this list).

CBS Sports: “They have not won a playoff game since winning the national title in 2022. I don’t think that’s why Smart fell out of the No. 1 spot (it’s more about the accomplishments of the man who usurped him), but it probably played a role.”

3. Ryan Day, Ohio State (-1)

Much like Smart, Day slides down a spot to make room for Cignetti at No. 1, and it’s mostly about how he ended the 2026 season. Despite an undefeated regular season, including going a perfect 9-0 in Big Ten play, Day and a loaded Ohio State roster fell flat in the postseason and finished 2025 on a two-game losing streak. That included a 13-10 loss to Cignetti and Indiana in the Big Ten title game, and a 24-14 upset at the hands of 10th-seeded Miami, the eventual CFP runner-up. That said, Day remains the winningest active Power 4 head coach at 82-12 (87.2%) in eight seasons at Ohio State.

CBS Sports: “So while Day finally got over that Michigan hump, nobody at Ohio State will ever be happy about finishing the season on a two-game losing streak. Given what he’s accomplished through his entire career, though, nobody on our panel even thought about ranking him lower than third.”

4. Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame (+2)

Freeman and Notre Dame (especially its diehard fans) are still fuming over the way the 2025 season ended — with an infamous CFP snub on Selection Sunday. But after a third straight season with 10 or more wins, including a 14-2 run to the national title game in 2024, Freeman has asserted his place among college football’s elite coaches. So much so that he’s garnering serious interest from NFL teams. Nevertheless, the 40-year-old Freeman enters the 2026 with a 43-12 record in four seasons as the Irish head coach and has a motivated Notre Dame eyeing its own national title run this season.

CBS Sports: “Once viewed as one of the most overrated teams year after year, Notre Dame is now seen as a legitimate national title contender, and Freeman is a massive reason why.”

5. Dan Lanning, Oregon

The 40-year-old Lanning holds steady at No. 5 in CBS Sports’ ranking due in large part to his overall body of work. At 48-8 overall and 32-4 in conference play across in four seasons between the Pac-12 and Big Ten, Lanning’s 85.7 winning percentage is second among Power 4 head coaches behind only Day. And, almost more impressively, is the fact that Oregon’s only gotten better in the Big Ten with back-to-back 13-win seasons. That included winning the 2024 Big Ten title in his first season in the league. Still, a national title continues to elude Lanning, keeping him at No. 5.

CBS Sports: “Lanning has achieved a lot, and many view him as the next coach to win their first national title. He has the resume of one of the five best coaches in the country, but until he breaks through with that national title, it’s hard to justify moving him up higher than this.”

6. Steve Sarkisian, Texas (-2)

Texas opened the 2025 season at No. 1 overall and proceeded to stub its toe with a season-opening loss at Ohio State. That setback, coupled with a midseason loss at Florida, resulted in the Longhorns missing the CFP after back-to-back seasons in the field. Still, Sarkisian’s three straight seasons with 10 or more wins is impressive, a feat that hasn’t happened in Austin since the 2000s at the height of Mack Brown’s tenure. That run ahead of a pivotal 2026 season where the ‘Horns could once again open at No. 1 will determine if Sarkisian climbs this list next year.

CBS Sports: “Now we enter the 2026 season, and the Longhorns will have similar expectations. Sarkisian has gone 35-8 over the last three seasons and is 13-3 in the SEC. He’s won two playoff games.”

7. Mario Cristobal, Miami (+13)

Cristobal jumps into the Top 10 spot as the second biggest climber not named Cignetti after directing the Hurricanes to a sensational run to the CFP national title game despite entering as the No. 10 seed. Miami actually made the field thanks to its Week 1 win over Notre Dame, allowing the ‘Canes to leapfrog the rival Irish for the final at-large bid in 2025’s 12-team field. And after back-to-back double-digit win seasons, Cristobal has Miami back in the national title conversation for the first time since the early 2000s.

CBS Sports: “The result was a run all the way to the national title game, where Cristobal’s Miami team came a touchdown shy of winning a national title.”

8. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama (+1)

After 17 seasons of unprecedented excellence under Nick Saban, Alabama fans have been vocally critical of DeBoer’s back-to-back four-loss seasons in his first two years in Tuscaloosa. Still, it’s hard to overlook DeBoer’s overall body of work with a 124-20 record as a head coach, including 45-11 in four seasons in the Power 4. That includes a run to the 2023 national title game and a quarterfinal appearance in 2025. That said, ending the season with 35-point loss to eventual champ Indiana won’t quiet the critics.

CBS Sports: “Nobody at Alabama will be happy with four-loss seasons any time soon, but DeBoer has led two different programs to the playoffs in the last three seasons.”

9. Lane Kiffin, LSU (+3)

Kiffin was the unquestioned belle of the ball during last season’s coaching carousel and hit the jackpot with a rather controversial jump from Ole Miss to SEC rival LSU, especially given the timing ahead of the Rebels’ CFP run to the national semifinals. And hurt feelings aside, Kiffin transformed Ole Miss into a national power with four seasons with 10 or more victories in his last five in Oxford. Now he’s poised to do the same in Baton Rouge, which hasn’t made the Playoffs since winning it all in 2019.

CBS Sports: “He left a program that he had in the playoffs for one he believes gives him a better chance to win a national title. That means he’d better do it (and soon).”

10. Kyle Whittingham, Michigan (+1)

Rounding out CBS Sports’ Top 10 is a coaching lifer that seems to have fallen upwards after reportedly being forced into early retirement following 21 seasons as Utah’s head coach. The 66-year-old Whittingham takes the reins at Michigan after going 177-88 in two decades in Salt Lake City, including a 10-2 record in 2025, the Utes’ second in the Big 12. Now he moves to Ann Arbor where Whittingham is tasked with righting the ship after several scandals have plagued the 2023 national champions.

CBS Sports: “Whit has long been either in our top 10 or just on the periphery of it, so this spot is not a result of him being at a blue-blood program.”

CBS Sports’ Power Four head football coach rankings, Nos. 11-25

11. Dabo Swinney, Clemson (-8)
12. Kalani Sitake, BYU (+14)
13. James Franklin, Virginia Tech (-6)
14. Mike Elko, Texas A&M (+15)
15. Rhett Lashlee, SMU (+7)
16. Matt Campbell, Penn State (-6)
17. Lincoln Riley, USC (-4)
18. Wilie Fritz, Houston (+23)
19. Josh Heupel, Tennessee (-3)
20. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa (-1)
21. Joey McGuire, Texas Tech (+27)
22. Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State (-4)
23. Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri (+1)
24. Jeff Brohm, Louisville (-7)
25. Bret Bielema, Illinois (-2)

CBS Sports’ Power Four head football coach rankings, Nos. 26-68

26. Sonny Dykes, TCU (+9)
27. Brent Key, Georgia Tech (+3)
28. Brent Venables, Oklahoma (+24)
29. Clark Lea, Vanderbilt (+24)
30. Manny Diaz, Duke (+14)
31. Dave Doeren, NC State
32. Jedd Fisch, Washington (+7)
33. PJ Fleck, Minnesota (-6)
34. Lance Leipold, Kansas (-19)
35. Pat Narduzzi, Pitt (+2)
36. Jon Sumrall, Florida (NR)
37. Matt Rhule, Nebraska (-5)
38. Bob Chesney, UCLA (NR)
39. Tony Elliott, Virginia (+26)
40. Shane Beamer, South Carolina (-12)
41. Brent Brennan, Arizona (+25)
42. Mike Norvell, Florida State (-17)
43. Pat Fitzgerald, Michigan State (NR)
44. Jake Dickert, Wake Forest (+12)
45. Alex Golesh, Auburn (NR)
46. Eric Morris, Oklahoma State (NR)
47. Dave Aranda, Baylor (-9)
48. Luke Fickell, Wisconsin (-8)
49. Fran Brown, Syracuse (-3)
50. Barry Odom, Purdue (+1)
51. Pete Golding, Ole Miss (NR)
52. Greg Schiano, Rutgers (-9)
53. Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati (+7)
54. Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia (-12)
55. Mike Locksley, Maryland (+4)
56. Ryan Silverfield, Arkansas (NR)
57. David Braun, Northwestern (+7)
58. Jeff Lebby, Mississippi State (+10)
59. Jimmy Rogers, Iowa State (NR)
60. Deion Sanders, Colorado (-27)
61. Bill O’Brien, Boston College (-11)
62. Scott Frost, UCF
63. Bill Belichick, North Carolina (-9)
64. Will Stein, Kentucky (NR)
65. Morgan Scalley, Utah (NR)
66. Collin Klein, Kansas State (NR)
67. Tosh Lupoi, Cal (NR)
68. Tavita Pritchard, Stanford (NR)