College football rankings: The 10 best head coaches in the country entering 2025

We really are in a new age of major college football. Long gone are iconic head coaches like Nick Saban wreaking havoc over the rest of the sport. In the wake of Saban retiring, Jim Harbaugh going back to the NFL and others like Mack Brown, Jimbo Fisher and Ed Orgeron being out of a job, there are only three active head college coaches with a national title: Ryan Day, Kirby Smart and Dabo Swinney.

Could Clemson, Georgia or Ohio State win the College Football Playoff next year? It would not be the craziest thing in the world. After all, these are all programs with a good to great chance of winning their respective leagues. Even if they come up short, one would expect they would be on the shortlist of being one of the seven best at-large teams in the nation. I have all three making the playoff in 2025.

So with that in mind, who all rounds out the top 10 coaches in the country with the likes of Day, Smart and Swinney? Expect for all three to be at or near the top of this list. However, the seven other head coaches who are joining them are all justifiably included for obvious reasons. Trying to rank them as such was easier said than done. All I know is we will have a new list of top 10 head coaches next year.

Let's start with one of the most underrated head coaches in the Power Four who simply wins a ton.

10. Kansas State Wildcats head coach Chris Klieman

I felt compelled to make Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman the last guy in this top 10. He edges out the likes of Matt Campbell, Josh Heupel, Lane Kiffin and a few others for this final spot. To me, Klieman's reputation is what sets him apart. He won prolifically at North Dakota State previously before taking over for a college football icon in Bill Snyder roughly half a decade ago at Kansas State.

While Kansas State does not have the resources as other programs on this list, Klieman has continually shown that he can play up with the big boys. He already has a Big 12 championship under his belt and should have K-State vying for a playoff spot in the next few years. The Big 12 is a total crapshoot in its current iteration, but I trust the cream to rise to the top. Klieman defines excellence.

It may not be this season, but I am quite bullish on Kansas State making the playoff in 2026 or 2027.

9. LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly

I nearly left Brian Kelly off this list. The LSU Tigers did not pop in Kelly's proverbial pop year. The fact his predecessor at Notre Dame in Marcus Freeman outshined him last season speaks volumes about his potential demise as a high-end Power Four head coach. However, Kelly has won everywhere he has been before, including at LSU. To me, it is hard to overlook Kelly's body of work in this profession.

Right now, I would have LSU in a group of about five or six SEC teams vying for one of two playoff spots after Georgia and Texas. If all goes according to plan, LSU could have its best year since 2020 with Garrett Nussmeier under center. Kelly gets better as a head coach as the season progresses, but slow starts and frequent sideline explosions lead me to believe that the best might be behind him.

Kelly's status on being a top 10 coach in college football hangs in the balances heading into 2025.

8. Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin

Penn State's College Football Playoff run was as exciting as it was expected. The Nittany Lions navigated a rather soft regular-season schedule to a No. 6 overall seed and a final four finish. James Franklin showed me a lot in the Nittany Lions' three playoff games. However, he continues to struggle against top-five teams and never seems to have any clue when it comes to winning as the underdog.

Franklin has proven to be as good of a head coach as his coaches, players and schedule allow him to be. The Nittany Lions are one of the easiest teams to forecast in any given season. While I do have Penn State as a lock to make the playoff next year, they are not a team I want to be in the foxhole with when the first sign of adversity strikes. Franklin has a high floor as a head coach, but is a bit limited.

Simply put, for Franklin to ever win the playoff, he is going to need others on his team to do it for him.

7. Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning

I may be down on Dan Lanning a bit more than I should, but hear me out. Kirby Smart's greatest disciple has helped make Oregon quite strong over the last three years. He knows how to recruit, but really knows how to assemble a strong staff around him. However, it was not like Mario Cristobal left him with a program in utter disarray before going to Miami. I do question Lanning's team's toughness.

Lanning is a defensive-minded head coach, but his team can play incredibly soft in big moments. Oregon has built a reputation on being a team defined by cool uniforms and fun, finesse offenses. In time, I do think he wins a national title at Oregon. However, last year's collapse in the Rose Bowl should be a referendum on the Oregon program. We crowned Lanning and his team far too soon.

I think a handful of other coaches could do as much, if not more with the resources he has at Oregon.

6. Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer

I give Kalen DeBoer the slight edge over Dan Lanning for the No. 6 spot for three reasons. One, he has beat Lanning's team like a drum head-to-head before. Two, DeBoer has a longer track record of success at multiple schools before. And three, his side of the ball shows up when it matters most, while Lanning continues to get inconsistent play from his defense in crucial spots over at Oregon.

My biggest concern about DeBoer taking over at Alabama is not the job itself, but rather if he is truly big time enough for it. I want to believe that he is. However, I just keep getting this bad feeling that he is trying to make Alabama Washington, and that is not going to work out well for him and the Crimson Tide at all. Alabama's kind of guys are five-star recruits. Let's not try to reinvent the wheel here, man...

I do not know if DeBoer ever wins a national title at Alabama, but if he does, it will probably be singular.

5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman

When I say figuring out who No. 5 on this list was going to be was quite difficult, I am not kidding. There is a clear and distinct seperation between the top four coaches on this list and those rounding out the top 10. At the end of the day, I sided with Marcus Freeman's upward trajectory as Notre Dame's rock star head coach. He nearly led Notre Dame to a national championship in just Year Three.

My favorite thing about Freeman is he has whole-heartedly embraced being the necessary CEO-type to win and contend for championships. I do not think he is 40 years old yet. The NFL wants to hire this guy because he has the cool, calm and collected demeanor to lead men into battle. More importantly, he is not afraid of bringing in someone onto his staff who could challenge him, as well as learn from.

Other than the occasional mental meltdown game, I am quite comfortable having Freeman at No. 5.

4. Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney

If we try to look at this fairly, Dabo Swinney is an unquestioned top-four coach in the sport. I think there is an argument for him to potentially be as high as No. 2, but I do have to slot him in at No. 4 based on recent chances to the game. Under Swinney, Clemson has been arguably as good as it has ever been. He has won multiple national titles and been to the College Football Playoff several times.

He may go to the beat of his own drum. Sometimes, that is to the detriment of the Clemson football program. However, Swinney has been a football institution at Clemson for the better part of two decades now. He is able to recruit at a high level, allowing his assistant coaches to earn their stripes along the way. Swinney is a bit of an odd cat, but he is one of the best CEO-types in the game today.

He does need to adapt to win a third national title at Clemson, but I am not ruling that out just yet.

3. Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian

My pick when it comes to the next head coach to join Ryan Day, Kirby Smart and Dabo Swinney as a College Football Playoff national champion would have to be Steve Sarkisian. I will not go as far as to say the Texas Longhorns are my pick to win it all this season, but I have them comfortably in the playoff next year, probably as the team to win the SEC. The path to greatness is right in front of him.

Like Marcus Freeman and to some extent Ryan Day, I do wonder if an NFL opportunity will present itself to Sarkisian before too long. He has worked in the league before as a coordinator. What I like the most about Sarkisian staying at Texas and winning prolifically before contemplating leaving is he seems to recognize how big this job is without letting it consume him alive. He is ready for what is his.

Texas' window to win a national title is wide open, so Sarkisian and Arch Manning must deliver soon.

2. Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day

Ryan Day took a lot of flack over the last few years as the head coach at Ohio State, and deservedly so. Now that he is a national champion, I think we can judge him fairly for once. Ohio State is one of the most rewarding but difficult jobs on the planet. Every resource and advantage you could ever want is at your disposal at any given time. Day rose above the noise and confusion to be a champion.

Whether it is recruiting, assembling a great staff, or even getting his players ready to play, Day is one of the very best at what he does. He is not the best at one single thing, but he is better at most things required to be a great head coach than most out there today. Now that he won his first national title, I would be surprised if Day does not win a few more at Ohio State before retiring as an all-time coach.

I do not think there is any head coach out there who is able to handle as much pressure as Day can.

1. Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart

It had to be Kirby Smart at No. 1. Even though Georgia has not win a national title in two years, this team has not lost at home since before 2020. Georgia is every bit the national power, thanks in large part to what Smart brought with him back to Athens from Tuscaloosa as Nick Saban's greatest disciple. Smart is an elite recruiter, defensive mind and CEO type, but is the best at two other things.

What sets Smart apart is his ability to adjust at halftime, as well as being a master manipulator and a motivator. Complacency may ravage most programs, but Smart does not tolerate that. What I go back to with last year's team is this. How many other coaches would have done better with Georgia's roster being that depleted and in a state of flux? He got the most out of that team who was not ready.

Smart has two national championships, but I envision he will win a few more before calling it a career.