π Ranking the top coaches in college football
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- Curt Cignetti earned 94 points and 5 of 10 first-place votes, becoming the first head coach to win a national championship within his first two seasons at a school since Gene Chizik at Auburn in 2010.
- Cignetti's Indiana turnaround was historically lopsided: the Hoosiers went from a .419 winning percentage (1887-2023) with zero 10-win seasons to a .931 mark with two 10-win seasons and a national title in just two years.
- Kirby Smart (Georgia) fell to No. 2 with 90 points and 4 first-place votes, carrying a 117-21 career record and two national titles (2021, '22), though back-to-back CFP semifinal losses to end consecutive SEC championship seasons gave voters pause.
- Ryan Day (Ohio State) ranked No. 3 with 77 points, where one voter placed him atop the list while Bill Connelly dropped him to No. 8, citing Ohio State's stagnant late-game performance in the CFP loss to Miami.
- Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame) finished No. 4 with 68 points, going 16-7 against AP-ranked opponents β the second-best FBS winning percentage vs. ranked teams in that span behind Georgia.
- Dan Lanning (Oregon) came in at No. 5 with 61 points, posting a 48-8 record since 2022 and retaining every projected starter this offseason, including holding QB Dante Moore out of the NFL draft.
Why it matters: The ranking shows that coaching evaluations now hinge as much on roster retention and transfer-portal management as on legacy rΓ©sumΓ©s β voters credited Lanning for zero portal losses and Smart for sustaining excellence even as the expanded CFP, NIL and the portal made his Georgia job tougher. Cignetti's run at a program that had zero 10-win seasons across 125 years resets what voters consider elite, and the three coaches behind him (Smart, Day, Freeman) must produce new CFP breakthroughs to reclaim the throne.
