CBS Sports ranks head coaches in College Football Playoff from best to worst

A good coach is one of the many ingredients a team needs to make the College Football Playoff. This year is no different, and the 12-team field is stacked with coaching talent.

With the CFP is set to kick off Saturday, CBS Sports ranked every coach in the field from top to bottom. But in reality, there are truly no bad names among this group.

Some coaches bring national championship and CFP experience, while some are set to embark on their first playoff journey. But one name stands above the rest and you can check out the full list of top coaches in the College Football Playoff below.

1. Kirby Smart, Georgia

Smart is the easy choice for No. 1 on the list of the top coaches in the College Football Playoff. He is the only coach with multiple national titles to his name, winning back-to-back championships in 2021 and 2022.

This also marks the fifth overall appearance in the CFP for Smart. Last year’s trip ended with a loss in the quarterfinals against Notre Dame, and the Bulldogs will hope to get back to the title game for the first time since winning in 2022.

2. Ryan Day, Ohio State

As Smart is the logical choice for the No. 1 spot, so is Day for No. 2. He is the only other coach with a national championship to his name as a head coach, having led the Buckeyes to the title last season.

Day is also making his fifth appearance in the College Football Playoff. Ohio State gets a bye in the first round and will await the winner of Miami and Texas A&M at it begins its quest to go back-to-back.

3. Curt Cignetti, Indiana

Cignetti has been a winner everywhere he’s been from Elon to James Madison and now Indiana. Taking over last year following a three-win season, he led the Hoosiers to a 11-2 season and their first ever trip to the College Football Playoff.

Cignetti has already topped that this season to go 13-0 entering the CFP, including defeating Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza also won the Heisman Trophy, and all that’s left to cap off this magical season is a national championship.

4. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama

This is the second trip to the College Football Playoff in the past three seasons for DeBoer and his first as the coach at Alabama. DeBoer also led Washington to the four-team College Football Playoff in 2023, where the Huskies lost in the national championship against Michigan.

This year’s Crimson Tide team narrowly snuck into the field after losing in the SEC Championship and will face Oklahoma in a rematch of a regular season game. Alabama lost that game and DeBoer will certainly be reminding is team of that leading up to their first-round matchup.

5. Dan Lanning, Oregon

Lanning cut his teeth under Smart as a linebackers coach and defensive coordinator at Georgia from 2018-21. That included being a part of the Bulldogs’ national championship run in 2021 before he left to take his first head coaching job with Oregon.

In the four years since, he has compiled a 46-7 record, including a Big Ten Championship in 2024, and this will mark the second straight season the Ducks have made the College Football Playoff. Last year they earned the No. 1 seed but lost against Ohio State in the quarterfinals, and will hope for better results this year as the No. 5 seed.

6. Mike Elko, Texas A&M

A former A&M defensive coordinator, Elko has the Aggies in the playoff for the first time in program history in only his second season as head coach. He took over the program in 2024 after two years as the coach at Duke, which he led to 16-9 record.

Texas A&M was 11-0 heading into the final game of the regular season this year before losing against rival Texas. That caused the Aggies to miss out on playing in the SEC Championship game, but they still have an opportunity to complete the ultimate goal in the CFP.

7. Mario Cristobal, Miami

A member of the 1989 and 1991 national championship teams at Miami, Cristobal has his sights set on leading the Hurricanes to another as a coach. Miami has not won a national championship since 2001 and it is also making its first appearance in the playoff.

Cristobal is in his fourth season as the Miami coach after stops at FIU, Oregon, and even a four-year stint as assistant head coach and offensive line coach under Nick Saban at Alabama from 2013-16. He narrowly missed the CFP after leading the Hurricanes to a 10-2 regualr season record last year, but now gets his first shot.

8. Joey McGuire, Texas Tech

McGuire has been building toward this for quite some time now, and in his fourth year the vision finally came to fruition. Texas Tech already set a program record with 12 wins, including winning its first conference championship since 1994. That alone makes this already one of the greatest seasons in program history.

The Red Raiders also rank top five in the country in both scoring offense and defense, and earned a top four seed and a first-round bye. After ascending the ranks as a Texas high school football coach and working his way up as a college assistant, McGuire has a chance to do something extremely special if he can bring home the first national championship in Texas Tech history.

9. Brent Venables, Oklahoma

Venables is no stranger to the College Football Playoff, having been there six times and won two national championships as the defensive coordinator at Clemson. He has now gotten there for the first time as a head coach after taking over the Sooners in 2022.

The coach made the decision before this year that he would take over playcalling duties for the OU defense, and it has paid off. The Sooners are tied with Texas A&M for the FBS lead in sacks with 41, and also rank No. 5 in against the run. Venables was co-defensive coordinator for Oklahoma when it won its most recent national championship in 2000 and now gets his shot at bringing another back to Norman.

10. Jon Sumrall, Tulane

In four seasons total as a head coach, Sumrall has compiled an impressive 43-11 overall record. This is just his second season at Tulane, and he directed the Green Wave to a 11-2 record and AAC championship, earning them a CFP bid as one of the five-highest ranked conference champs.

Sumrall has already accepted the job at Florida for the 2026 season, but will get a chance to finish out this postseason with Tulane. They’ll face Ole Miss in the first round as he hopes to go out with a bang.

11. Bob Chesney, James Madison

Chesney took over James Madison in 2024 after a six-year stint at Holy Cross of the FCS. Now in only his second season, he has the Dukes in the College Football Playoff after leading them to a 12-1 record and Sun Belt Conference championship.

Like Sumrall, he also has a job lined up for next season as he will take over at UCLA. Before then, though, Chesney will see if he can pull off an upset against Oregon in the opening round.

12. Pete Golding, Ole Miss

Golding was promoted after Lane Kiffin took the job at LSU and will make his debut as a head coach when the Rebels face Tulane in the first round. It’s certainly a situation with a lot of unknowns and one has to wonder how Ole Miss will respond.

Golding has been the defensive coordinator in Oxford for the past three seasons after previously serving in the same role at Alabama from 2018-22. But given his lack of experience being the head coach, it makes sense that he would be at the bottom of the list.