ESPN Replaces Kirby Smart at No. 1 in 2026 College Football Coach Rankings

ESPN spent two years treating its annual coach rankings like a formality. Kirby Smart topped the list in 2024 and 2025 without much of a fight, and the only real debate came further down the ballot.

That changed this summer when ESPN polled its panel of 10 reporters on which coach they would most want running their program in 2026, Georgia's head man finished second.

The new No. 1 is Indiana's Curt Cignetti, who received five first-place votes and 94 total points to edge Smart's four first-place votes and 90 points. Two years ago, Cignetti was not ranked at all. Now he sits above every coach in the sport after delivering the Hoosiers their first national championship.

Why ESPN voters put Curt Cignetti at No. 1

Indiana had never won 10 games in a season before Cignetti arrived, and he has since gone 27-2 in Bloomington with a 16-0 championship run in 2025 that tied the all-time FBS single-season wins record.

ESPN's Dave Wilson, one of the five voters who picked him first, framed it plainly. "But we've never seen anything like what Curt Cignetti has done at Indiana, taking the losingest program in college football history to a national title in two years," Wilson wrote. "If the definition of an elite coach is someone you'd trust to lead any program anywhere, he's where you start."

Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti talks to his team after the Indiana football spring game at Memorial Stadium. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Cignetti's reworked contract pays him $105.6 million over eight years, an average of $13.2 million annually, the richest deal among public school coaches, just above Smart and LSU's Lane Kiffin at $13 million per year.

The harder question is whether the ranking survives a roster reset. Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza went first overall to the Las Vegas Raiders in April, and TCU transfer Josh Hoover is locked in to replace him.

What Kirby Smart's drop to No. 2 means for Georgia

ESPN's Max Olson, who kept the Bulldogs coach at No. 1, argued his consistency remains unmatched. "He has maintained an incredibly high standard at Georgia with no bad years, finishing in the top seven of the AP poll in nine consecutive seasons, with eight trips to the SEC title game," Olson wrote.

Smart owns two national titles, 117-21 career record and 40-5 mark in SEC play since 2021 despite the portal and NIL reshaping how rosters are built.

Georgia has lost its opening College Football Playoff game in back-to-back seasons, including a 39-34 Sugar Bowl loss to Ole Miss that ended its 2025 season.

Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart on the field during the spring football game at Sanford Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Winning the SEC twice in a row and exiting the CFP immediately both times is exactly the kind of deficiency that lets a challenger like Cignetti jump the line.

There is a reasonable argument that the gap between the two coaches can be attributed to recency bias. There is an equally reasonable argument that Cignetti has done something genuinely without precedent, and the panel simply acknowledged it. Both things can be true.

Cignetti and the Hoosiers open their title defense against North Texas at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 5, at noon ET on FOX. Smart and Georgia host Tennessee St. on the same date at 3 p.m. ET on SECN+.

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