ESPN Reveals College Football's Best Head Coach Entering 2026

College football has many elite coaches, making it difficult to determine who the best coach in the sport is.

Who is College Football's Top Coach?

Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart has likely been the answer since former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban retired following the 2023 season. Smart won two national championships in 2021 and 2022. His Bulldogs have been the most dominant program since 2020.

Another guess could be Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day. His teams are constantly in the national championship picture and finally took it home in 2024. They were then the No. 1-ranked team for much of last season before falling in the Big Ten Championship Game. The Buckeyes would then lose in the quarterfinals of the playoff.

Another popular answer is Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti. He's done an incredible job turning around the program.

In the 125 seasons before Cignetti's arrival, Indiana had never won 10 games and had won nine just twice. They also had just three total bowl wins. He is 27-2 in two seasons in Bloomington and added a national championship last season.

Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti after defeating the Miami Hurricanes. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Curt Cignetti Tops ESPN's Coaching Rankings

ESPN's reporters released their ranking of the top college football coaches. Over the last two seasons, Smart has taken home the top honor, but this year, Cignetti dethroned the SEC head coach.

"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, after an 11-1 season at James Madison in 2023," David 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's Historic Turnaround Continues to Impress

There are a lot of reasons to like Cignetti and to put him at No. 1. What he's done at Indiana has never been seen before and likely will never be duplicated again. Programs now will likely try to copy what Cignetti accomplished in his two short seasons in Bloomington; the only problem is that they don't have Cignetti.

Whether Cignetti remains atop the rankings will ultimately depend on sustaining Indiana's remarkable success. But based on what he has accomplished over the last two seasons, it's hard to find another coach who has exceeded expectations to the same degree.

Turning one of the sport's most historically unsuccessful programs into a national champion in such a short span is an achievement that already ranks among college football's greatest coaching accomplishments.

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