Paul Finebaum names No. 1 college football coach in the SEC

Paul Finebaum has declared who he believes the best SEC football coach is.

Dec 7, 2024; Atlanta, GA, USA; ESPN announcer Paul Finebaum before the 2024 SEC Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The 2025 college football season is nearing its conclusion. The College Football Playoff national championship game between No. 1 Indiana (15-0, 9-0) and No. 10 Miami (13-2, 6-2) is the only game left before the sport begins its seven-month offseason.

For the third consecutive season, the SEC will not be represented in the 2025 College Football Playoff national championship. The last SEC team standing in 2025 was Ole Miss, which fell to Miami (31-27) in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, the semifinal round of the College Football Playoff. The Rebels defeated Georgia (39-34) in the Allstate Sugar Bowl in order to reach that point.

In addition to its lack of representation in the national championship, the SEC's playing field has become more even over the past three years. Programs that used to dwell near the bottom of the league are now competitive with the SEC's traditional powerhouses.

Since Nick Saban announced his retirement from Alabama in the 2024 offseason, the hot topic of conversation has been which team has the best coach in the SEC. College football media personality Paul Finebaum believes Kirby Smart is the correct answer for which SEC coach is the best heading into 2026, making the claim on The Matt Barrie Show.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart looks toward the field during the Sugar Bowl | Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Since Kentucky parted ways with Mark Stoops at the end of the 2025 regular season, Smart is now the longest tenured head coach in the SEC. The Bulldogs hired Smart in the 2016 offseason to replace Mark Richt, who held the position for 15 seasons.

In 10 seasons as the head coach of his alma mater, Smart has guided the Bulldogs to a 117-21 overall record, six SEC East titles and eight SEC championship appearances. Georgia has won the SEC Championship game in 2017, 2022, 2024 and 2025, and only one of those victories was by fewer than 20 points.

Smart is the only current SEC head coach to have won a national championship. The Bulldogs avenged their 2021 SEC championship loss to Alabama with a 33-18 win over the Crimson Tide in the national championship for their first under Smart.

Georgia went unbeaten the following season, capping it off with a dominant 65-7 victory over TCU in SoFi Stadium for its second consecutive national championship.

The next challenge for Georgia is getting back to the College Football Playoff national championship game. The Sugar Bowl loss to Ole Miss marked the Bulldogs' second consecutive loss in the game to end their season in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart celebrates after a touchdown against Ole Miss in the second quarter during the 2026 Sugar Bowl | Amber Searls-Imagn Images