FOX Sports analyst and former Colorado quarterback Joel Klatt recently named his Top 10 coaches in college football. A transcript of the podcast and list is below:
#10 — Lane Kiffin, LSU
Joel Klatt: My top 10 coaches in college football… I’ve never done this before. I’ve shied away from it because my relationships with coaches across the country are important—trust is the currency in my job. I try to present fair critiques, fair analysis, and that’s generally reciprocated with trust. But I think now is the time. We’re going to do the list right now.
Just so you know, the eras of college football now are substantially different. We’re in this new NIL transfer portal era, and the coaches on this list have to have excelled in the modern era—post-COVID, and more specifically in the last two, three, four years. Who are the guys succeeding at the top end of the sport right now? We’re going 10 to one.
At number 10—Lane Kiffin at LSU. If you’ve listened to this show or viewed social media product around college football over the last year, you’ll know Lane and I have had our run-ins. Truth be told, Lane is awesome. I love Lane. We have a very good relationship—friendship even outside of what we do professionally.
That being said, I’ve been very critical of Lane at times. He likes to pop off on social media and I slap him around a little bit. I was critical of the move leaving Ole Miss—I understand why he went to LSU, but I think it was messy. Some of that was his doing, some of that was the calendar’s doing, some of that was Ole Miss’ doing.
Whatever you want to think of all of that, the guy can coach football. This list would not be complete without him on it.
Think about what he built at Ole Miss. He’s had growing pains throughout his career—Raiders, Tennessee, USC, then the debacle, then he’s an assistant for Nick Saban, then FAU, then Ole Miss. What he built at Ole Miss was really special. That’s part of the reason why I argued he should stay there—because they had a great and real chance at a national championship this last year.
He’s basically going to guarantee you a top five—maybe top 10—offense in college football. He averaged over 500 yards per game in his six seasons at Ole Miss. That’s number one in the FBS during that span, and that’s in the SEC. That’s the most ever in SEC history.
He took Ole Miss to a sustained level of excellence they had never seen before—four 10-win seasons out of the last five years. Only Kirby Smart, Ryan Day, Kalen DeBoer have more wins over the last five years than Lane. That’s pretty incredible. Lane Kiffin is number 10.
#9 — Mario Cristobal, Miami
Joel Klatt: At number nine, I’m going with Mario Cristobal.
Before this championship game run, he would not have been on my top 10 list. But after that run and this season, he certainly is. He checks in at number nine.
He knows what he wants to build in a team, and everywhere he’s been—Oregon and now Miami—he builds the team in his blueprint, and that mentality is great up front. He’s an old lineman at heart. He wants to be the best in the trenches.
Let’s be honest: we all watched the playoff. They were the best team at the lines of scrimmage.
He knocked off two stigmas that have plagued him throughout his career: the first being he doesn’t win big games. Well, they won those big games this year. It started in week one when they toppled Notre Dame. That was huge and started a trajectory we hadn’t seen him be able to do.
The second thing: winning down the stretch—something Miami hasn’t done in a long time. We knew his record in November wasn’t what we wanted it to be. They go to Pitt, it’s cold, ‘they don’t play well in November’—they get the big win. Throughout the playoff they continue to play better and better.
That Ohio State win—huge. Went on the road against Texas A&M—that was phenomenal.
I’ve got to tip my cap to what Mario Cristobal has built at Miami. If the Darian Mensah transfer works for them, they’ll be right back in this capacity. He’s a tireless recruiter and that roster is going to be one you have to contend with. Going into year five in Coral Gables, that trajectory is pointing up. Cristobal at nine.
#8 — Kalani Sitake, BYU
Joel Klatt: Number eight might surprise some people until you dig into the record—Kalani Sitake at BYU.
I’m a huge fan of Kalani Sitake. I know most BYU fans would not agree with this. I’m a big fan of BYU.
Would it surprise you to find out there are only two head coaches with more wins than Sitake since 2020? Only two: Kirby Smart and Ryan Day.
Sitake has 57 wins since 2020. Kirby’s at 73. Ryan Day’s at 66. And there’s Kalani Sitake tied with Dabo Swinney, Kalen DeBoer.
Every year he builds the same caliber of team, in particular at the line of scrimmage. Over the last two years he’s 23-4, just outside of the playoff in both years. It would have been easier to put him higher if he would’ve gotten into the playoff in one of those years, but he has not.
#7 — Kyle Whittingham, Michigan
Joel Klatt: At number seven, I’m going Kyle Whittingham at Michigan.
Kalani learned a lot from Kyle Whittingham. Some people are going to argue with this one, but Kyle is a **** of a football coach.
You have to understand where he brought Utah from. He got the job after Urban Meyer elevated them to the national stage, but Kyle took them from the Group of Five into the Pac-12 and then made the transition into the Big 12. He made them a perennial top 15, top 10 team in the country.
He did so without the best talent. His teams play exceptionally hard. They’re physical, sound, and well coached.
It’s still kind of weird for me to think Kyle Whittingham at Michigan. He’s so Utah to me. But now he’s a Michigan man, and I can’t wait to see what he does in Ann Arbor.
#6 — Steve Sarkisian, Texas
Joel Klatt: Number six—Steve Sarkisian at Texas.
This one was interesting because in one respect I’d like to put him higher, and in another respect you could argue he should be lower. So I thought this was a good middle ground.
Texas fans believe you can roll the helmets out there and win 10 games—that wasn’t the case for a decade-plus. Since the Colt McCoy title game run, they roamed through the wilderness.
Steve comes in and he has solidified Texas. He’s one of the great game planners in college football. One of the great play callers in college football.
You could make an argument he may need to give up play calling duties if he ultimately wants a national championship. That’s really hard at that level for a head coach.
Sark has had three straight seasons of 10-plus wins in Austin. They only had one in the 11 seasons before that.
Last season there was a ton of hype—preseason number one, Arch was the Heisman front runner—and they did not meet expectations. To be fair, the offensive line underperformed.
That was a team that very easily could’ve gone to the national championship game. The semi-final against Ohio State was incredible. The year prior, semi-final against Washington goes down to the last play. Sark is an elite ball knower and coach. That’s why he’s on this list. I wanted him higher, but because of last season and falling short of expectation, I had to keep him at six.
#5 — Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame
Joel Klatt: Number five—Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame.
I think Freeman’s outstanding. When Brian Kelly left, the public assumed Notre Dame had peaked—that there was a ceiling and you couldn’t get the caliber of player needed to potentially win a national championship.
He hasn’t won one, but he played for one. They were right there with Miami in week one with a guy making his first start, CJ Carr.
You could make a strong argument Notre Dame should’ve been in the playoff. And if the ACC has their you-know-what together and does right by college football, and Miami plays for the ACC championship game and wins it, they’re probably in.
There were reasons they ended up out, but the level they’re playing at is right there. He’s elevated the talent in South Bend.
There’s a reason the NFL has been sniffing around him. There were talks the Giants wanted Marcus Freeman at one point. Notre Dame was smart to redo his deal back in December.
He’s just 40 years old. Class, integrity, toughness. His teams are physical. He made some mistakes early in critical moments, and he’s gotten much better in game management. Freeman is number five.
#4 — Dan Lanning, Oregon
Joel Klatt: Number four—Dan Lanning at Oregon.
If I had to buy stock in a coach, I’ve said for a long time it would be Dan Lanning. And I still feel that way.
Oregon is a perennial national championship contender under Lanning. He has elevated them above what they were before he got there—period.
He’s 48-8 in his four seasons at Oregon. Six of his eight losses came against teams that reached the title game. Four of those losses were to the eventual national champ.
You do not beat Oregon unless you are one of the best teams in college football.
In year one, he gets thumped by Georgia in game one and still wins 10 games. In year two, reaches the Pac-12 title game and wins the Fiesta Bowl. In year three, wins the Big 10, number one seed, reaches the quarterfinal before Ohio State—eventual champ—beats them. In year four, reaches the semifinal—who beats him? The eventual champion Indiana.
He’s 39, turns 40 in April. Phenomenal coach. And he’s the last guy on this list who has not won a national championship.
#3 — Kirby Smart, Georgia
Joel Klatt: Number three—Kirby Smart at Georgia.
I ranked these top three based on recency of titles. Kirby won two in 2021 and 2022.
He’s only lost seven games over the last five years combined. Five of those have come over the last two, so it hasn’t been as good the last two years as the previous, but that’s only because their standards are insanely high.
They’ve won the SEC the last two years and three of the last four.
The only year in the last nine seasons that Georgia wasn’t at least in the SEC title game was the 2020 COVID season. That’s ridiculous consistency.
Kirby is the standard. Georgia is the standard in the SEC. You want to be crowned champion in that league, you’ve got to take down Georgia.
As long as Kirby is there, Georgia is not going anywhere. They’re still recruiting and developing at an elite level. He’s number three.
#2 — Ryan Day, Ohio State
Joel Klatt: Number two—Ryan Day at Ohio State.
Ohio State is an absolute pressure cooker. Day has the Buckeyes at the top every single year.
There’s not a coach I deal with more in college football than Ryan Day. My conversations with him about football—running the program, philosophy, recruiting, talent evaluation, game planning, hiring assistants, evaluating losses—I learn so much when I talk with Ryan Day.
He’s reached the top two in the AP poll at some point in every single season he’s been a head coach. He’s never lost more than two games in a season. He got his national championship in 2024.
Ohio State is the most consistent program in college football through the eras. You could make an argument there is not a more consistent program in America over the last three decades. And we are watching it at its zenith.
A lot of that is because of Ryan Day. He’s fantastic. He’s number two.
#1 — Curt Cignetti, Indiana
Joel Klatt: And that leaves number one: Curt Cignetti.
Guys, you can’t put anybody else there. He has earned this spot. This ranking is no longer subjective—not when you take the losingest program in the history of the sport and in two years you win the national championship with that team.
They’re 27-2 over the last two years. The only two losses were on the road at Ohio State—eventual national champion—and on the road in the playoff to Notre Dame—who eventually played for the national championship.
Everything else on this list is subjective. You can make arguments guys should be higher or lower, or someone should be included. You might be right.
But the one you cannot argue with is Curt Cignetti.
He’s proven to be the best talent evaluator in this era. He’s also a great game planner.
When I watch the tape of Indiana, it’s like a symphony. There are teams where the game plan looks like it was drawn up with crayons, there are teams playing checkers, there are teams playing chess—and then there’s where it’s singing.
I love seeing them set things up. I love seeing how structured the defense is, how they disguise things, how they go after the offense, how they go after the defense with their offense—what do they do with personnel, movement, the quarterback’s eyes—everything in sync, a plan, a purpose to everything.
That’s Indiana. They are the best coached team in college football.
They won the national championship with a talent composite lower than any in history. What just happened cannot be overstated.
He’s been doing it for a long time. He did it at JMU. He’s lost 10 total games over the last six years. He’s 68-10 over his last six years at JMU and Indiana.
Curt Cignetti is my number one head coach in college football.
Honorable mentions
Joel Klatt: Honorable mentions—Kalen DeBoer at Alabama. I couldn’t quite get him on there because of the trajectory. I didn’t love what happened at Alabama this last year. Everywhere he’s been, he’s won, and he’s winning at Alabama, but there’s an idea of the arrow pointing down that I can’t get over.
Rhett Lashlee at SMU—I really thought about him.
Joey McGuire at Texas Tech—just went to the playoff. Everybody thinks that’s just about money. Money plays a part in everything. But he’s building a really special environment.
Mike Elko is a guy I wanted to include. He has Texas A&M where a lot of people thought they should have been in previous eras and coaching tenures and they were not anywhere close. Elko has built something really nice down there.
And one last name that didn’t make the cut—Dabo Swinney. This era has not been very good to him. Last year was even tougher for a team that came in preseason number four with a ton of expectations and went 7-6.
If I was doing this list in 2017, 18, 19, he would’ve been one or two—hands down. But college football evolved and Dabo never evolved with it. Because of that, currently he’s not in the top 10.
