Three SEC coaches in annual Athletics’ top-10 ranking

College Football is in the midst of a culture shift as the Big Ten has claimed the previous two national championships between Ohio State and Michigan.

The SEC is still quite strong as referenced in Bruce Feldman’s top-25 coaches ranking that he publishes each season. Despite Ryan Day’s recent title run with the Buckeyes, he didn’t not claim the overall No. 1 spot but he did gain six spots from No. 7 last year.

Georgia’s Kirby Smart remains No. 1 with Steve Sarkisian slotted at No. 3 which is 10 spots higher than last offseason. Despite struggles in Year One at Alabama, DeBoer won nine games and only fell one spot to No. 4 after a national championship game appearance in 2023.

The two-time national champion became my undisputed No. 1 choice last year following Saban’s retirement, and I see no reason to drop him. Even in a “down” year, Georgia won 11 games and captured its third SEC championship under Smart, who has gone 53-5 with two national titles since 2021.

-Bruce Feldman, The Athletic

LSU enters its fourth season with Brian Kelly at the helm. After a disappointing 9-4 campaign, he fell six spots outside of the top-10 to No. 12 overall and is followed up by Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin at No. 13 (fell two spots from last year’s poll).

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel jumped from No. 24 to No. 15 this season after guiding the Volunteers to the playoffs, losing in the first round to Ohio State.

Only one SEC coach fell outside Feldman’s top-25 list and that is Kentucky’s Mark Stoops who went into the season at No. 22. The Wildcats experienced its first non-COVID losing season since 2015 going 4-8 overall with one conference victory, an early season upset of Ole Miss.

Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz just missed the cut at No. 26 after winning 10-games in back-to-back seasons, the first time the Tigers have done so since 2013-2014. Should he produce more COMO magic in 2025, Feldman will have a hard time keeping outside the top-25 again.