After Alabama’s Nick Saban retired and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh left for the NFL last offseason, the annual rite of ranking college football’s coaches — every major national outlet does it — took on an instant freshness. Saban had long been one of one, after all, and Harbaugh had become a mainstay in everybody’s top five.
Heading into the 2024 season, the lists were everywhere and, for a change, a lot of fun to sift through. Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer (via Washington), Florida State’s Mike Norvell, Oregon’s Dan Lanning and Texas’ Steve Sarkisian clearly were moving up in the world. Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin, Missouri’s Eliah Drinkwitz and Colorado’s Deion Sanders, among others, were, too. On the whole, the college football media seemed — for the first time in a long time — eager to come at this with a clean slate.
Looking back at those 2024 lists now, though, one name sticks out like a busted thumb for its ubiquitous absence. The hottest coach in the college game — Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman — was essentially nowhere to be found.
For example, ESPN had 10 of its college football experts each provide a top 10. Georgia’s Kirby Smart was, unsurprisingly, a unanimous No. 1. DeBoer was second overall, the only other coach to appear on all 10 ballots. In all, 22 coaches — none named Freeman — received votes.
CBS Sports ranked Freeman 24th heading into the season. Even months later, when CBS ranked the 12 coaches whose teams were preparing for the College Football Playoff, Freeman was far down that list at No. 8.
The Athletic twisted itself into a showy pretzel, as only it can, by grouping all FBS coaches rather indistinctly into tiers. Freeman was relegated to the fourth tier — no stars in this bunch — a “solid” group of coaches who were, suffice it to say, “not on the hot seat and will rarely have a terrible season.”
Talk about damning with faint praise.
As we await 14-1 Notre Dame’s appearance in the national championship game against Ohio State, it’s amazing how out of date all those lists are. That’s true in part because of how many big-rep coaches — DeBoer, Norvell, LSU’s Brian Kelly, USC’s Lincoln Riley, Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell, Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy — had 2024 seasons that ranged from disappointing to nightmarish. But the main discrepancy is with Freeman, who has come on so strong in Year 3 as coach of the Irish, it’s frankly hard to remember any other coach who’s had a more dramatic one-year jump.
Since an inexcusable early-season loss to Northern Illinois, the Irish have been locked in at a level few college teams ever reach. In the playoff, Freeman and his staff have plainly outperformed hotshot Curt Cignetti and Indiana, kingpin Smart and Georgia as well as the estimable James Franklin and Penn State. The Irish sustained too many injuries and faced too daunting a playoff road to reasonably get to where they are, yet — powered by the twin engines of Freeman’s vision and uncompromising standards — they’re still moving forward.
It’s hard to imagine a list coming out today that didn’t have Freeman close to the top, and the usual list-makers agree. CBS Sports’ Chip Patterson had Freeman 24th in his own rankings going into the season and eighth among the previously mentioned playoff 12 list that he coordinated. Patterson told the Sun-Times that if he redid those lists now, Freeman would be in his top 10 overall and in the top five among playoff coaches. USA Today’s Matt Hayes, who has been doing these lists for decades, didn’t have Freeman in his top 25 going into the season but now would have him “probably top three or four.”
I see Freeman in that same, rarified space. As the season unwinds to its end, here’s my top 10:
1. Kirby Smart, Georgia: He’d surpassed Saban even before the Nicktator hung up the whistle. The recruiting and the winning speak for themselves, but the in-game adjustments — especially on defense — set the industry standard.
2. Ryan Day, Ohio State: No one takes more flak for being imperfect than the guy with an .873 winning percentage and a breakthrough national title likely coming right up.
3. Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame: There is a long list of brilliantly talented coaches who have had no clue how to connect with players the way Freeman does.
4. Dan Lanning, Oregon: He’ll outrecruit almost anyone, recognizes the imperativeness of having a great — not good, great — QB and has a strong background coaching defense. What a rare combo.
5. Dabo Swinney, Clemson: A tip of the helmet to all his past playoff accomplishments. He’d better start embracing the realities of the portal and NIL a bit more than he has, though.
6. Steve Sarkisian, Texas: He isn’t Mr. Clutch, and critics like to nitpick him, but back-to-back stellar seasons in the Texas pressure cooker is not to be taken lightly.
7. Kyle Whittingham, Utah: He has done more with less, and for longer, than any of his peers, though there has been some slippage the last couple of years.
8. Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss: Six double-digit-win seasons before age 50 is pretty dang good, but remaining in the top 10 is contingent on making the 2025 playoff.
9. Curt Cignetti, Indiana: The man wins — just Google him.
10. Bill Belichick, North Carolina: What’s wrong, never heard of him?