Nick Saban is out of college football, and the massive shadow he has cast over the sport for more than two decades leaves with him.
With Saban — perhaps the greatest coach the sport has ever seen — gone, how do the remaining head coaches stack up against each other? On3’s Jesse Simonton tried his hand at answering that exact question.
He unsurprisingly put Georgia’s Kirby Smart at the top of his rankings, but in the No. 2 spot, he went with an option that may surprise some people: LSU’s Brian Kelly.
With Saban’s retirement, Kelly became the winningest active coach in the FBS, but he’s still seeking his first national title at this level after capturing two as a Division II coach. Here’s why Simonton ranked him second.
Kelly has done everything but win a national championship at the FBS level. He’s won at least 10 games in seven straight seasons, producing a Heisman Trophy winner in quarterback Jayden Daniels in Year 2 at LSU.
This offseason, he overhauled the Tigers’ defensive coaching staff, poaching Blake Baker and Kevin Peoples from Missouri and Bo Davis from Texas. LSU currently has the No. 1 ranked 2025 recruiting class. With Saban gone, Kelly’s chances of winning a national title in Baton Rouge just went up.
Following Kelly to round out the top five is Saban’s replacement in Kalen DeBoer, Ryan Day and Steve Sarkisian. Every coach ranked in the top 10 save for Smart and Dabo Swinney at No. 6 is still looking for their first national titles in the FBS.
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