ESPN has named the No. 1 coach in college football for 2025.
The 2025 college football season is quickly approaching. The 2024 college football season was a historic one, with Ohio State winning the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes took down Tennessee, Clemson, Texas and Notre Dame en route to a national championship.
But does that make Ryan Day the best coach in the country?
The Ohio State Buckeyes head coach is now a national champion with a 70-10 career record.
ESPN recently made its pick for the best head coach in the country in 2025.
Ric Tapia/Getty Images
According to ESPN, the best coach in the country is not Day. Instead, it’s Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart.
Smart came in at No. 1 in ESPN’s rankings over the weekend, earning 11 of 12 first-place votes.
“With more first-round NFL draft picks (20) than losses (19) in his nine seasons as coach of his alma mater and back-to-back national titles in 2021 and 2022, it’s hard to argue it could be anyone other than Smart with Nick Saban retired. I guess if Ryan Day guided Ohio State to a second straight national title or Dabo Swinney captured his third at Clemson this season, you could make the case they’re better. I don’t think Georgia’s program is going to slip anytime soon,” ESPN wrote.
You can view the full top 10 head coach rankings for the college football world in 2025 here.
![Tennessee & Oklahoma Fall Deep Dive; O’Sullivan to return to Florida [Highway To Hoover] • D1Baseball](https://i2.wp.com/cdn.d1baseball.com/uploads/2025/12/17222432/Talking-SEC-Teams-2.png?ssl=1 "Tennessee & Oklahoma Fall Deep Dive; O’Sullivan to return to Florida [Highway To Hoover] • D1Baseball")
