CFB Coach Rankings

Powered by advanced analytics and our SABAN rating system

Coach Rankings

This table breaks down the individual offensive and defensive metrics contributing to our SABAN rating. While stronger offensive performance shows up as higher numbers, effective defensive performance works in the opposite direction—lower values indicate greater defensive strength. As a result, we measure a coach’s net effect by taking their Offensive Rating and subtracting their Defensive Rating. This approach keeps the final scoring intuitive: a higher net rating means a coach is raising the team’s overall level of play more significantly.

For more details on these calculations, including how we use EPA-over-expectation and other advanced analytics, see our Methodology section.

Our analysis includes data for the past 10 years and includes all coaches who have overseen at least 500 plays. Consequently, this gives us the ability to compare individuals who are no longer head coaches.

# Coach Name SABAN Rating (Total) Offensive Coaching Defensive Coaching Net Coaching Offensive Recruiting Defensive Recruiting Net Recruiting
1 Ryan Day 0.374 0.209 -0.139 0.347 0.023 -0.003 0.026
2 Dan Lanning 0.349 0.182 -0.104 0.285 0.024 -0.039 0.063
3 Kirby Smart 0.338 0.096 -0.122 0.218 0.056 -0.064 0.12
4 Nick Saban 0.323 0.159 -0.124 0.283 0.028 -0.012 0.04
5 Curt Cignetti 0.275 0.149 -0.153 0.302 -0.017 0.01 -0.027
6 Marcus Freeman 0.274 0.086 -0.125 0.211 0.037 -0.027 0.064
7 Jim Harbaugh 0.271 0.107 -0.135 0.242 0.018 -0.011 0.029
8 Lincoln Riley 0.234 0.207 0.005 0.203 0.026 -0.005 0.031
9 James Franklin 0.214 0.062 -0.116 0.179 0.024 -0.012 0.036
10 Brent Venables 0.213 0.011 -0.102 0.113 0.036 -0.065 0.1
11 Paul Chryst 0.209 0.083 -0.156 0.239 -0.014 0.016 -0.03
12 Josh Heupel 0.207 0.144 -0.044 0.188 0.0 -0.018 0.018
13 Steve Sarkisian 0.203 0.077 -0.074 0.151 0.012 -0.04 0.052
14 Kyle Whittingham 0.202 0.061 -0.145 0.206 0.003 0.006 -0.004
15 Kalen DeBoer 0.197 0.121 -0.072 0.193 0.007 0.003 0.004
16 Dabo Swinney 0.192 0.049 -0.119 0.168 0.016 -0.008 0.024
17 Bob Chesney 0.184 0.026 -0.15 0.176 -0.003 -0.012 0.009
18 Rhett Lashlee 0.178 0.097 -0.086 0.184 0.012 0.017 -0.006
19 Mario Cristobal 0.169 0.093 -0.063 0.156 0.008 -0.005 0.013
20 Joey McGuire 0.167 0.056 -0.086 0.142 0.015 -0.01 0.025
21 Jon Sumrall 0.161 0.069 -0.093 0.162 0.005 0.006 -0.001
22 Jeff Brohm 0.153 0.077 -0.046 0.123 0.008 -0.023 0.03
23 Ed Orgeron 0.149 0.067 -0.038 0.105 0.019 -0.025 0.044
24 Chris Klieman 0.147 0.075 -0.062 0.137 0.011 0.002 0.01
25 Luke Fickell 0.142 0.039 -0.11 0.149 -0.011 -0.005 -0.006
26 Chris Petersen 0.142 0.061 -0.113 0.174 -0.027 0.005 -0.033
27 Lane Kiffin 0.139 0.109 -0.042 0.151 -0.002 0.009 -0.012
28 Sam Pittman 0.134 0.082 -0.044 0.126 0.011 0.003 0.008
29 Brian Kelly 0.127 0.054 -0.046 0.1 0.014 -0.013 0.027
30 Kirk Ferentz 0.126 -0.026 -0.158 0.132 -0.008 -0.003 -0.006
31 Bret Bielema 0.125 0.033 -0.076 0.108 0.006 -0.011 0.017
32 Blake Harrell 0.121 0.051 -0.052 0.103 0.015 -0.002 0.017
33 Mack Brown 0.12 0.103 0.029 0.074 0.017 -0.028 0.046
34 Mike Elko 0.119 0.075 -0.046 0.121 0.01 0.012 -0.002
35 Sherrone Moore 0.119 0.034 -0.088 0.122 -0.003 0.0 -0.003
36 Jimbo Fisher 0.115 0.029 -0.079 0.108 0.001 -0.005 0.007
37 Kenny Dillingham 0.113 0.035 -0.041 0.075 0.007 -0.031 0.038
38 Dan Mullen 0.112 0.118 -0.021 0.139 -0.014 0.013 -0.027
39 Pat Narduzzi 0.112 0.004 -0.092 0.096 -0.001 -0.017 0.016
40 Matt Campbell 0.103 0.054 -0.08 0.134 -0.021 0.009 -0.031
41 Kalani Sitake 0.101 0.08 -0.045 0.125 -0.01 0.014 -0.024
42 Hugh Freeze 0.101 0.067 -0.037 0.104 -0.009 -0.006 -0.003
43 Jedd Fisch 0.097 0.066 -0.016 0.082 0.001 -0.014 0.015
44 Mike Leach 0.097 0.076 -0.037 0.113 -0.001 0.016 -0.017
45 Scott Satterfield 0.096 0.107 0.017 0.09 -0.004 -0.01 0.006
46 Eli Drinkwitz 0.094 0.057 -0.043 0.1 0.012 0.018 -0.006
47 Gus Malzahn 0.092 0.053 -0.049 0.102 -0.002 0.009 -0.01
48 Matt Rhule 0.088 0.018 -0.023 0.042 0.02 -0.026 0.046
49 Mike Norvell 0.087 0.071 -0.023 0.094 0.001 0.008 -0.007
50 Spencer Danielson 0.087 0.057 0.002 0.055 0.008 -0.024 0.032
51 Scott Frost 0.084 0.05 -0.033 0.083 -0.008 -0.009 0.001
52 Bryan Harsin 0.083 0.079 -0.048 0.128 -0.017 0.028 -0.045
53 Frank Maile 0.079 0.041 -0.038 0.079 -0.003 -0.003 0.0
54 Bill Clark 0.076 0.002 -0.087 0.089 -0.014 -0.001 -0.013
55 Andy Avalos 0.074 -0.006 -0.082 0.076 0.006 0.008 -0.002
56 Mark Stoops 0.074 -0.001 -0.063 0.062 0.002 -0.01 0.012
57 Jake Dickert 0.074 0.025 -0.029 0.054 0.022 0.002 0.019
58 Brent Key 0.073 0.052 -0.029 0.081 -0.001 0.007 -0.008
59 G.J. Kinne 0.071 0.089 0.015 0.074 0.007 0.009 -0.002
60 Dave Aranda 0.071 0.044 -0.034 0.079 -0.008 -0.001 -0.008
61 Major Applewhite 0.068 0.077 0.026 0.05 -0.001 -0.019 0.018
62 Shane Beamer 0.068 0.015 -0.048 0.062 0.015 0.01 0.005
63 Billy Napier 0.064 0.086 0.002 0.083 -0.006 0.014 -0.019
64 Jonathan Smith 0.063 0.059 0.012 0.047 0.011 -0.006 0.016
65 Manny Diaz 0.063 0.023 -0.033 0.057 0.013 0.007 0.006
66 Herm Edwards 0.061 0.073 -0.021 0.094 -0.014 0.018 -0.032
67 P.J. Fleck 0.056 0.046 -0.033 0.079 -0.02 0.002 -0.023
68 Brent Pry 0.053 0.004 0.003 0.001 0.023 -0.029 0.052
69 Charles Huff 0.052 -0.033 -0.06 0.027 0.011 -0.014 0.026
70 Troy Calhoun 0.052 0.081 0.018 0.064 -0.006 0.006 -0.012
71 Ryan Silverfield 0.051 0.052 0.003 0.049 -0.002 -0.004 0.002
72 Jeff Traylor 0.05 0.023 0.004 0.019 0.011 -0.02 0.031
73 Jeff Monken 0.05 0.047 0.007 0.04 0.004 -0.006 0.01
74 Kane Wommack 0.049 -0.001 -0.034 0.033 0.014 -0.001 0.016
75 Deshaun Foster 0.048 0.017 -0.035 0.052 -0.005 -0.001 -0.004
76 Jamey Chadwell 0.048 0.055 0.028 0.027 0.028 0.008 0.021
77 Mark Dantonio 0.047 -0.077 -0.14 0.063 0.007 0.022 -0.015
78 Mike Locksley 0.045 0.018 -0.044 0.062 0.004 0.02 -0.017
79 Justin Wilcox 0.045 -0.017 -0.063 0.046 -0.016 -0.014 -0.001
80 Barry Odom 0.044 0.022 -0.024 0.046 -0.003 -0.001 -0.003
81 Jeff Lebby 0.043 0.046 0.029 0.017 0.004 -0.022 0.026
82 Willie Fritz 0.043 -0.005 -0.038 0.034 0.006 -0.003 0.009
83 Alex Golesh 0.041 0.025 -0.014 0.039 0.001 -0.001 0.002
84 Dana Holgorsen 0.041 0.058 0.002 0.055 0.001 0.015 -0.015
85 Sonny Dykes 0.04 0.075 0.026 0.049 -0.015 -0.006 -0.009
86 Brian Newberry 0.038 0.062 -0.025 0.087 -0.031 0.018 -0.049
87 Eric Morris 0.036 0.096 0.073 0.023 0.001 -0.012 0.013
88 Lance Leipold 0.034 0.084 0.049 0.035 -0.001 0.0 -0.001
89 Dave Doeren 0.032 0.006 -0.032 0.038 0.002 0.008 -0.006
90 Mel Tucker 0.032 0.042 -0.018 0.06 -0.004 0.024 -0.028
91 Bill O'Brien 0.031 0.022 0.001 0.021 -0.004 -0.014 0.01
92 Chip Kelly 0.031 0.037 0.009 0.028 0.003 0.001 0.003
93 Rich Rodriguez 0.03 -0.017 -0.061 0.044 0.002 0.015 -0.014
94 Deion Sanders 0.028 0.021 -0.013 0.034 0.0 0.007 -0.007
95 Jeff Tedford 0.027 0.018 -0.011 0.029 -0.011 -0.008 -0.002
96 Greg Knox 0.027 0.019 -0.019 0.038 -0.004 0.007 -0.011
97 Shawn Clark 0.025 0.022 -0.005 0.028 0.003 0.006 -0.003
98 Karl Dorrell 0.019 0.0 -0.02 0.02 0.001 0.002 -0.001
99 Jason Candle 0.016 0.007 -0.008 0.015 -0.001 -0.002 0.001
100 Neal Brown 0.012 0.007 -0.012 0.02 0.002 0.01 -0.008
101 Bryant Vincent 0.008 0.009 -0.017 0.026 -0.013 0.005 -0.018
102 Dino Babers 0.007 -0.024 -0.033 0.009 0.011 0.013 -0.002
103 Gerad Parker 0.007 -0.007 -0.03 0.023 -0.003 0.014 -0.017
104 Philip Montgomery 0.006 -0.024 -0.035 0.011 0.001 0.006 -0.005
105 Ricky Rahne 0.006 -0.021 -0.029 0.008 0.004 0.005 -0.002
106 Tom Allen 0.002 -0.016 -0.026 0.01 -0.003 0.006 -0.008
107 Tony Elliott 0.001 -0.027 -0.015 -0.011 0.006 -0.007 0.012
108 Matt Luke 0.001 0.058 0.017 0.041 -0.02 0.019 -0.039
109 Clay Helton 0.001 0.038 0.058 -0.02 -0.006 -0.026 0.021
110 Tom Herman 0.001 0.018 0.025 -0.007 -0.002 -0.01 0.008
111 Chip Lindsey -0.0 0.013 0.008 0.005 -0.007 -0.002 -0.005
112 Steve Addazio -0.001 0.003 -0.006 0.009 -0.007 0.003 -0.01
113 Jeremy Pruitt -0.002 -0.034 -0.036 0.003 0.012 0.016 -0.004
114 Greg Schiano -0.002 -0.001 -0.019 0.019 -0.014 0.006 -0.021
115 David Braun -0.002 -0.044 -0.034 -0.01 -0.003 -0.011 0.008
116 Bronco Mendenhall -0.003 0.051 0.047 0.004 0.001 0.008 -0.007
117 Tyson Helton -0.004 0.016 -0.014 0.03 -0.008 0.026 -0.034
118 Todd Graham -0.004 0.024 0.02 0.004 -0.008 0.001 -0.009
119 Nick Rolovich -0.005 0.071 0.072 -0.001 0.007 0.012 -0.005
120 Will Muschamp -0.007 -0.034 -0.007 -0.027 0.006 -0.014 0.02
121 Frank Solich -0.008 0.078 0.079 -0.001 -0.0 0.006 -0.007
122 Kevin Sumlin -0.013 0.019 0.025 -0.006 -0.004 0.003 -0.007
123 Ken Niumatalolo -0.013 0.007 0.017 -0.01 0.015 0.018 -0.003
124 Doc Holliday -0.015 -0.042 -0.05 0.008 -0.014 0.009 -0.023
125 Jeff Hafley -0.015 0.005 0.029 -0.024 -0.005 -0.014 0.009
126 Michael Desormeaux -0.015 0.016 0.027 -0.011 0.008 0.012 -0.004
127 Mike Gundy -0.016 -0.01 -0.011 0.001 0.004 0.021 -0.017
128 Brent Brennan -0.019 -0.029 0.027 -0.056 0.007 -0.03 0.037
129 Gary Patterson -0.021 -0.062 -0.07 0.008 -0.017 0.013 -0.03
130 Brady Hoke -0.023 -0.078 -0.058 -0.02 0.0 0.003 -0.003
131 Blake Anderson -0.023 0.007 0.017 -0.01 -0.01 0.004 -0.014
132 Jerry Kill -0.026 0.066 0.079 -0.013 -0.003 0.009 -0.013
133 Jay Hopson -0.027 -0.073 -0.061 -0.012 -0.007 0.008 -0.015
134 Justin Fuente -0.027 0.011 0.05 -0.039 0.007 -0.005 0.012
135 Craig Bohl -0.03 -0.059 -0.035 -0.024 0.001 0.006 -0.005
136 Lovie Smith -0.039 -0.02 0.033 -0.054 0.008 -0.007 0.015
137 Chad Lunsford -0.04 -0.037 -0.005 -0.032 -0.01 -0.003 -0.008
138 Clark Lea -0.04 0.033 0.079 -0.046 0.008 0.002 0.006
139 Rick Stockstill -0.041 -0.039 0.006 -0.044 -0.002 -0.006 0.004
140 Joe Moorhead -0.041 -0.041 -0.004 -0.037 -0.008 -0.004 -0.004
141 Dave Clawson -0.043 -0.002 0.048 -0.05 0.005 -0.002 0.007
142 David Shaw -0.043 -0.009 0.061 -0.07 0.008 -0.019 0.027
143 Pat Fitzgerald -0.044 -0.064 -0.051 -0.012 -0.021 0.01 -0.032
144 Willie Taggart -0.047 -0.038 -0.01 -0.028 -0.006 0.013 -0.02
145 Tim Lester -0.048 0.023 0.066 -0.043 -0.008 -0.002 -0.005
146 Chuck Martin -0.055 -0.053 -0.004 -0.049 -0.012 -0.006 -0.006
147 Jim Mora -0.056 -0.024 0.025 -0.049 -0.003 0.003 -0.006
148 Rod Carey -0.056 -0.098 -0.032 -0.066 0.004 -0.005 0.01
149 Trent Dilfer -0.058 0.033 0.095 -0.061 0.014 0.01 0.003
150 Rocky Long -0.06 -0.121 -0.07 -0.051 -0.005 0.004 -0.009
151 Nunzio Campanile -0.062 -0.088 0.003 -0.091 0.013 -0.016 0.029
152 Tim Beck -0.063 -0.03 0.026 -0.056 -0.008 -0.001 -0.007
153 Fran Brown -0.065 0.015 0.074 -0.059 -0.004 0.002 -0.006
154 Sonny Cumbie -0.065 -0.052 0.001 -0.052 0.002 0.014 -0.013
155 Charlie Strong -0.065 -0.034 0.028 -0.062 -0.0 0.003 -0.003
156 Mike Houston -0.069 -0.049 0.046 -0.095 0.001 -0.025 0.026
157 Shawn Elliott -0.069 -0.031 0.081 -0.111 0.025 -0.017 0.042
158 K.C. Keeler -0.071 -0.042 0.01 -0.052 -0.011 0.008 -0.019
159 Ryan Walters -0.071 -0.024 0.058 -0.082 0.008 -0.003 0.011
160 Tim Albin -0.073 -0.024 0.019 -0.043 -0.012 0.017 -0.03
161 Skip Holtz -0.076 -0.03 0.016 -0.046 -0.018 0.012 -0.03
162 Matt Wells -0.076 -0.026 0.014 -0.04 -0.022 0.014 -0.036
163 Sean Lewis -0.077 -0.011 0.051 -0.062 -0.008 0.008 -0.016
164 Seth Littrell -0.078 -0.007 0.065 -0.071 -0.01 -0.003 -0.007
165 Geoff Collins -0.079 -0.058 0.047 -0.105 0.015 -0.011 0.026
166 Lance Taylor -0.082 -0.025 0.044 -0.069 -0.006 0.006 -0.013
167 Jay Norvell -0.083 -0.06 0.036 -0.096 0.01 -0.003 0.013
168 Jim McElwain -0.085 -0.04 0.049 -0.089 0.007 0.003 0.004
169 Thomas Hammock -0.089 -0.041 0.074 -0.115 0.026 -0.001 0.026
170 Biff Poggi -0.092 -0.114 0.001 -0.115 0.006 -0.017 0.023
171 Trent Bray -0.093 -0.058 0.047 -0.105 0.003 -0.009 0.012
172 Pete Lembo -0.096 -0.096 0.013 -0.109 0.018 0.005 0.013
173 Mike Neu -0.098 -0.054 0.063 -0.117 0.008 -0.011 0.019
174 Mike Bobo -0.101 -0.006 0.083 -0.089 -0.013 -0.001 -0.012
175 Timmy Chang -0.11 -0.051 0.082 -0.134 -0.007 -0.031 0.023
176 Will Healy -0.11 0.011 0.126 -0.115 0.013 0.008 0.005
177 David Blackwell -0.12 -0.109 0.0 -0.109 -0.014 -0.003 -0.011
178 Jeff Choate -0.122 -0.061 0.049 -0.11 0.008 0.019 -0.012
179 Troy Taylor -0.122 -0.075 0.074 -0.149 0.012 -0.015 0.027
180 Jay Sawvel -0.129 -0.141 0.006 -0.147 0.011 -0.006 0.018
181 Maurice Linguist -0.133 -0.06 0.043 -0.103 -0.011 0.019 -0.03
182 Derek Mason -0.136 -0.036 0.069 -0.105 -0.019 0.012 -0.031
183 Chris Creighton -0.137 -0.052 0.074 -0.126 -0.004 0.007 -0.011
184 Scotty Walden -0.138 -0.124 0.005 -0.129 -0.0 0.008 -0.009
185 Scot Loeffler -0.14 -0.099 0.044 -0.144 -0.014 -0.018 0.004
186 Mike Bloomgren -0.142 -0.074 0.083 -0.157 -0.003 -0.018 0.015
187 Dell McGee -0.144 -0.045 0.1 -0.145 0.002 0.001 0.001
188 Marcus Arroyo -0.144 -0.042 0.091 -0.133 -0.001 0.01 -0.011
189 Matt Viator -0.144 -0.046 0.106 -0.152 0.005 -0.003 0.008
190 Butch Jones -0.146 -0.078 0.095 -0.173 0.027 0.001 0.026
191 Jeff Scott -0.147 -0.052 0.101 -0.153 0.011 0.004 0.006
192 David Cutcliffe -0.147 -0.088 0.042 -0.13 -0.007 0.011 -0.018
193 Butch Davis -0.15 -0.031 0.09 -0.12 -0.014 0.016 -0.03
194 Les Miles -0.152 -0.08 0.066 -0.146 -0.002 0.005 -0.007
195 Stan Drayton -0.156 -0.081 0.069 -0.15 -0.001 0.006 -0.007
196 Dana Dimel -0.158 -0.076 0.061 -0.138 -0.003 0.017 -0.02
197 Paul Petrino -0.159 -0.041 0.091 -0.132 -0.018 0.009 -0.027
198 Will Hall -0.166 -0.127 0.018 -0.145 0.004 0.025 -0.021
199 Tony Sanchez -0.166 -0.089 0.064 -0.153 -0.002 0.011 -0.013
200 Jake Spavital -0.166 -0.087 0.072 -0.159 -0.005 0.002 -0.007
201 Kevin Wilson -0.172 -0.049 0.12 -0.169 -0.002 0.001 -0.003
202 Steve Campbell -0.177 -0.13 0.06 -0.19 0.004 -0.009 0.013
203 Mike MacIntyre -0.179 -0.099 0.048 -0.147 -0.01 0.022 -0.032
204 Doug Martin -0.181 -0.077 0.113 -0.19 -0.005 -0.014 0.009
205 Terry Bowden -0.182 -0.111 0.018 -0.13 -0.022 0.031 -0.052
206 Danny Gonzales -0.183 -0.122 0.061 -0.183 0.002 0.002 0.0
207 Bob Davie -0.183 -0.076 0.097 -0.174 -0.008 0.002 -0.009
208 Bobby Wilder -0.189 -0.153 0.066 -0.219 0.018 -0.012 0.03
209 Don Brown -0.197 -0.106 0.098 -0.204 0.012 0.005 0.007
210 Frank Wilson -0.197 -0.138 0.068 -0.206 -0.0 -0.009 0.009
211 Ken Wilson -0.205 -0.154 0.078 -0.232 0.014 -0.013 0.027
212 Randy Edsall -0.317 -0.085 0.251 -0.337 0.007 -0.013 0.02
213 Kenni Burns -0.323 -0.17 0.165 -0.334 0.006 -0.005 0.011
214 Tom Arth -0.34 -0.243 0.083 -0.327 -0.009 0.004 -0.013
215 nan -0.343 -0.125 0.118 -0.243 -0.052 0.048 -0.1
216 Walt Bell -0.458 -0.216 0.239 -0.455 -0.004 -0.001 -0.003