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 0.371 0.17 -0.145 0.314 0.037 -0.02 0.057
2 Marcus Freeman 0.317 0.098 -0.151 0.249 0.033 -0.036 0.069
3 Nick Saban 0.296 0.112 -0.095 0.207 0.041 -0.048 0.089
4 Kirby Smart 0.292 0.1 -0.098 0.199 0.04 -0.054 0.093
5 Steve Sarkisian 0.288 0.076 -0.155 0.232 0.032 -0.025 0.057
6 Dan Lanning 0.287 0.157 -0.089 0.246 0.022 -0.018 0.04
7 Jim Harbaugh 0.252 0.099 -0.092 0.191 0.016 -0.045 0.061
8 James Franklin 0.246 0.075 -0.117 0.192 0.033 -0.021 0.054
9 Josh Heupel 0.224 0.076 -0.039 0.116 0.04 -0.067 0.108
10 Jon Sumrall 0.206 0.078 -0.167 0.244 -0.023 0.015 -0.038
11 Curt Cignetti 0.199 0.123 -0.128 0.251 -0.036 0.016 -0.052
12 Mario Cristobal 0.196 0.131 -0.003 0.134 0.011 -0.052 0.062
13 Jeff Brohm 0.189 0.083 -0.049 0.132 0.019 -0.038 0.057
14 Lane Kiffin 0.187 0.108 -0.093 0.201 0.013 0.027 -0.013
15 Chris Klieman 0.179 0.077 -0.097 0.174 0.018 0.014 0.004
16 Brent Venables 0.173 -0.004 -0.076 0.073 0.035 -0.065 0.101
17 Rhett Lashlee 0.166 0.079 -0.092 0.171 0.017 0.023 -0.006
18 Kalen DeBoer 0.159 0.103 -0.073 0.176 -0.008 0.008 -0.016
19 Major Applewhite 0.155 0.095 -0.059 0.155 0.0 -0.0 0.0
20 Kenny Dillingham 0.154 0.052 -0.033 0.085 0.02 -0.049 0.069
21 Brian Kelly 0.147 0.14 -0.014 0.154 0.01 0.017 -0.007
22 Sonny Dykes 0.142 0.076 -0.015 0.091 0.043 -0.009 0.051
23 Paul Chryst 0.136 0.002 -0.136 0.138 0.0 0.002 -0.002
24 Sam Pittman 0.132 0.064 -0.035 0.099 0.005 -0.028 0.033
25 Dabo Swinney 0.128 0.024 -0.082 0.106 0.026 0.004 0.022
26 Billy Napier 0.128 0.079 -0.019 0.099 0.019 -0.01 0.029
27 Lincoln Riley 0.124 0.144 0.022 0.121 0.015 0.011 0.003
28 Pat Narduzzi 0.114 -0.029 -0.057 0.028 0.023 -0.063 0.086
29 Brent Key 0.112 0.034 -0.008 0.042 0.023 -0.048 0.07
30 Deion Sanders 0.111 0.07 -0.07 0.14 -0.016 0.013 -0.029
31 Spencer Danielson 0.107 0.108 0.023 0.085 0.007 -0.015 0.022
32 Bill Clark 0.107 0.052 -0.079 0.131 -0.011 0.013 -0.024
33 P.J. Fleck 0.105 0.001 -0.022 0.024 0.025 -0.056 0.081
34 Jedd Fisch 0.1 0.082 0.0 0.081 0.007 -0.012 0.019
35 Jamey Chadwell 0.1 0.079 -0.003 0.082 0.026 0.008 0.018
36 Kyle Whittingham 0.099 -0.027 -0.131 0.104 0.011 0.016 -0.005
37 Lance Leipold 0.098 0.145 0.044 0.101 0.004 0.007 -0.002
38 Hugh Freeze 0.097 0.026 -0.096 0.122 -0.011 0.014 -0.025
39 Bret Bielema 0.097 0.017 -0.051 0.068 0.017 -0.012 0.029
40 Brent Pry 0.095 -0.012 -0.035 0.022 0.03 -0.042 0.073
41 Dan Mullen 0.084 0.067 -0.016 0.083 -0.0 -0.002 0.001
42 Mark Stoops 0.084 -0.028 -0.064 0.037 0.017 -0.029 0.047
43 Luke Fickell 0.082 -0.007 -0.052 0.045 0.027 -0.01 0.037
44 Mike Locksley 0.081 -0.018 -0.03 0.012 0.048 -0.021 0.069
45 Eli Drinkwitz 0.081 0.031 -0.044 0.076 0.018 0.013 0.006
46 Mack Brown 0.075 0.063 0.051 0.011 0.02 -0.044 0.064
47 Shane Beamer 0.073 0.019 -0.036 0.056 0.023 0.005 0.018
48 Brian Newberry 0.072 0.084 -0.089 0.173 -0.068 0.033 -0.101
49 Bryan Harsin 0.069 0.031 -0.041 0.071 0.004 0.006 -0.003
50 Matt Rhule 0.069 -0.019 -0.007 -0.012 0.066 -0.015 0.081
51 Chad Lunsford 0.069 0.014 -0.054 0.069 0.0 0.0 0.0
52 Ed Orgeron 0.068 0.039 -0.027 0.066 0.002 -0.0 0.002
53 Kirk Ferentz 0.068 -0.106 -0.101 -0.005 0.023 -0.05 0.073
54 Herm Edwards 0.068 0.049 -0.031 0.08 -0.009 0.003 -0.012
55 Jimbo Fisher 0.068 -0.018 -0.069 0.051 0.001 -0.016 0.017
56 Gus Malzahn 0.067 0.044 -0.014 0.058 0.021 0.013 0.008
57 Mike Elko 0.066 0.039 -0.033 0.072 0.008 0.014 -0.006
58 Chip Kelly 0.066 0.006 -0.024 0.03 0.023 -0.013 0.036
59 Matt Campbell 0.063 0.013 -0.056 0.069 0.001 0.007 -0.006
60 Barry Odom 0.059 0.057 0.008 0.049 -0.001 -0.01 0.01
61 Kalani Sitake 0.058 0.069 -0.062 0.131 -0.039 0.034 -0.073
62 Ryan Silverfield 0.056 0.04 0.03 0.01 0.002 -0.043 0.045
63 Justin Wilcox 0.055 0.0 -0.01 0.011 0.018 -0.027 0.045
64 Mike Norvell 0.055 -0.024 -0.009 -0.014 0.018 -0.052 0.07
65 Mike Leach 0.054 0.044 -0.019 0.063 0.001 0.01 -0.009
66 Dave Aranda 0.05 0.044 -0.015 0.059 -0.011 -0.002 -0.009
67 Joey McGuire 0.048 0.023 -0.003 0.026 0.007 -0.015 0.022
68 Greg Knox 0.047 -0.037 -0.04 0.003 0.024 -0.02 0.044
69 Kane Wommack 0.046 0.014 -0.052 0.066 -0.004 0.016 -0.02
70 Willie Fritz 0.046 -0.065 -0.078 0.013 0.0 -0.032 0.032
71 Ken Niumatalolo 0.043 0.039 -0.049 0.088 -0.029 0.017 -0.046
72 Scott Frost 0.042 0.058 0.012 0.046 -0.004 0.0 -0.004
73 Jake Dickert 0.041 0.064 0.028 0.036 0.01 0.004 0.006
74 Manny Diaz 0.041 -0.047 -0.085 0.038 0.003 0.001 0.002
75 Scot Loeffler 0.041 0.061 -0.008 0.069 -0.056 -0.027 -0.029
76 Gary Patterson 0.039 -0.01 -0.053 0.043 -0.002 0.002 -0.004
77 Jonathan Smith 0.039 0.026 -0.012 0.038 -0.001 -0.002 0.001
78 Michael Desormeaux 0.038 0.048 0.024 0.025 0.011 -0.003 0.014
79 Dave Doeren 0.037 0.018 -0.021 0.04 0.016 0.019 -0.003
80 Chris Petersen 0.035 0.003 -0.031 0.034 0.001 -0.001 0.001
81 Dana Holgorsen 0.034 0.03 0.008 0.022 0.01 -0.002 0.012
82 Doc Holliday 0.033 -0.013 -0.047 0.034 -0.0 0.002 -0.002
83 Jerry Kill 0.029 0.113 0.033 0.08 -0.031 0.02 -0.052
84 Mel Tucker 0.028 0.03 0.006 0.025 0.003 -0.001 0.004
85 G.J. Kinne 0.027 0.069 0.002 0.067 -0.009 0.03 -0.039
86 Mark Dantonio 0.021 -0.019 -0.041 0.022 -0.0 0.0 -0.001
87 Neal Brown 0.019 0.025 0.027 -0.002 0.01 -0.011 0.021
88 Andy Avalos 0.019 -0.033 -0.061 0.027 0.009 0.018 -0.009
89 Dino Babers 0.018 -0.018 -0.025 0.007 0.004 -0.008 0.011
90 Philip Montgomery 0.017 -0.001 -0.02 0.019 -0.001 0.001 -0.002
91 Greg Schiano 0.013 -0.02 0.032 -0.052 0.018 -0.046 0.065
92 Karl Dorrell 0.01 0.0 0.006 -0.006 0.008 -0.009 0.016
93 Bryant Vincent 0.01 0.021 -0.024 0.044 -0.005 0.03 -0.034
94 Jeff Monken 0.009 0.109 0.004 0.105 -0.063 0.033 -0.096
95 Chuck Martin 0.007 -0.057 -0.013 -0.044 0.012 -0.039 0.051
96 Jeff Traylor 0.007 -0.011 -0.017 0.006 -0.01 -0.01 0.0
97 Nunzio Campanile 0.005 -0.041 -0.008 -0.034 0.012 -0.027 0.038
98 Charles Huff 0.004 -0.033 -0.054 0.022 -0.016 0.002 -0.018
99 Bronco Mendenhall 0.002 0.147 0.141 0.006 -0.001 0.003 -0.004
100 Jay Hopson 0.0 -0.022 -0.023 0.001 -0.0 -0.0 -0.0
101 Frank Solich -0.002 0.027 0.028 -0.002 0.001 0.001 0.0
102 Nick Rolovich -0.005 0.027 0.036 -0.009 0.002 -0.002 0.005
103 Todd Graham -0.006 0.015 0.014 0.001 -0.006 0.001 -0.007
104 Scott Satterfield -0.007 0.036 0.035 0.001 0.006 0.014 -0.008
105 Matt Luke -0.008 0.003 0.012 -0.008 0.0 0.0 0.0
106 Craig Bohl -0.009 0.018 -0.016 0.034 -0.027 0.017 -0.044
107 Troy Calhoun -0.01 0.08 -0.035 0.114 -0.076 0.048 -0.124
108 Chip Lindsey -0.011 -0.026 -0.012 -0.013 0.003 0.0 0.003
109 Charlie Strong -0.014 -0.014 -0.0 -0.013 -0.0 0.001 -0.001
110 Tyson Helton -0.015 0.039 -0.0 0.04 -0.008 0.046 -0.054
111 Tony Elliott -0.018 0.031 0.046 -0.015 -0.001 0.002 -0.003
112 Kevin Sumlin -0.018 -0.001 0.015 -0.016 -0.001 0.002 -0.002
113 David Blackwell -0.02 -0.02 0.0 -0.02 -0.0 -0.0 -0.0
114 Jeff Hafley -0.021 -0.037 0.067 -0.104 0.047 -0.036 0.083
115 Frank Maile -0.021 -0.016 0.005 -0.022 0.0 -0.0 0.001
116 Will Muschamp -0.023 -0.03 -0.006 -0.024 0.0 -0.001 0.001
117 Jason Candle -0.024 -0.043 -0.03 -0.014 0.02 0.03 -0.01
118 Eric Morris -0.024 0.048 0.072 -0.024 0.009 0.009 0.0
119 Jeremy Pruitt -0.025 -0.03 -0.006 -0.024 -0.0 0.0 -0.0
120 Rocky Long -0.025 -0.056 -0.031 -0.025 0.0 0.0 0.0
121 Trent Dilfer -0.025 0.02 0.073 -0.053 0.008 -0.02 0.029
122 Steve Addazio -0.026 -0.014 0.016 -0.03 0.002 -0.002 0.003
123 David Shaw -0.027 -0.01 0.033 -0.043 0.012 -0.004 0.016
124 Lovie Smith -0.028 -0.018 0.011 -0.029 0.001 0.0 0.001
125 Seth Littrell -0.029 -0.007 0.028 -0.034 0.001 -0.004 0.005
126 Mike Bloomgren -0.03 -0.017 -0.016 -0.001 0.011 0.04 -0.029
127 Alex Golesh -0.032 -0.038 0.019 -0.057 0.01 -0.015 0.025
128 Justin Fuente -0.036 -0.007 0.029 -0.036 0.0 0.001 -0.001
129 Jim Mora -0.04 -0.057 -0.009 -0.049 0.015 0.006 0.009
130 Willie Taggart -0.042 -0.001 0.017 -0.018 -0.017 0.007 -0.024
131 Jay Norvell -0.046 -0.068 0.026 -0.094 0.024 -0.024 0.048
132 Jeff Tedford -0.047 -0.018 0.022 -0.04 -0.031 -0.024 -0.007
133 Frank Wilson -0.05 -0.04 0.01 -0.05 -0.0 0.0 -0.0
134 Tim Albin -0.05 -0.006 -0.027 0.021 -0.021 0.051 -0.072
135 Matt Wells -0.051 -0.034 0.017 -0.051 0.001 0.0 0.001
136 David Braun -0.052 -0.097 -0.003 -0.093 -0.005 -0.047 0.041
137 Mike Bobo -0.055 -0.01 0.048 -0.058 0.001 -0.002 0.004
138 Ricky Rahne -0.058 -0.006 -0.009 0.004 -0.025 0.037 -0.062
139 Les Miles -0.061 -0.054 0.007 -0.061 0.001 0.0 0.001
140 Mike Gundy -0.061 -0.052 -0.002 -0.05 0.034 0.045 -0.011
141 Bobby Wilder -0.061 -0.051 0.011 -0.062 0.0 -0.0 0.001
142 Tom Allen -0.062 -0.063 0.028 -0.09 0.008 -0.02 0.029
143 Bob Davie -0.062 -0.029 0.032 -0.062 -0.0 0.0 -0.0
144 Tim Lester -0.063 -0.02 0.031 -0.051 0.003 0.015 -0.012
145 Skip Holtz -0.063 -0.016 0.044 -0.06 -0.007 -0.005 -0.003
146 Scotty Walden -0.065 -0.087 -0.026 -0.062 -0.003 0.0 -0.003
147 Tim Beck -0.068 0.003 -0.004 0.007 -0.037 0.038 -0.075
148 Rick Stockstill -0.069 -0.029 -0.004 -0.025 -0.021 0.023 -0.044
149 Mike Houston -0.069 -0.109 0.0 -0.109 0.019 -0.021 0.04
150 Thomas Hammock -0.07 -0.018 0.025 -0.043 -0.001 0.026 -0.026
151 Matt Viator -0.071 -0.014 0.057 -0.072 0.001 0.0 0.001
152 Steve Campbell -0.071 -0.058 0.013 -0.07 -0.0 0.001 -0.001
153 Shawn Clark -0.073 0.018 0.058 -0.039 0.0 0.034 -0.034
154 Blake Anderson -0.075 0.001 0.024 -0.022 -0.032 0.022 -0.053
155 Pat Fitzgerald -0.084 -0.096 -0.002 -0.094 0.009 -0.001 0.01
156 Clark Lea -0.085 -0.036 0.095 -0.131 0.02 -0.025 0.045
157 Rod Carey -0.087 -0.072 0.04 -0.111 0.013 -0.011 0.024
158 Dave Clawson -0.087 -0.061 0.068 -0.13 0.021 -0.022 0.042
159 Clay Helton -0.09 -0.001 0.088 -0.089 -0.013 -0.012 -0.002
160 Dana Dimel -0.093 -0.003 0.015 -0.018 -0.042 0.033 -0.075
161 Jeff Scott -0.093 -0.039 0.044 -0.084 0.001 0.011 -0.01
162 Rich Rodriguez -0.094 0.032 -0.061 0.093 -0.099 0.088 -0.187
163 Biff Poggi -0.095 -0.12 0.004 -0.125 0.01 -0.02 0.03
164 Brady Hoke -0.097 -0.084 0.009 -0.093 -0.016 -0.011 -0.004
165 Sean Lewis -0.101 -0.026 0.078 -0.103 -0.001 -0.004 0.003
166 Brent Brennan -0.102 -0.022 0.025 -0.047 -0.024 0.031 -0.055
167 Tom Herman -0.104 -0.045 0.053 -0.098 0.014 0.019 -0.006
168 Sonny Cumbie -0.104 -0.11 0.011 -0.12 0.013 -0.003 0.017
169 Jake Spavital -0.104 -0.058 0.033 -0.091 -0.01 0.003 -0.013
170 Troy Taylor -0.106 -0.092 0.077 -0.169 0.041 -0.022 0.063
171 Randy Edsall -0.107 -0.029 0.079 -0.108 0.0 -0.001 0.001
172 Geoff Collins -0.109 -0.062 0.054 -0.116 0.004 -0.002 0.007
173 Will Healy -0.11 0.007 0.113 -0.105 -0.005 -0.0 -0.004
174 Tom Arth -0.111 -0.077 0.032 -0.109 -0.001 0.001 -0.002
175 Lance Taylor -0.112 0.002 0.132 -0.13 0.001 -0.016 0.017
176 Marcus Arroyo -0.117 -0.044 0.056 -0.1 -0.009 0.008 -0.017
177 Timmy Chang -0.124 -0.055 0.075 -0.13 -0.01 -0.016 0.006
178 Doug Martin -0.129 -0.034 0.096 -0.13 -0.004 -0.006 0.002
179 Maurice Linguist -0.132 -0.071 0.026 -0.096 -0.011 0.025 -0.036
180 David Cutcliffe -0.133 -0.057 0.076 -0.132 0.004 0.004 -0.0
181 Butch Davis -0.137 -0.038 0.108 -0.146 0.0 -0.009 0.009
182 Ryan Walters -0.14 -0.055 0.091 -0.146 0.016 0.009 0.006
183 K.C. Keeler -0.14 -0.037 -0.032 -0.006 -0.096 0.039 -0.134
184 Joe Moorhead -0.148 -0.104 0.04 -0.143 -0.001 0.004 -0.005
185 Shawn Elliott -0.149 -0.028 0.034 -0.062 -0.027 0.059 -0.087
186 Danny Gonzales -0.153 -0.054 0.045 -0.1 -0.025 0.028 -0.053
187 Paul Petrino -0.154 0.005 0.039 -0.035 -0.074 0.045 -0.119
188 Walt Bell -0.156 -0.066 0.088 -0.154 -0.001 0.001 -0.002
189 Will Hall -0.16 -0.102 0.029 -0.131 -0.008 0.02 -0.029
190 Jim McElwain -0.165 -0.071 0.066 -0.137 0.005 0.032 -0.027
191 Mike MacIntyre -0.165 -0.085 0.027 -0.111 -0.032 0.022 -0.054
192 Chris Creighton -0.185 -0.099 0.089 -0.188 0.001 -0.001 0.002
193 Stan Drayton -0.19 -0.094 0.062 -0.156 -0.002 0.032 -0.034
194 Butch Jones -0.191 -0.07 0.119 -0.189 0.013 0.016 -0.003
195 Mike Neu -0.201 -0.085 0.087 -0.172 -0.011 0.018 -0.029
196 Terry Bowden -0.202 -0.088 0.041 -0.129 -0.044 0.029 -0.073
197 Ken Wilson -0.202 -0.121 0.052 -0.173 -0.016 0.012 -0.029
198 Don Brown -0.206 -0.068 0.117 -0.186 -0.011 0.009 -0.02
199 Tony Sanchez -0.209 -0.107 0.104 -0.211 0.001 -0.001 0.002
200 Derek Mason -0.218 -0.062 0.156 -0.218 0.0 0.0 -0.0
201 Kevin Wilson -0.23 -0.066 0.129 -0.195 -0.016 0.019 -0.035
202 Kenni Burns -0.319 -0.152 0.171 -0.323 0.001 -0.002 0.004