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Lane Kiffin Snubbed From Top 5 in ESPNs College Football Coach Rankings ESPN unveiled its 2026 rankings of the top college football coaches this week, and the results sparked plenty of debate across the sport.
The panel of reporters Louisiana State Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin was placed at No.
7 in ESPN's college football coach rankings.
| IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connectthis week, and the results sparked plenty of debate across the sport.
The panel of reporters voted based on which coach they would most want leading their fictional team into the coming season.
Curt Cignetti of Indiana knocked Kirby Smart from the top spot after guiding the Hoosiers to a national championship.
Ryan Day, Marcus Freeman and Dan Lanning rounded out the top five.
One name conspicuously absent from that group was Lane Kiffin, who landed seventh after his move from Ole Miss to LSU this offseason.The polarizing offensive mind drew a wide range of opinions from voters.
Kiffin picked up 25 points in the voting, sandwiched between Steve Sarkisian at sixth and Texas A&M's Mike Elko at eighth.
Three voters left the LSU coach off their ballots entirely, while one placed him as high as fourth.
Bill Connelly made the strongest case for Kiffin, pointing to his track record of transforming programs.Kiffin took Florida Atlantic from a 9-27 outfit in the three years before his arrival to a 27-13 mark during his tenure.
The analyst put a bow on his Kiffin breakdown, stating, "He might be great at burning bridges, but he's also great at being a head coach." At Ole Miss, the results were even more striking.
Ole Miss enjoyed four top-15 finishes during the 50 years before he was hired and scored four in his six seasons in charge, according to Connelly.
LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin will be expected to hit the ground running in Baton Rouge this season.| IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Heather Dinich noted that aside from two Conference USA titles at Florida Atlantic, Kiffin has yet to capture a league or national championship as a head coach.
The financial market has already rendered its own verdict on Kiffin, even if ESPN's voters did not.
LSU signed him to aHowever, across 11 combined seasons at Tennessee, USC and Ole Miss, none of his teams played for a conference title.Cignetti, Smart and Day sit comfortably atop this list because each has hoisted a national championship trophy.
Fair enough.
But the tier immediately below deserves closer scrutiny, and Kiffin has a real argument for inclusion there.
Freeman, Lanning and Sarkisian have all built impressive resumes without breaking through to a title.Lanning owns the best record of that group at 48-8, though his 1-5 mark against teams that reached the national title game raises questions.
Sarkisian has taken Texas to consecutive playoff semifinals, which is genuine progress.
Yet Adam Rittenberg pointed out that Sarkisian has posted just two top-10 finishes despite holding two premier jobs at USC and Texas.Kiffin, meanwhile, produced three straight 10-win seasons at Ole Miss to close his tenure, matching Johnny Vaught for the most 10-win campaigns in program history.
His .743 winning percentage in Oxford ranks second in school history.
Lane Kiffin and the Rebels didn't miss a beat when Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss took over last season after Austin Simmons was injured.| IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connectunder Kiffin, and the Rebels averaged at least 33 points per game every season of his tenure, including a league-best 38.6 points per game in 2024.
Kiffin also signed four consecutive top-six transfer classes at Ole Miss, evidence that he can build a roster in the portal era without leaning on blue-blood infrastructure.
He also kept the Rebels ranked in the AP poll for 48 consecutive weeks, the second-longest run the program has ever seen.Doing that at Ole Miss, a school without the recruiting pipeline of Texas or Notre Dame, carries weight.
Freeman has led Notre Dame to a 16-7 mark against ranked teams, second-best in the FBS behind only Georgia.
Lanning has stacked top-five recruiting classes in all four cycles at Oregon.
Placing Kiffin fifth or sixth rather than seventh would not have been unreasonable.His resource disadvantage at every previous stop separates him from coaches operating with blue-chip infrastructure.
Kiffin and the Tigers open the 2026 season at home against Clemson on Sept.
5 at 7:30 p.m.
ET at Tiger Stadium, theMatt De Lima is a veteran sports writer and editor with 15+ years of experience covering college football, the NFL, NBA, WNBA, and MLB.A Virginia Tech graduate and two-time FSWA finalist, he has held roles at DraftKings, The Game Day, ClutchPoints, and GiveMeSport.
Matt has built a reputation for his digital-first approach, sharp news judgment and ability to deliver timely, engaging sports coverage.