The highest three in my annual rating of the most effective coaches in school soccer was simple. After that, issues bought extra difficult.
How a lot does recency bias think about? For me, not as a lot because it does for Stewart Mandel, whose Prime 25 might be discovered right here. I’ve at all times given coaches extra credit score for what they did at their earlier stops than he does, however I’ve turn into extra of a creature of the second than I was.
One caveat: Even with the entire shake-up within the sport, it’s onerous to incorporate coaches who haven’t spent not less than three seasons as a head coach (meaning no Kenny Dillingham, regardless of a incredible second season at Arizona State). It’s simply too in need of a shelf life to check resumes with different coaches.
Learn Mandel’s Prime 25 coach rankings right here.
1. Kirby Good, Georgia (2024: No. 1)
This was the simplest name. He’s 105-19, and except for his debut season in 2016, he has not completed decrease than No. 7 within the AP ballot. Good has gained two nationwide titles and is 30-2 in SEC play through the previous 4 seasons.
2. Ryan Day, Ohio State (2024: No. 5)
Day makes the bounce from No. 5 to No. 2 after main the Buckeyes to the nationwide title. The 45-year-old is 70-10 with a sterling 46-5 file within the Large Ten. In six seasons, his groups have by no means completed outdoors the highest 10.
The draw back: The Buckeyes have misplaced 4 in a row to archrival Michigan, together with as 21-point favorites in 2024. Nonetheless, the way in which Day and his workers managed the longest season in school soccer historical past was spectacular — particularly how he bought the staff to bounce again from a devastating rivalry loss to go on a dominant School Soccer Playoff run.
3. Dabo Swinney, Clemson (2024: No. 2)
The 55-year-old has gained two nationwide titles and 9 ACC titles, and Clemson has completed within the prime 15 in 12 of the previous 13 years. His program has slipped some however was nonetheless ok to win 10 video games, seize one other ACC title and make the Playoff final yr.
4. Steve Sarkisian, Texas (2024: No. 11)
Sark jumps up from No. 11 after his second consecutive season through which he guided Texas to the highest 4 of the ultimate ballot. The Longhorns are 25-5 the previous two seasons and well-positioned to make a nationwide title run in 2025.
However he’s a difficult analysis the extra I give it some thought. He has been a head coach for 11 years at two blue bloods (Texas and USC) and a 3rd program (Washington) that’s arguably one. The Huskies have been in horrible form when he bought that job, and he made them respectable once more. Nonetheless, Sark has had solely two seasons through which his groups have completed higher than No. 20. Many coaches under him have produced extra.
Finally, I consider the place his program is now and the place it had been within the earlier decade, and my confidence that Texas goes to win a nationwide title within the subsequent three years has me rating him this excessive.
5. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama (2024: No. 4)
After going 25-3 in two exceptional seasons overhauling a Washington program that had gone 4-8 the yr earlier than he arrived, the 50-year-old from South Dakota had a rocky debut season in Tuscaloosa because the coach who changed Nick Saban.
Issues bought off to a terrific begin as his Tide beat No. 2 Georgia in late September. However they misplaced to Vanderbilt every week later and have been blown out by a mediocre Oklahoma squad and missed the Playoff. Within the ReliaQuest Bowl, Bama performed an undermanned Michigan staff and misplaced 19-14 to finish up with a 9-4 file — Alabama’s worst since Saban’s debut in 2007.
DeBoer did nicely in turning Fresno State round shortly, and he gave Washington an enormous jolt in taking it to the nationwide title recreation in his second season. He had a staggering 67-3 file at NAIA Sioux Falls with three nationwide titles. His file in large video games is exceptional, as he has gone 15-3 towards Prime 25 opponents within the FBS. The draw back from final yr was his staff misplaced to a few unranked opponents, however the hunch right here is he’ll get that half tightened up.
6. Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame (2024: NR)
Freeman has put collectively workers, confirmed to be a terrific evaluator and grown immeasurably in his job. Final yr, the 39-year-old outcoached loads of wonderful head coaches, together with the No. 1 coach on this listing within the Sugar Bowl.
Freeman has upgraded the expertise at Notre Dame and appeared to vary the vibe across the place. He’s 33-10, coming off a 14-2 season through which the Irish made it to the nationwide title recreation and completed No. 2. They went 7-1 towards Prime 25 opponents, with 5 wins coming by double digits, and they’re 14-5 towards ranked groups previously three seasons. The Irish have been 14-15 towards the Prime 25 through the earlier seven-year stretch.
7. Dan Lanning, Oregon (2024: NR)
The Saban/Good protege has hit the bottom working in Eugene. He has made so many shrewd strikes placing collectively a superb workers and has performed nearly as good a job as anybody managing the switch portal. The 38-year-old is 35-6 and simply went 13-1, ending No. 3 with a Large Ten championship. The Geese beat eventual nationwide champion Ohio State earlier than shedding the rematch. In his three seasons, he has taken Oregon from No. 15 to No. 6 to No. 3.
8. James Franklin, Penn State (2024: No. 7)
Franklin usually has been probably the most polarizing coach in my listing, as I’ve been increased on him than many as a result of I issue within the superb job he did at Vandy from 2011-13. That program by no means had been good, and but he led the Commodores to 2 Prime 25 seasons in his three years. Then, he bought Penn State again to being a top-10 program, main the Nittany Lions to a Large Ten title in his third season.
He has had 5 top-10 finishes previously 9 years. Sure, he has had large complications towards Michigan and Ohio State, however he has a greater observe file of success than a number of coaches ranked above him right here. The 53-year-old is 34-8 previously three years.
James Franklin is 101-42 in 11 seasons at Penn State. (Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Photos)
9. Matt Campbell, Iowa State (2024: NR)
He has been a incredible rent for the Cyclones. Final yr, he led Iowa State to its first double-digit-win season, because it went 11-3 and defeated three ranked groups: Iowa on the street, Kansas State at residence and Miami within the bowl recreation. It was his seventh successful season previously eight years and fourth season of eight-plus wins at a program that had just one eight-win season from 1979-2016. As well as, Campbell led Iowa State to the one top-10 end in program historical past in 2020. He’s nonetheless solely 45.
10. Brian Kelly, LSU (2024: No. 6)
The 63-year-old is a extremely good coach. He has gained two Division II nationwide titles, two Large East titles and a MAC title. He led Notre Dame to 6 double-digit-win seasons in his ultimate seven years there, ending 113-40 in 12 years with the Irish.
He had debut season at LSU in 2022, getting the Tigers to the SEC title recreation, as they went 10-4 and completed No. 16. Since then, he has struggled to get the Tigers again to the highest of the SEC, going 19-7 the previous two years. They took a step again final season, ending unranked due to a three-game shedding streak that included a 27-16 defeat to a mediocre Florida staff after getting hammered at residence towards Alabama.
Kelly’s capability to attach together with his gamers and his slot in Baton Rouge have been respectable questions at a spot the place championships are anticipated. Saban, Les Miles and Ed Orgeron all gained nationwide titles at LSU, and all of them did it inside their first 4 years. That is Kelly’s fourth yr.
11. Chris Klieman, Kansas State (2024: No. 12)
Klieman is 48-28 with the Wildcats, together with 28-12 previously three years. Ask rival Large 12 coaches, and so they’ll say that Klieman’s groups are constantly among the many best-coached groups within the convention in how they game-plan and make in-game changes. Additionally on his resume: 4 FCS nationwide titles at North Dakota State.
Klieman has three wins in video games towards top-10 opponents previously three years (though the Wildcats didn’t face a kind of groups in 2024).
12. Kyle Whittingham, Utah (2024: No. 8)
Whittingham drops a couple of spots after the Utes went 5-7 in a season through which they have been ravaged by accidents at key positions. The 65-year-old is simply 13-12 the previous two years after he led Utah to back-to-back Rose Bowls in 2021 and 2022. The Utes have completed ranked within the AP ballot 11 occasions, and Whittingham is chargeable for eight of these groups. (He had a ninth staff that went 10-3 in 2010 and completed No. 23 within the coaches ballot however didn’t wasn’t ranked within the AP.)
13. Lincoln Riley, USC (2024: No. 9)
The 41-year-old appears to be following the other arc of Sarkisian. One has been wonderful the previous two seasons and enters 2025 with a ton of momentum. The opposite has been reeling the previous two years and is attempting to dig out of a gap. There are nonetheless some causes for optimism right here.
Riley has a tremendous file of 81-24 at Oklahoma and USC, however 11 of these losses have come previously two years (with a 9-9 mark in convention play) as he has struggled mightily since a quick begin with the Trojans. He’s a pointy offensive thoughts who has made some good hires, particularly getting — and conserving — defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn. However recruiting has been a large number, and also you surprise who, if anybody, he listens to as a result of there have been so many scratch-your-head moments when he tries to clarify what’s occurring there.
14. Lance Leipold, Kansas (2024: No. 3)
After the Jayhawks fell to 5-7, the 60-year-old dropped from No. 3. His file at KU could seem underwhelming at 22-28 and 13-23 in Large 12 play, however KU was an entire catastrophe earlier than he confirmed up. In his third season, Kansas completed ranked and notched a top-10 win for the primary time in 16 years. Earlier than going to Kansas, he bought Buffalo into the Prime 25 for the primary time in its historical past. Earlier than that, he gained six Division III nationwide titles at Wisconsin-Whitewater.
15. Jeff Brohm, Louisville (2024: No. 13)
As a result of he hasn’t coached at blue blood program, his capability as a play caller and recreation planner usually will get ignored. However he’s an elite offensive thoughts. Brohm has gone 19-8 in his first two years at Louisville after successful 17 video games in his ultimate two seasons at Purdue. The Boilermakers hadn’t gained that many in a two-season stretch in about 25 years and have had just one 10-win season in additional than 130 years of soccer.
In his first season again at his alma mater, Brohm bought the Cardinals to the ACC title recreation in 2023. Final yr, all 4 of their losses got here by a landing or much less. Brohm has a strong 4-4 file towards top-10 opponents since 2018, and he beat No. 11 Clemson on the street final yr by double digits.
16. Josh Heupel, Tennessee (2024: No. 17)
The previous nationwide championship quarterback at Oklahoma has been a superb rent for the Vols. He’s 30-9 the previous three years with two top-10 seasons, together with getting UT into the Playoff final yr. Be mindful, this was a Vols program that had been caught in a rut for greater than a dozen years earlier than his arrival.
17. Wealthy Rodriguez, West Virginia (2024: No. 25)
Rodriguez is again residence in Morgantown after Jacksonville State reached a bowl recreation in every of its first two seasons after making the transfer to the FBS stage. Beforehand, he went 60-26 from 2001-07 at West Virginia to turn into the second-winningest coach in program historical past, behind his outdated coach, Don Nehlen.
Rodriguez, the godfather of the spread-option, led the Mountaineers to a few consecutive top-10 seasons, together with a No. 5 rating in 2005, which matched this system’s finest end ever. In six seasons, Rodriguez led WVU to the identical variety of top-10 finishes as the remainder of its coaches mixed. He gained 26 video games in his first three seasons at Arizona; the Wildcats had by no means gained greater than that in any three-year stretch.
18. Deion Sanders, Colorado (2024: NR)
It’ll be fascinating to see how the Buffaloes do through the subsequent few years with out Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders. Deion Sanders has earned the advantage of the doubt right here for his capability to run a program. He’s 40-18 at two applications — Jackson State and Colorado — that struggled earlier than he took over.
In his first recreation at Colorado, the Buffs knocked off a ranked TCU staff that performed within the nationwide title recreation its earlier recreation. He virtually immediately made CU nationally related for the primary in additional than 20 years. Final yr, he led Colorado to a 9-4 mark and a Prime 25 end for under the second time in 20 seasons. He confirmed a eager eye for staffing by hiring defensive coordinator Robert Livingston, giving the previous Cincinnati Bengals assistant his first job as a play caller, and that proved to be a superb transfer.
Sanders went 27-6 at a Jackson State program that was coming off six consecutive non-winning seasons.
Indiana made the School Soccer Playoff in Curt Cignetti’s first season. (Joseph Maiorana / Imagn Photos)
19. Curt Cignetti, Indiana (2024: NR)
What a grand-slam rent Cignetti proved to be for Indiana. He talked large from the second he took the job and backed it up, main the Hoosiers into the Playoff in his first season. They opened 10-0 — the most effective begin in program historical past — and notched their first 11-win season, together with a win over defending nationwide champion Michigan. They completed No. 10 within the AP ballot after going 11-2, their finest end since 1967. That’s after he led James Madison to an 11-1 season in 2023.
On the Division II, FCS and FBS ranges, his file is 130-37. The 63-year-old has coached in 4 conferences — the PSAC, the CAA, the Solar Belt and the Large Ten — and has gained Coach of the Yr honors in all of them.
t-20. Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss (No. 21)
Kiffin, who turns 50 this spring, is 44-18 in 5 seasons at Ole Miss, together with 21-5 the previous two. That’s good contemplating the Rebels usually are not one of many SEC’s conventional powers. Kiffin had a loaded staff in 2024 after the Rebels went heavy within the portal alongside returning veteran quarterback Jaxson Dart, but it surely felt like they underachieved, lacking the Playoff due to a brutal residence loss to a woeful Kentucky staff plus losses towards groups that completed outdoors the Prime 25 in LSU and Florida.
Nonetheless, Kiffin has made Ole Miss a legit upper-division SEC program. The Rebels have had 4 seasons ending within the prime 12 since 1970, and he has produced three of them. His work at FAU was robust. His file towards Prime 25 groups, nonetheless, is missing at 11-24.
t-20. Mario Cristobal, Miami (2024: NR)
In his third season again at his alma mater, Cristobal led the Hurricanes to their second-best end since 2005. Miami had loads of promise however fizzled down the stretch, squandering leads and blowing a Playoff spot. Nonetheless, make no mistake: Cristobal has dramatically overhauled the UM program and turned it again right into a talent-laden group. His offensive coordinator rent of Shannon Dawson has been one among his finest strikes.
Cristobal has eye for expertise, particularly within the trenches. He bought Oregon cranked again up after the Geese had tailed off, main the Geese to a 35-13 file in 4 seasons, together with a top-five end in 2019. Cristobal did a tremendous job in his first head teaching gig at an FIU program that had been left for useless.
22. Rhett Lashlee, SMU (2024: NR)
Lashlee, 41, is new to the listing, however after going 21-3 in convention play in three seasons and main SMU into the Playoff in its first yr in Energy 4 soccer, he has earned his approach right here. Lashlee’s groups are 16-0 in regular-season convention video games previously two years within the American in 2023 and the ACC in 2024.
23. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa (2024: No. 15)
Individuals will make jokes in regards to the Hawkeyes offense, however Ferentz has been a wizard at unearthing expertise and creating it. His groups are bodily, sensible and hard to beat. Final yr was a down yr through which the Hawkeyes went 8-5. However through the previous decade, that’s about as dangerous because it has gotten for his staff. Iowa has had six Prime 25 finishes previously 10 years, and Ferentz has 5 top-10s in his profession.
24. Bret Bielema, Illinois (2024: NR)
The previous Iowa nostril guard is a wonderful match within the Large Ten. He has pumped much-needed life into Illinois soccer. The Illini gained eight video games in 2022 and went 10-3 in 2024, beating No. 15 South Carolina within the Citrus Bowl to put up their first double-digit-win season in 23 years and their first bowl win since 2011. The Illini completed No. 16 and seem primed to be in Playoff competition in 2025.
Bielema by no means was capable of get a lot traction at Arkansas in 5 seasons, however he was excellent at Wisconsin, the place he led the Badgers to a few top-10 finishes in seven seasons.
25. Jeff Monken, Military (2024: NR)
Coming into his twelfth season at Military, Monken has been a really nice rent. He’s coming off a 12-2 season through which the Black Knights went 8-0 within the AAC after being predicted to complete fifth of their first season within the league. (That was coming off consecutive 6-6 seasons.) The lone defeats in 2024 have been blowout losses to Notre Dame and arch-rival Navy, however their 35-14 romp over Tulane staff within the AAC title recreation stands out.
Monken did nicely at Georgia Southern, going 38-18 within the FCS, and by his third yr at Military, he bought the Black Knights to 8-5 earlier than issues bought rolling. He went 21-5 in 2017 and 2018, when Military completed No. 19. General, he’s 120-73 at Military. The earlier 5 coaches relationship again to 2000 at Military went a mixed 40-166.
Dropped out: Florida State’s Mike Norvell (No. 10), Kentucky’s Mark Stoops (No. 14), Wake Forest’s Dave Clawson (No. 16, retired), Nebraska’s Matt Rhule (No. 18), Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell (No. 19), Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy (No. 20), Michigan State’s Jonathan Smith (No. 22), Auburn’s Hugh Freeze (No. 23) and Washington’s Jedd Fisch (No. 24)
Simply missed: TCU’s Sonny Dykes, Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz, Tulane’s Jon Sumrall, BYU’s Kalani Sitake, Stoops, Gundy, Norvell, Rhule, Fisch, Texas A&M’s Mike Elko, Fickell
(Prime photograph of Marcus Freeman: Michael Reaves / Getty Photos)