SEC head coach rankings entering 2026 season

Brett Davis-Imagn Images

By Chris Marler

The SEC landscape saw massive upheaval this offseason. Five coaches were fired, and a wild coaching saga unfolded between Oxford and Baton Rouge. It’s all reshaped the pecking order heading into 2026.

Here are our 2026 SEC head coach rankings.

1. Kirby Smart, Georgia

If anyone says differently they’re either lying, or it’s Lane Kiffin trolling from a burner.

Kirby Smart is the best coach in the country. He has an .857 winning percentage and in his first ten years as a coach he has an absolutely absurd record of 108-18. He has become Nick Saban 2.0 and is coming into yet another season where his team will be the favorite to win the SEC and maybe a third national championship.

2. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama

Facts over feelings, DeBoer is 20-6 all-time against ranked opponents. That’s the best winning percentage of any coach in the SEC.

He’s often ranked behind coaches like Kirby Smart, Dan Lanning and Steve Sarkisian nationally. But here’s a fun fact, he’s 7-1 all-time against that group. DeBoer is a really good coach and absolutely deserves the No. 2 spot.

That can be true while also acknowledging that an $87.5 million extension after just two years was ridiculous.

Some Notable CFB Coaches’ Career Records vs. Ranked Teams

Which coaches’ record surprises you the most? pic.twitter.com/eqh5bKO5IQ

— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) May 6, 2026

3. Lane Kiffin, LSU

Get the jokes off about Kiffin while you can. Shame Kiffin. Lane Whiffin. Whatever cute nickname you want to throw out there.

All the knocks on his resume so far, no playoff win, no SEC Championship appearance, have a real chance to disappear at LSU. Kiffin’s ceiling is far higher than his floor, and he’ll continue to keep climbing the national coaching rankings after year one in Baton Rouge.

4. Steve Sarkisian, Texas

Sarkisian has a really impressive resume and is the best offensive playcallers in the country. This season is set up for tremendous success, but so was last season. Will the results change?

There’s an argument to be made that Texas should have made the playoff last year at 9-3. There’s an even better argument to be made that they should’ve lost to Mississippi State and Kentucky and finished 7-5.

Steve Sarkisian credits Arch Manning for how he handled the noise last season 💯

Texas turned a 3-2 start into a 10-3 finish 🤘 pic.twitter.com/5MVI5A53zf

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) April 15, 2026

5. Josh Heupel, Tennessee

This might not be the season Tennessee fans were hoping for, a return to the CFP and a roster that looks more like 2024 than 2025, but it’s coming.

Heupel has been a phenomenal coach at Tennessee. He still has a major hurdle to cross in beating Georgia. Taking that one annual disappointment away, there’s no reason to look at his tenure in Knoxville as anything other than successful.

6. Mike Elko, Texas A&M

In just two years, Elko led Texas A&M to the best regular season in program history. He also reached the playoff in year two and was one late interception away from potentially knocking off the national runner-up.

What Elko is building is undeniable. The recruiting class they have for 2027, the current roster for 2026 and the seemingly endless amount of money is a massive recipe for success.

Schools with most draft picks in the 2026 Draft:

Ohio State: 11
Alabama: 10
Texas A&M: 10
Clemson: 9
Miami: 9
Texas Tech: 9
Georgia: 8
Indiana: 8
Penn State: 8 pic.twitter.com/bwr7tiyiWr

— SleeperCFB (@SleeperCFB) May 5, 2026

7. Brent Venables, Oklahoma

Venables is one of just three SEC coaches with a winning record against ranked opponents. He began last season on the hot seat and finished hosting a playoff game as the No. 8 seed in the 12-team field.

Oklahoma is in line to do it all over again this season, which would vault him further up these rankings a year from now.

8. Eli Drinkwitz, Misosuri

Few coaches in the conference have been more consistent than Drinkwitz. He doesn’t get taken seriously because Missouri is the least traditional SEC school in the league, and he looks like an accountant.

Still, Drinkwitz is 29–10 over the past three seasons and has taken every team he’s coached to a bowl game, including six straight with Missouri.

NEW: Eli Drinkwitz agrees to a new contract extension with Missouri, @PeteNakos reports🐯

The new deal includes a raise of more than $10.7 million over the course of the contract. https://t.co/3qWi7aoa6p pic.twitter.com/sciEqWKfpr

— On3 (@On3) November 27, 2025

9. Shane Beamer, South Carolina

It feels like every other year Beamer is somehow on the hot seat. That is definitely the case this year as he heads into year six as the head coach at South Carolina.

There may not be another coach on this list that has more potential for shooting up the rankings than Beamer. He’s won big games, and in 2024 was an eyelash short of making the CFP. This season, he’s got the most talented roster he’s had at South Carolina. The question now is whether he can avoid the losses to LSU, Alabama and Texas A&M that have tripped him up the past two years.

10. Clark Lea, Vanderbilt

Lea earns this spot based on what he accomplished at Vanderbilt last season. But let’s be honest, he’s not here without Diego Pavia, and that pretty much says it all.