The Athletic recently revealed its tiers of college football coaches headed into 2026, and for one title-winning coach, it seems one championship just isn't enough. Ryan Day of Ohio State is in Tier 2, a surprising omission from the elite level for a coach with an 82-12 career record and a national championship, but as Chris Vannini of The Athletic details, Day's successes aren't just his own. "Ryan Day has a national championship, but he’s not in the top tier because Ohio State’s expectations and resources are so, so high.
His two predecessors also won national titles, and Jim Tressel played for three. Day has done what is expected of him," Vannini wrote. Kirby Smart, who has a pair of championships as head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs, and Curt Cignetti, who led the Indiana Hoosiers from obscurity to their first ever championship in the 2025 season.
Vannini posited that for Day, "a second title to match Smart would move him into the top tier." Interestingly, though, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has two national titles, but he's dropped out of Tier 1 and fallen into Tier 2. "Dabo Swinney drops out of the top tier for the first time since this exercise began," Vannini wrote. "He has two national titles, but the last one was eight years ago.
The Tigers have one CFP appearance in the last five years, and last season’s 7-6 record was Swinney’s worst since 2010. You can’t deny the highs, but the Tigers aren’t close to the bar he set and are trending downward." It's interesting, then, that Swinney and Day are in the same tier. Swinney's Tigers began the 2025 campaign as No. 4 in the country and finished 7-6.
Day's Buckeyes, meanwhile, lost only two games last season: to eventual champion Indiana in the Big Ten championship game and to the eventual runner-up Miami Hurricanes in the College Football Playoff. Plus, Ohio State is the No. 1 team in the country ahead of the 2026 season, and they have a strong chance to make another run at a title. Perhaps ahead of next season, it will be Day joining Smart and Cignetti at the top.
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