CBS finished off its ranking of all the Power-4 coaches on Thursday by releasing its Top 25. Coming in at No. 9 was Alabama's Kalen DeBoer, slipping two spots from where he was in their previous ranking ahead of his first season as the Tide's head coach.
DeBoer has amassed an impressive 113-16 career record as a head coach. At the FBS level, he has gone 46-13 during stops at Fresno State, Washington, and now Alabama. DeBoer went 9-4 in his debut season with the Crimson Tide. It was a year filled with highs of beating the likes of Georgia, LSU, and a fifth straight win over Auburn, as well as lows like defeats to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma.
Coming in at No. 1 on the list by CBS is, unsurprisingly, Kirby Smart. With Nick Saban retired, Smart is the unquestioned top coach in college football, having led the Bulldogs to two National Championships.
Right behind Smart is Ohio State's Ryan Day, who just led the Buckeyes to the title this past season. At No. 3 is two-time champ Dabo Swinney.
It gets a little dicey after that. Steve Sarkisian (Texas), Dan Lanning (Oregon), Marcus Freeman (Oregon), James Franklin (Penn State), and Brian Kelly (LSU) round out the list of coaches ranked ahead of DeBoer. Right behind DeBoer at No. 10 is Iowa State's Matt Campbell.
DeBoer holds a perfect 7-0 record against the group of coaches ranked ahead of him
DeBoer has earned a bit of a reputation as a big game coach. He holds a perfect 7-0 record against the group of coaches who are ranked ahead of him.
The most curious coach ahead of DeBoer is Oregon's Lanning. The two squared off three times while DeBoer was at Washington, and DeBoer's Huskies got the better of Lanning's Ducks in all three meetings.
DeBoer also has a 2-0 record against Sarkisian, beating his Longhorns while at Washington in the Alamo Bowl and then the College Football Playoff the next year.
At Alabama last season, DeBoer earned head-to-head wins over Kelly's LSU and Smart's Bulldogs. The biggest feather in his cap with the Crimson Tide thus far was the thrilling win over Georgia in September of last year.
Following not too far behind it was Alabama's thorough dismantling of LSU in Baton Rouge in November. The Crimson Tide rolled to a dominant 42-13 win over Kelly's Tigers in a game that was rarely competitive.
DeBoer and Alabama have a lot of momentum this offseason. They are clearly trending up. A big season in Tuscaloosa should lead DeBoer to move further up this list of coaches next year.