By Dan Zealley
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Kirby Smart-Georgia
Overall record: 105-19
After finishing his playing career, Kirby Smart served as an administrative assistant at his alma mater, Georgia, in 1999. He had stops at Valdosta State and Florida State before becoming defensive backs coach for Nick Saban at LSU for one year in 2004. He went back to Georgia in 2005 before joining Saban in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins. Smart spent 2007-2015 at Alabama, eight of those years as defensive coordinator. The Tide won four national championships during that period. Georgia hired Smart as their head coach for the 2016 season. The Bulldogs have since won three SEC titles, two national championships (2021 and 2022), and lost to Alabama in the 2017 championship. Smart has won SEC coach of the year honors three times and was national coach of the year in 2017. Kirby Smart learned from probably the greatest coach of all time in Nick Saban. Now many believe Smart is the best in the game today.
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Steve Sarkisian-Texas
Overall record: 84-52
Steve Sarkisian was an assistant coach at USC (2001-2003 and 2005-2008) and the Oakland Raiders (2004) before getting his first head coaching job at Washington in 2009. The Huskies went 34-29 in his five seasons and went 8-4 in 2013 and finished 25th in the AP poll. USC hired their long-time assistant as head coach in 2014. This USC stint did not go well. He was fired after five games in his second year for reportedly coming to a meeting intoxicated. Nick Saban hired Sarkisian as an analyst at Alabama in 2016 before he served two years as offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons. He returned to Alabama as offensive coordinator for 2019-2020. Texas hired Sarkisian as its head coach in 2021. The Longhorns are 38-17 in his four seasons and have made the semi-finals of the CFP the last two years. Texas went 12-2 and made it to the championship game in its first year in the SEC.
Kalen DeBoer-Alabama
Overall record: 113-16
Kalen DeBoer was offensive coordinator at his alma mater, Sioux Falls, for four years before being named its head coach in 2005. He spent five years with the Cougars, leading them to three NAIA championships. DeBoer was offensive coordinator at Southern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Fresno State, and Indiana before becoming the head coach at Fresno State in 2020. The Bulldogs went 12-6 in his two seasons (2020 shortened because of COVID-19). Washington hired DeBoer in 2022. In his second season, he led the Huskies to a 14-1 record, with the only loss being in the national championship game. When Nick Saban retired after the 2023 season, Alabama turned to DeBoer to take over. Bama went 9-4 in 2024, which is below standard in Tuscaloosa. DeBoer and Alabama look to turn the Tide, so to speak, in 2025.
Brian Kelly-LSU
Overall record: 292-107-2
In 1983, Brian Kelly became an assistant coach at Assumption. He moved on to Grand Valley State in 1989, before becoming its head coach in 1991. The Lakers went 118–35–2 in his 13 seasons and won the NCAA Division II championship in his final two seasons there. He spent three seasons at Central Michigan before Cincinnati hired him in 2006. In Kelly’s three full seasons at Cincinnati, the Bearcats went 33-6, went to two New Year’s Day bowl games (2008 and 2009), and finished fourth in the AP poll in 2009. From 2010-2021, he led Notre Dame to a 92-39 record, with a loss in the 2012 BCS championship and a 2018 CFP berth. He won AP Coach of the Year each of those seasons. 2022 saw Kelly leave the Irish for the SEC and LSU. The Tigers won the Western Division that year, losing to Georgia in the SEC championship game. Kelly is 29-11 with LSU and looking to return the Tigers to the playoffs in 2025.
Josh Heupel-Tennessee
Overall record: 65-23
Josh Heupel led Oklahoma, as quarterback, to the 2000 national championship. After a brief NFL career, he became a grad assistant for the Sooners in 2004. He was hired by Bob Stoops, a former Oklahoma assistant, at Arizona the following year to coach the tight ends. Heupel would return to Oklahoma in 2006 to coach the quarterbacks. He was made co-offensive coordinator in 2011. His contract was not renewed after the 2014 season when the Sooners went 8-5. He was an offensive coordinator at Utah State and Missouri before getting his first head coaching job at UCF. The Knights went 12-1 in his first season and finished 11th in the AP poll in 2018. In his three years at UCF, they went 28-8. When UCF AD Danny White was hired at Tennessee, he brought Heupel with him. The Vols are 37-15 in four seasons with Heupel as head coach. In 2022, they were 11-2 and ranked number one at one point. In 2024, they made their first CFP.
