CBS Sports ranks LSU football's Lane Kiffin as a top 10 coach
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli dropped a top-25 ranking of Power Four college football coaches entering the 2026 season. LSU football head coach Lane Kiffin cracked the top 10.
Fornelli slotted Kiffin at No. 9. He came in at No. 4 among SEC coaches, following Georgia's Kirby Smart (No. 2), Texas' Steve Sarkisian (No. 6) and Alabama's Kalen DeBoer. Kiffin boosted his status from last year when he checked in at No. 12 ahead of his sixth season with Ole Miss.
"[Kiffin] left a program that he had in the playoffs for one he believes gives him a better chance to win a national title," Fornelli said. "That means he'd better do it (and soon), or he could suffer the same fate as the LSU coach who we had ranked in the top 10 at this time last year, too."
Kiffin took the LSU job in November after leading the Rebels to four double-digit win seasons and a College Football Playoff appearance. He takes over a program in Baton Rouge that hasn't made the postseason since winning the 2019 national championship.
Here was Fornelli's complete top 10:
- Curt Cignetti, Indiana
- Kirby Smart, Georgia
- Ryan Day, Ohio State
- Marcus Freeman, Indiana
- Dan Lanning, Oregon
- Steve Sarkisian, Texas
- Mario Cristobal, Miami
- Kalen DeBoer, Alabama
- Lane Kiffin, LSU
- Kyle Whiitingham, Michigan
This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: Where CBS Sports ranked LSU football's Lane Kiffin among head coaches
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos