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Who's the best coach in college football? There's a handful of candidates that have a strong case to be No. 1, to be in the top five and to be in the top 10. ESPN ranked their top 10 head coaches heading into the 2026 college football season and Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman was ranked as the No. 4 head coach in the country heading into the fall. 

Freeman is heading into year five in South Bend, has a 43-12 record since taking over and has gone 24-4 the last two seasons. In 2024, he led the Irish to their first national championship appearance since 2012 and ended their 30-year major bowl win drought. Last season, Notre Dame was left out of the College Football Playoffs, but still brought in the No. 1 recruiting class in the country per Rivals/On3. Max Olson, a writer at ESPN, explains why he has the Fighting Irish head coach No. 4 overall on this list. 

"I wouldn't say I'm low on Freeman at all," Olson explained. "After Cignetti, Smart and Day, I viewed it as a three-way battle for the No. 4 spot among Freeman, Dan Lanning and Steve Sarkisian. All three have done an exceptional job of building up their respective programs over the past four years. Now it's time for one of them to break through and win a national title.

"Lanning has the best record (48-8) of this trio since 2022. Freeman has the most top-25 wins with 16. Sarkisian has two top-four finishes. Lanning and Sarkisian maintaining their success despite moving into tough conferences has been impressive to me. Considering all three of these coaches have championship expectations for 2026, I think the season ahead will tell us plenty about who's the best of this bunch."

Freeman has five post season wins since 2022. Notre Dame beat a ranked South Carolina team in the Gator Bowl in 2022, knocked off a ranked Oregon State team in the Sun Bowl in 2023, beat Indiana at home in the first round of the 2024 CFP, defeated Georgia in the Sugar Bowl in the CFP Quarterfinals and Penn State in the Orange Bowl during the CFP Semifinals. 

The Irish are 16-7 vs AP Top 25 opponents under Freeman which is ranked No. 2 since 2022 only behind the Georgia Bulldogs and Kirby Smart, the No. 2 ranked coach on ESPN's list. Under former head coach Brian Kelly, Notre Dame was 23-23 against ranked opponents. This season, Freeman looks to end their longest post season drought and bring home the first national title to South Bend since 1988. 

ESPN TOP 10 COACHES

1. Curt Cignetti, Indiana Hoosiers
2. Kirby Smart, Georgia Bulldogs
3. Ryan Day, Ohio State Buckeyes
4. Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame Fighting Irish
5. Dan Lanning, Oregon Ducks
6. Steve Sarkisian, Texas Longhorns
7. Lane Kiffin, LSU Tigers
8. Mike Elko, Texas A&M Aggies
9. Kyle Whittingham, Michigan Wolverines
10. Mario Cristobal, Miami Hurricanes
10. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama Crimson Tide

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