There is one king of college football. His name is Kirby Smart and he lives in Athens, Georgia. Any thought otherwise is utterly ridiculous.
The Indiana Hoosiers accomplished something special by winning the 2025 national championship. Going into this season, Indiana had the most all-time losses in FBS history. It ended the season as college football national champions. Head coach Curt Cignetti deserves all the credit in the world for the accomplishment. He led the worst program in college football history by wins and losses to No. 1.
With that being said, one truly great season does not make you king when a historic force like Kirby Smart exists.
In 10 years as head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs, Kirby Smart has won 117 games with only 21 losses. Smart broke the record for the most wins by a head coach in his first 10 years in the history of the modern era. Georgia has won at least 11 games in eight straight seasons, excluding 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic year with a reduced schedule.
To this point in his career, no one has ever won more — not Nick Saban, not Bear Bryant, not Curt Cignetti.
Even just looking at 2025, Georgia went into the season with an extremely young, recruited, and underwhelming roster nationally. With that, Kirby pulled off what seemed like the impossible week after week. Almost every single conference game came down to the wire, and the Dawgs somehow almost always prevailed. They went on to win their second straight SEC championship during a supposed “decline” of the program.
If you only value national championships, Kirby Smart has won two.
There are points that could be stated in regard to how Indiana’s accomplishment does not quite carry the weight that it would have before the NIL and transfer portal era, but it is not necessary. The Smart vs. Cignetti debate is nonsensical at this point. However high you hold the Cignetti achievement, it can’t be compared to 10 years of dominance.
If, in this exact moment, Curt Cignetti is who you would rather have over anyone to coach your team, there is no arguing with that. Even though I would strongly disagree, someone can be the best now without a comparable résumé.
But if you are ranking who is the No. 1 coach in college football, there is only one indisputable answer: Kirby Paul Smart.
