National media outlet ranks the coaches in the College Football Playoff; Where Tennessee Vols' Josh Heupel ranks
Earlier this week, CBS Sports ranked the 12 coaches in the 12-team College Football Playoff and Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel came in near the bottom of their rankings. CBS Sports has Josh Heupel as the No. 9 coach in the playoff, ahead of SMU's Rhett Lashlee, Arizona State's Kenny Dillingham, and Boise State's […]
Earlier this week, CBS Sports ranked the 12 coaches in the 12-team College Football Playoff and Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel came in near the bottom of their rankings.
CBS Sports has Josh Heupel as the No. 9 coach in the playoff, ahead of SMU's Rhett Lashlee, Arizona State's Kenny Dillingham, and Boise State's Spencer Danielson.
From CBS Sports: It took a year for Heupel to get settled, but since the breakout season of 2022, the Volunteers have been operating at a higher level with a higher floor than what we had seen in the previous regime. Heupel is 37-14 overall with the Vols and poised for third straight top-20 finish, but there are goals yet to be achieved — like playing for an SEC championship and winning a College Football Playoff game. Tennessee can change one of those two things when they travel to Columbus, Ohio, on Dec. 21 and look to knock off the Buckeyes in what could be one of the biggest wins of the Heupel era.
Accurately ranking head coaches is a difficult task. Every situation is different and athletic administrations matter. Different factors present different challenges.
But with that said, I'm not sure how CBS Sports ranked Indiana's Curt Cignetti at No. 6 and Heupel at No. 9.
Sure, Cignetti had an incredible debut year at Indiana, thanks in part to a fairly soft Big 10 schedule, but he's yet to prove he can do it year after year in a big conference (not saying he can't, he just hasn't proved it yet).
Heupel, meanwhile, has won 30 games in the last three years while playing in the SEC.
It's pretty obvious that Heupel, whose team is ranked higher in the playoff, should be ranked above Cignetti.
There aren't many coaches in college football who can make that claim.
