Mario Cristobal’s Ranking Among Top Head Coaches Turns Heads
There is no definitive way to rank the best coaches in college football. Opinions vary wildly on what makes a great coach – whether it’s recruiting, winning national titles, getting the most out of your players, recent success vs overall success, or any number of other factors.
But that won’t stop anyone from taking a stab at it, like Ari Wasserman of On3 did on Tuesday.
Miami Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal was included on the list at No. 11, second among ACC coaches behind Clemson’s Dabo Swinney. Cristobal’s former team – the Oregon Ducks – saw coach Dan Lanning come in at No. 3.
“There is no question Cristobal knows how to attract talent – Miami was loaded a year ago – but his in-game decision-making has been called into question,” Wasserman wrote. “Cristobal’s presence has been a net positive at the places he’s coached.”
Indeed, Cristobal’s late game clock management has drawn the ire of many Miami and college football fans, including multiple instances where opting not to kneel down cost the team a surefire victory.
His teams have always recruited at a high level, and Miami has gone from five wins to seven wins to 10 wins in his three years at the helm, but ranking him just outside the top ten might be a tough sell for many who expected more from his team based on the talent available to him on the roster.
Cristobal led Oregon to a Rose Bowl win in 2019 but has gone 0-3 in bowl games since then, including losing the Pinstripe Bowl in 2023 and the Pop-Tarts Bowl this past season with Miami.
The only other ACC coach on the list was Bill Belichick at No. 21, who replaced Mack Brown at North Carolina in what will easily be the most entertaining storyline of the 2025 college football season.
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