After following their national championship-winning season with an undefeated regular season in 2025, Ryan Day was ready to get into some legendary conversations. Unfortunately, Indiana ended its Big Ten dream, and Miami finished its chances of going back-to-back. Now, as a consequence of that, Day’s stock has gone down, while Curt Cignetti is on the mountaintop.

ESPN had a panel of 10 reporters rank college football’s top coaches. Each reporter listed their top 10 coaches, and points were awarded based on the rankings: 10 points for first, 9 for second, 8 for third, and so on. Day’s lowest ranking in all ten votes was No. 8, and when the reporter was questioned, he had this to say.

“I may have dropped Day too far after last season, but I just didn’t think he stuck the landing at all in 2025. When it was time to help that offense shift into gear late and ramp up the tempo and the risk profile against elite opponents, Day just couldn’t do it,” ESPN’s senior writer and college football analyst Bill Connelly wrote.

“I’m not an Ohio State fan, but I was yelling at the TV during the Miami CFP game because the Buckeyes just refused to pick up the pace in the second half when they were down multiple scores. They weren’t up for the task late in the season, and it cost them. Eighth is probably too low, but I guess it could be considered a challenge for 2026.”

Everyone makes mistakes, but some mistakes are unforgivable. The latter was the case for Ryan Day after he crashed out of the College Football Playoff against the Miami Hurricanes. Losing the Big Ten Championship game against Indiana was disappointing enough, but Indiana was the only other undefeated team, and it was understandable to lose against the best. In fact, many college football analysts had projected a replay of the Big Ten Championship game between Ohio State and Indiana in the CFP final until the Buckeyes surprisingly crashed out.

Miami dominated the game from the very start and went into halftime with a 14-0 lead. The Buckeyes cut the lead to 17-14, but couldn’t complete the comeback. It was a relentless performance from Miami’s defense, which shut down quarterback Julian Sayin with five sacks, seven tackles for loss, and two interceptions. To close the game, CharMar Brown scored a five-yard touchdown with 55 seconds left to play, putting the score at 24-14.

Day abruptly took over play-calling duties from Brian Hartline before the game and led the Buckeyes to an unproductive first half. However, it doesn’t seem fair to drop him to eighth based on that one single half. Ohio State faced two elite defenses back-to-back, and it didn’t help that their signal-caller was a first-year starter.

Moreover, Connelly ranked Kiffin the fourth-best head coach in college football, four spots higher than Day. Fortunately for OSU HC, not everyone agreed with him.

ESPN’s top 10 coaches

Regardless of Connelly’s ranking of Day, he came in at No. 3 with 77 points and one first-place vote. He moves down by one spot this year after a second-place finish in 2025. Georgia Bulldogs’ Kirby Smart now occupies his former spot, scoring 90 points and four first-place votes.

Cignetti was number one on the list with five first-place votes and 94 total points. He is the most improved on the list, as he was not even ranked in the previous year’s list, despite an 11-2 record.

Behind Day are Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman with 68 points, Oregon Ducks’ Dan Lanning with 61 points, Texas Longhorns’ Steve Sarkisian with 36 points, LSU Tigers’ Lane Kiffin with 25 points, Texas A&M’s Mike Elko with 18 points, Michigan Wolverines’ Kyle Whittingham with 17 points, and Miami’s Mario Cristobal with 15 points.