Last year, on the eve of the College Football Playoff, The Athletic surveyed a bunch of college football coaches to get a sense for what was about to unfold. Their pick for the biggest sleeper in the field proved prescient, as No. 10 seed Miami, their top vote-getter, made it to the national title game, upsetting Texas A&M and Ohio State along the way.
Almost all of the coaches we spoke to, however, whiffed on their national title pick, with only one saying Indiana would win it all — although Curt Cignetti did get the second-most votes (behind Kirby Smart) as the best coach in the field.
With the 2026 college football season now here, we spoke to 18 coaches at all levels of FBS football, from head coaches to position coaches to analysts to general managers, for their take on what will happen this fall. All spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer candid assessments of opposing teams and players.
Who do you think wins the national title?
As with The Athletic’s own staff predictions, coaches’ votes were spread out among several teams. But whereas our writers and editors favored Notre Dame, the most votes among coaches we surveyed went to Oregon finally winning its first championship, with twice as many coaches voting for the Ducks than any other team. Ten of 18 voters predict a fourth consecutive title for the Big Ten. One coach we surveyed abstained from this question, believing his own team would win it all.
“I think this is the most wide-open race we’ve had in college football in such a long time. I’ll say Oregon. Dan Lanning has continued to get better and better, and this is the year he cracks through.” — ACC offensive analyst
“Ohio State has an experienced QB in Julian Sayin, with the best skill player in the country, a very good defensive scheme — and the Buckeyes have played in a lot of big games.”— Big 12 general manager
“I think whoever wins the Big Ten will win it. I’m really curious to see what Indiana looks like this year. But it’s hard to go against them until you see somebody actually beat this guy. If I had to pick somebody right now, it’s just hard for me to go against that coach and their culture.” — Mountain West offensive line coach
Three storylines to watch: Indiana, Arch and Kiffin
Stewart Mandel
Which team is the biggest sleeper in the country?
Votes again varied greatly, though three coaches chose Michigan, which starts No. 16 in the AP poll under new coach Kyle Whittingham but received zero Playoff votes in The Athletic’s staff survey.
“I really want to see what Whittingham does at Michigan. They’re so creative in the run game. I wouldn’t be shocked if you blinked and they’re 10-2.” — American Conference tight ends coach
“I could see him with some of those Michigan guys, with the Utah culture, make them really good, really fast. They have an identity, and it’s the type of identity that they’ve wanted there.” — Mountain West offensive line coach
“Watch out for Florida. Jon (Sumrall) is really, really good. And from what I’ve heard from people who have been down there, the Gators are pretty talented.” — SEC defensive coordinator
Which team do you think is the biggest fraud and is getting overhyped?
The highly anticipated arrival of Lane Kiffin at LSU has come with plenty of drama building all the way up to kickoff, with potential late additions of players who were in NFL training camps tied up in court.
“I think all these things that are happening around LSU right now are gonna end up being too much of a distraction.” —Mountain West head coach
“LSU. I think it’ll be hard for them to build team chemistry. I could see them imploding.” — SEC defensive coordinator
“Alabama. It looks like they’re morphing into a Pac-12 team (sic). I like (Kalen) DeBoer a lot, but I think there’s a softness to how they play. The way they got beat by Indiana last year was like, ‘Whoa!’” — Big Ten running backs coach
Who will win the Heisman Trophy?
Oregon boasts national championship expectations thanks in part to the return of Dante Moore, who might have been a top-five NFL Draft pick had he left after the season. He tops Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith, who led our staff predictions.
“I’m really curious to see if Dante Moore gets better and what (Darian) Mensah does at Miami in that offense. He played a lot within himself at Duke. Did a good job taking care of the ball. I’ll say Moore because he’s gonna have a lot of marquee games.”— Big 12 general manager
“This might be a hot take, but (Arizona State transfer) Sam Leavitt with Lane Kiffin is gonna be so good. I think Leavitt is so underrated. If he can stay healthy, it’ll be really interesting to watch LSU.” — Big 12 general manager
Who should be the highest-paid player in college football?
What college football players are getting paid isn’t made public, so we posed an open-ended question about who deserves the most money. One coach opted for a different choice: “The best left tackle in the country.”
The top vote-getter is Jeremiah Smith, who’s No. 1 on our list of the top 100 players, No. 2 on this year’s Freaks List and No. 1 on Dane Brugler’s NFL Draft board — and made headlines this offseason by saying potential suitors indicated he could make “over $10 million, easy” if he entered the transfer portal.
“It should be Jeremiah Smith. He’s so much better than everyone else.” — Big Ten defensive backs coach
“Not Jeremiah. Play Cover-2 over him and you take him out of the game. I think he’s closer to DK Metcalf than Jaxon Smith-Njigba.” — Big Ten running backs coach
“Jeremiah Smith. Generational player, even though people use that term all the time. He actually is that. If he asked for a parcel of Ohio as his personal fiefdom, they should grant it.” — ACC analyst
“Trinidad Chambliss or Dante Moore. They’re bringing it to life. Ole Miss was not a very good defense, but with Chambliss, they could beat anybody.”— SEC defensive coordinator