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When we asked our college football reporters to rank the sport’s top 10 coaches, we figured there wouldn’t be much debate about who is No. 1 — and there wasn’t. Georgia’s Kirby Smart, whose Bulldogs are 42-2 over the past three seasons, was the unanimous pick among our 10 voters.

But after that, there was very little consensus.

The only other coach to appear on all 10 ballots was new Alabama head man Kalen DeBoer, but his rankings ranged from second to 10th.

Two coaches appeared on nine ballots: Utah’s Kyle Whittingham, whose rankings ranged from three second-place votes to two ninth places, and Florida State’s Mike Norvell, whose votes included two second places and two 10ths.

Then there’s Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, who received four second-place votes and was left off four ballots altogether.

With points assigned based on our reporters’ votes (10 points for first place, nine for second place and down to one point for 10th place), here are the complete rankings.

Also see: Surprises and snubs — top 10 coaches reaction

Other top 10s: Receivers | RBs | QBs | Pass-rushers | DBs

1. Kirby Smart, Georgia

2023 record: 13-1 (.929)
Career record: 94-16 (.855)
Points: 100 (all 10 first-place votes)

With Nick Saban retired, Smart is unquestionably the preeminent coach in college football. He took his alma mater, Georgia, to back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022 and played for a third national title in 2017. The Bulldogs won an SEC-record 29 straight games before losing to Alabama last season in the SEC championship game. In eight seasons at Georgia, Smart has built a juggernaut in terms of evaluating, recruiting and developing great players. He has produced 55 NFL draft picks, including 15 first-rounders, and could have as many as 10 more players selected in the upcoming draft.

Smart is unbeaten against all active coaches over the past five seasons — his only losses in that span are to Saban (3), Dan Mullen at Florida, Ed Orgeron at LSU and Will Muschamp at South Carolina. His consistency sets him apart. The Bulldogs finished 8-5 in his first season (2016), but since then, Georgia is the only team in the country to finish in the top 7 in the final AP poll every year. Smart’s Bulldogs have played for and/or won an SEC title or national title in six of those seven seasons. — Chris Low


2. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama

2023 record: 14-1 (.933)
Career record: 37-9 (.804)
Points: 62

After starting his career as an assistant at tiny Sioux Falls, his alma mater, DeBoer guided the NAIA Cougars to a 67-3 record with three national titles over a five-year stretch. From there, DeBoer embarked on a climb up the assistant-coaching ranks, during which each school he arrived at experienced near-unprecedented success, before being named the head coach at Fresno State. His modest two-year run there (12-6) led to the gig at Washington, where he transformed a team that won four games in 2021 to one that went 25-3 over the next two seasons, earning an appearance in the national title game this past season.

All DeBoer does is win. And now he takes over for the legendary Nick Saban, who set an unrealistic bar for what can be accomplished. — Kyle Bonagura


3. Kyle Whittingham, Utah

2023 record: 8-5 (.615)
Career record: 162-79 (.672)
Points: 56

Utah is the only home Whittingham has known since arriving at the school as the defensive line coach in 1994. He was elevated to defensive coordinator the next year and to head coach upon the departure of Urban Meyer just before the end of the 2004 season.

Since then, Whittingham has been a hallmark of consistency, finishing with just two losing seasons in 19 years (right after Utah made the jump from the Mountain West to the Pac-12). He guided the Utes to an undefeated season in 2008, two Pac-12 titles and eight top-25 finishes in the AP poll, including six in the past 10 years. All at a school without the resources of the other coaches’ programs on this list. — Bonagura


4. Dabo Swinney, Clemson

2023 record: 9-4 (.692)
Career record: 170-43 (.798)
Points: 50

Swinney brought longtime underachiever Clemson back to the national stage and became the first coach who truly challenged Nick Saban’s stranglehold on the sport. He guided Clemson to national titles in 2016 and 2018 — the program’s first since 1981 — while beating Saban’s Alabama squad both times. His teams made four CFP national championship game appearances in five seasons. Clemson won the ACC every year from 2015 to 2020 and never finished lower than No. 3 in the final AP poll.

A little-known wide receivers coach who became Clemson’s interim head coach midway through the 2008 season, Swinney is 170-43 as the Tigers’ head coach with eight league titles and 10 division titles. He won the Bryant Award as national coach of the year in 2015, 2016 and 2018.

Under Swinney, Clemson has had stretches when it was the nation’s premier program at positions such as wide receiver, defensive line and quarterback. Although the transfer portal/NIL era has brought more challenges, Swinney has won nine or more games in all but one full season as Clemson’s coach. — Adam Rittenberg


2023 record: 13-1 (.929)
Career record: 69-33 (.676)
Points: 49

How best to quantify Norvell’s greatness as a coach? Perhaps it’s his use of the transfer portal. While so many other coaches around the country have moaned and complained about the portal in recent years, Norvell has found the perfect formula for using it, landing standouts such as Trey Benson, Jermaine Johnson, Keon Coleman and Jared Verse, among a host of others. Or perhaps it’s the way he motivates his players, building a strong internal culture despite the extensive use of the portal.

But if you need one number to truly appreciate Norvell’s impact, here it is: 23. Twenty-three wins in the past two years at Florida State, a program that had won just 26 games total in the previous five seasons. The turnaround — in terms of wins, talent and culture — is genuinely remarkable. — David Hale


6. Dan Lanning, Oregon

2023 record: 12-2 (.857)
Career record: 22-5 (.815)
Points: 37

While only two seasons of work might make Lanning’s lofty ranking seem a bit premature, it’s hard to argue with what he has done in his first two seasons as a head coach. After helping Smart win a national championship in 2021 as Georgia’s defensive coordinator, Lanning has guided the Ducks to a 22-5 record.

Like Ryan Day at Ohio State, Lanning couldn’t get past what proved to be an insurmountable roadblock in the Pac-12: the Washington Huskies. Each of Oregon’s three losses to Washington the past two seasons were by three points, and the last one, a 34-31 defeat in the final Pac-12 championship game, was the most painful because it might have kept the Ducks out of the CFP.

Lanning has proven to be a great recruiter, helping Oregon land the No. 4 class in the FBS in 2024. The Ducks landed the top class in the Pac-12 in 2023. Lanning and his staff have also been adept at working the transfer portal, adding former Auburn quarterback Bo Nix, the starter the past two seasons, then Oklahoma passer Dillon Gabriel this year. There have been some questionable in-game decisions from Lanning, but one would expect he’ll get better with experience. Time will tell if Lanning follows in Smart’s footsteps as a former defensive coordinator who became one of the sport’s premier head coaches, but he’s well on his way to doing it. — Schlabach


7. Steve Sarkisian, Texas

2023 record: 12-2 (.857)
Career record: 71-49 (.592)
Points: 35

It was only a matter of time until Sarkisian put all the pieces together. After all, the guy has studied under three of the greatest coaches in modern college football history in LaVell Edwards, Pete Carroll and Nick Saban. Be it throwing for nearly 7,500 yards in two seasons with Edwards at BYU, serving as quarterbacks coach for Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Mark Sanchez under Carroll at USC, turning Jake Locker into a first-round pick (and then coaxing a pair of brilliant seasons out of Keith Price) while flipping Washington from 0-12 to 9-4, or averaging 47.2 and 48.5 points per game, respectively, in two seasons of calling plays for Saban at Alabama, Sarkisian has been heavily influential in offensive brilliance for most of the past 30 years.

His breakthrough as a head coach came in 2023. After going just 13-12 in his first two years leading a perpetually underachieving Texas program, Sark’s Longhorns won 12 games, took their first Big 12 title in 14 seasons and made their first College Football Playoff appearance. Now they head to the SEC with legitimate top-5 bona fides and a coach capable of not only leading them back among the country’s elite but keeping them there. — Bill Connelly


2023 record: 11-2 (.846)
Career record: 96-49 (.662)
Points: 29

At 48, Kiffin is already in his fifth head-coaching stop. He was hired as the Oakland Raiders’ coach in 2007, when he was only 31, and although there were some growing pains along the way, he has developed into one of the more creative and interesting coaches in college football. Entering his fifth season at Ole Miss, Kiffin has accomplished things in Oxford that hadn’t been done before. The Rebels have won 10 regular-season games in two of the past three seasons; prior to Kiffin’s arrival, they had never won 10 regular-season games. Kiffin is renowned as one of the top offensive minds in the game, and his offenses are both balanced and unpredictable. Ole Miss and Alabama are the only two teams in the SEC to average 33 or more points each of the past four seasons.

Kiffin is quick to troll anybody and everybody on social media and is polarizing among rival fan bases. He’s still a bit of a lightning rod, but said his time working under Saban helped him become a more efficient manager of an entire program. Kiffin has also worked the evolving nature of college football to his advantage and scored big in the transfer portal. — Low


9. Lance Leipold, Kansas

2023 record: 9-4 (.692)
Career record: 54-54 (.500)
Points: 28

In the six seasons before Lance Leipold arrived at Kansas, the Jayhawks went 9-60. In 2023, they went 9-4. You can almost rest your case right there. Hired after spring practice had already concluded in 2021, Leipold inherited a team that had gone 0-9 in 2020 and won two, then six, then nine games. While it’s unfair to compare anyone to Bill Snyder, he has done one hell of a Snyder impression over his first three seasons in Lawrence, and with his track record, there’s reason to believe he could keep it up.

This is, after all, a guy with six national titles on his résumé. Once a Division III dynasty builder at Wisconsin-Whitewater, Leipold has since taken his masterful culture building to Buffalo and KU, and damned if it’s not working wherever he goes. He’ll face a new challenge in 2024, coaching without ace offensive coordinator and right-hand man Andy Kotelnicki for the first time since 2012. (Kotelnicki moved on to the Penn State OC job.) But if anyone in college football gets the benefit of the doubt, it’s Leipold.

Kansas won nine games last year! Kansas! It boggles the mind. — Connelly


2023 record: 11-2 (.846)
Career record: 56-8 (.875)
Points: 27

Day’s teams are 39-3 in Big Ten play the past five-plus seasons, 56-8 overall and played in a New Year’s Six bowl game or the CFP in each of his full seasons. The Buckeyes won back-to-back Big Ten titles in his first two seasons (2019 and 2020) and are 18-8 against AP top-25 opponents under Day.

Unfortunately, those Big Ten losses came against that “Team Up North,” Michigan, in each of the past three seasons, leaving some Ohio State fans to wonder if Day should be on the hot seat. Whether he can reverse the Buckeyes’ losing streak to the Wolverines, especially now that former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh is in the NFL, will go a long way in determining his future.

Day’s offenses have been ranked in the top three in the FBS in scoring three times and in total offense four times. Yet the Buckeyes are only 2-4 in bowl games and haven’t won a Big Ten title since 2020. Turning over the offensive playcalling to former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly might be the recipe to getting OSU back on top in the expanded Big Ten. — Schlabach

Also receiving votes: Brian Kelly, LSU (23); Lincoln Riley, USC (20); Kirk Ferentz, Iowa (7); Luke Fickell, Wisconsin (7); Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri (6); Mack Brown, North Carolina (3); Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State (3); Jonathan Smith, Michigan State (3); Deion Sanders, Colorado (2); Curt Cignetti, Indiana (1); Chris Klieman, Kansas State (1); Jon Sumrall, Tulane (1)

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Crowning a champion in our 64-team college football bracket

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Crowning a champion in our 64-team college football bracket

By this time in any postseason, talent and depth typically rise to the top.

Now that we’re down to the Sweet 16 in our 2025 mock NCAA football tournament, that’s apparent with 11 of the 16 teams coming from either the Big Ten or SEC.

All four No. 1 seeds are still alive, and No. 12 seed Memphis has engineered two upsets to get this far. Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik, LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier and BYU linebacker Isaiah Glasker all played starring roles in the first two rounds, and Ryan Silverfield has Memphis riding an eight-game winning streak.

To recap, the original seeds were based to a large degree on ESPN’s latest SP+ projections entering the 2025 season, although seeds are a moot point as we tee it back up.

Time to finish the tournament. And the best news? There’s no blaming anything on a committee.

Midwest Regional

Semifinals

(1) Ohio State 28, (5) BYU 23: How do you cover Buckeyes receivers Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate? It’s a question teams asked all season. The Cougars do their best to keep Smith from torching them, but Tate does most of the damage with eight catches for 124 yards and two touchdowns.

(3) Tennessee 34, (2) Oregon 32: The Vols get back to their explosive ways on offense in 2025 with quarterback Nico Iamaleava making a big jump in his third year on campus. Oregon matches that explosiveness with Evan Stewart pulling in two acrobatic catches, leading to a late touchdown. The Ducks get the ball back, but an Arion Carter sack seals the game for Tennessee.


Regional final

(1) Ohio State 31, (3) Tennessee 21: The Vols get another shot at the Buckeyes after getting blown out in Columbus last season in the first round of the playoff. This game is much closer, and Tim Banks’ Tennessee defense holds up most of the way. But the same guy who wreaked havoc on the Vols a year ago does it again. Smith has two of his three touchdown catches in the second half to lead Ohio State to its 10th straight win.


How we got here

First round

(1) Ohio State over (16) Boston College

(2) Oregon over (15) UCF

(3) Tennessee over (14) Pittsburgh

(4) South Carolina over (13) North Carolina

(5) BYU over (12) Colorado

(11) Kentucky over (6) Louisville

(7) TCU over Georgia Tech

(9) Arkansas over (8) Boise State

Second round

(1) Ohio State over (9) Arkansas

(2) Oregon over (7) TCU

(3) Tennessee over (11) Kentucky

(5) BYU over (4) South Carolina

South Regional

Semifinals

(5) Illinois 27, (1) Texas 24: The shocker of the tournament so far, but don’t tell that to Illinois coach Bret Bielema. In his fifth season at Illinois, he had a good feeling about this team all along. The Illini returned 18 starters from their bowl team a year ago, and the two stars on defense, outside linebacker Gabe Jacas and cornerback Xavier Scott, play like stars against a Texas offense that never finds any rhythm.

(2) Notre Dame 31, (3) Miami 20: The infamous “Catholics vs. Convicts” T-shirts are reintroduced to the college football world, and that’s what everybody is talking about in the buildup to this game. Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore steals the show with interceptions in each half, the final one leading to the clinching touchdown for the Irish.


Regional final

(2) Notre Dame 28, (5) Illinois 21: Jeremiyah Love’s development and toughness epitomized Notre Dame’s run to the semifinals last year. He’s even more of a factor this year, and his ability to make big plays and earn the tough yards against a stout Illinois defense is the difference in this Elite Eight matchup. Love’s tackle-breaking 8-yard touchdown run gives the Irish the lead for good and caps a 138-yard rushing night.


How we got here

First round

(1) Texas over (16) Maryland

(2) Notre Dame over (15) California

(3) Miami over (14) Kansas

(4) Florida over (13) James Madison

(5) Illinois over (12) N.C. State

(11) Virginia Tech over (6) Iowa

(7) USC over (10) Minnesota

(8) Texas Tech over (9) Utah

Second round

(1) Texas over (8) Texas Tech

(2) Notre Dame over (7) USC

(3) Miami over (6) Virginia Tech

(5) Illinois over (4) Florida

East Regional

Semifinals

(1) Penn State 35, (12) Memphis 17: Memphis’ improbable run to the Sweet 16 comes to a crushing end as Penn State builds a 21-3 lead, then tees off defensively on a Memphis offense that has to resort to throwing the ball on just about every down. Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen each rush for more than 100 yards for the Nittany Lions, who finish with 290 yards on the ground as a team.

(2) Alabama 27, (3) Michigan 23: In a rematch of the Rose Bowl two years ago (Nick Saban’s final game), Alabama gets a little revenge for its old coach. The Crimson Tide are held to a single touchdown in the first half, but the defense keeps them in it. Trailing 20-17 entering the fourth quarter, Alabama finds its running game. Jam Miller erupts for 72 rushing yards in the final quarter, and the Tide bullies their way into the Elite Eight.


Regional final

(2) Alabama 22, (1) Penn State 19: Ty Simpson has waited his turn at quarterback for the Crimson Tide, and even though they don’t light up the scoreboard in this defense-dominated matchup of blue bloods, he doesn’t commit a single turnover and keeps everybody on offense focused. But on Alabama’s final two drives, Simpson throws a 28-yard touchdown pass to put the Tide ahead and later converts a fourth-and-short to put the game away.


How we got here

First round

(1) Penn State over (16) West Virginia

(2) Alabama over (15) Syracuse

(3) Michigan over (14) Army

(4) SMU over (13) Tulane

(12) Memphis over (5) Texas A&M

(11) Wisconsin over (6) Oklahoma

(7) Indiana over (10) Washington

(9) Nebraska over (8) Arizona State

Second round

(1) Penn State over (9) Nebraska

(2) Alabama over (7) Indiana

(3) Michigan over (11) Wisconsin

(12) Memphis over (4) SMU

West Regional

Semifinals

(1) Georgia 35, (4) LSU 31: Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton got a taste of postseason football last year when he filled in for Carson Beck. That experience proves valuable in this back-and-forth game, with Nussmeier throwing three touchdown passes for LSU. But Stockton is able to spread the ball around with Noah Thomas and Zachariah Branch, both transfer receivers, and tight end Oscar Delp all catching touchdown passes.

(2) Clemson 33, (3) Ole Miss 24: Dabo Swinney and Lane Kiffin have been on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to using the transfer portal. Swinney has barely dipped into it at all, and Kiffin has lived in it. Swinney did bring in three transfers this season, and one of them, former Purdue defensive end Will Heldt, makes life miserable for the Ole Miss offensive line. Heldt finishes with two sacks and a forced fumble, and the Tigers march onward.


Regional final

(2) Clemson 31, (1) Georgia 30: Once upon a time, these teams played every year in one of the South’s best nonconference rivalries. The Tigers, who had lost eight of their past nine games against the Bulldogs, fall behind early in this one. But Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell, flagged for pass interference on the previous possession, intercepts a Stockton pass deep in Clemson territory, leading to a quick touchdown. That’s where the game swings, and the Tigers move a step closer to their third national title in 10 years.


How we got here

First round

(1) Georgia over (16) Oklahoma State

(2) Clemson over (15) Mississippi State

(3) Ole Miss over (14) Cincinnati

(4) LSU over (13) Florida State

(5) Missouri over (12) Rutgers

(11) Vanderbilt over (6) Kansas State

(7) Auburn over (10) Duke

(8) Iowa State over (9) Baylor

Second round

(1) Georgia over (8) Iowa State

(2) Clemson over Auburn (7)

(3) Ole Miss over (11) Vanderbilt

(4) LSU over (5) Missouri

Final Four

(2) Clemson 35, (1) Ohio State 28: The first time these teams played was back in 1978, with Clemson winning 17-15 in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a blah game until legendary coach Woody Hayes punched Clemson’s Charlie Bauman on the sideline late in the fourth quarter after Bauman intercepted a pass. Hayes was fired the next day. This national semifinal game doesn’t include any extracurricular fireworks that rise to that level, but Klubnik and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin provide plenty of fireworks on the field. They both pass for more than 300 yards, but freshman running back Gideon Davidson delivers the winning 24-yard touchdown run for the Tigers.

(2) Alabama 33, (2) Notre Dame 27: Here the Irish are knocking on the door of a national championship for the second straight season under Marcus Freeman, who’s the subject of countless reports that NFL teams are lining up to hire him. Freeman never gives any credence to those reports, and his Notre Dame team fights its way back from a two-touchdown deficit. Driving inside the Alabama 45 with just under four minutes remaining, Notre Dame tries to run right at 326-pound defensive tackle Tim Keenan III. Big mistake. Keenan blows up the play, forcing a 5-yard loss. Notre Dame has to punt and never gets the ball back, as Alabama’s offensive line takes control of the game.

National Championship

(2) Alabama 30, (2) Clemson 24: It’s not the first time Swinney has gone up against his alma mater in the national championship game. It happened in 2015 with Alabama winning, again in 2016 with Clemson winning and then in 2018 with the Tigers claiming their second national title under Swinney. So, now, welcome to Part 4. All the gnashing of teeth in Tuscaloosa over Kalen DeBoer’s first season as coach when he lost (gasp) four games has quieted. Alabama is playing its best football of the season with some of its younger players and veterans stepping up in key roles. But it’s the most electrifying player on Alabama’s roster, receiver Ryan Williams, who wins it for the Tide, their 19th “claimed” national championship. After Antonio Williams gives Clemson the lead with a 46-yard touchdown catch down the right sideline, Ryan Williams caps a 77-yard drive for Alabama with a 2-yard touchdown catch on a pick/rub play. Sound familiar? With Clemson fans cursing the play the same way Alabama did back in 2016, DeBoer breaks through in his second season. His statue on the Walk of Champions is up by the start of the 2026 season.

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Deion wants foe for CU spring game; Cuse willing

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Deion wants foe for CU spring game; Cuse willing

Colorado coach Deion Sanders wants the NCAA to consider borrowing from the NFL model and allow programs to practice and scrimmage against another team during the spring.

“I would actually like to play the spring game against another team, in the spring. That’s what I’m trying to do right now,” Sanders said Monday after announcing that the Buffaloes’ spring game at Folsom Field on April 19 will be televised (ESPN2, 4:30 p.m. ET).

“I would like to style it like the pros. I’d like to go against someone [in practice] for a few days, and then you have the spring game. I think the public would be satisfied with that tremendously. I think it’s a tremendous idea. I’ve told those personnel, who should understand that, that it’s a tremendous idea.”

It didn’t take long for Sanders to find an interested party. Syracuse head coach Fran Brown on Monday posted to social media platform X, offering for the Orange to “come to Boulder for 3 days.”

Under current NCAA bylaws, football teams cannot play against another school in the spring, an NCAA spokesperson told ESPN on Monday.

During the summer, NFL teams often conduct joint practices with another team for a week leading up to an exhibition game between the two sides. In college, teams practice against themselves leading up to an intrasquad scrimmage. For larger programs, those exhibition games would be played in front of large crowds.

Of late, however, many of these spring games are being adjusted into something completely different — such as a skills competition format — or canceled altogether.

Nebraska, Texas, Ohio State, Oklahoma and USC are among programs ending traditions this spring.

“The way the trend is going, is you never know if this is going to be the last spring game,” said the 57-year-old Sanders, who is entering his third season at Colorado. “Now, I don’t believe in that, and I don’t really want to condone that. … To have it competitive, and to play against your own guys, it can get kind of monotonous, and you really can’t tell the level of your guys.”

The Cornhuskers recently announced that they were replacing their spring football game with skills competitions and 7-on-7 games at Memorial Stadium on April 26. This comes on the heels of coach Matt Rhule expressing concerns about other teams scouting players in the scrimmage and possibly poaching them through the transfer portal.

Sanders said the threat of other programs possibly luring players away via the transfer portal after showcasing their talents during spring games isn’t a factor, at least for him. The spring portal window runs April 16-25.

“Everybody’s moving to stop spring games, I don’t know why,” Sanders said. “You’re not going to stop nobody from leaving your program by not having a spring game. If you want to save money, just say that. The kid’s already gone. They already reached out and contacted somebody else. They’re already gone.”

Sanders on Monday also downplayed talk about his contract extension, saying “there may be” discussions.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Let’s get everybody else [on the coaching staff] straight first, then I’m good.”

Sanders signed a five-year, $29.5 million deal before the 2023 season. The Buffaloes went 4-8 that year and 9-4 last season.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Belichick flips 4-star Ruffin from A&M to UNC

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Belichick flips 4-star Ruffin from A&M to UNC

Four-star defensive tackle Trashawn Ruffin, No. 238 in the ESPN Junior 300, flipped his commitment from Texas A&M to North Carolina on Monday, marking the Tar Heels’ highest-rated new pledge since coach Bill Belichick took over the program in December.

Ruffin, the 12th-ranked prospect from the state of North Carolina in the 2026 cycle, announced his decision via social media. The 6-foot-3, 305-pound defender had been committed to Texas A&M since October 2024 and was the fourth-ranked member of the Aggies’ latest class prior to his flip. Ruffin is now the No. 1 prospect pledged to the Tar Heels’ incoming class in 2026, Belichick’s first full recruiting cycle in college football.

Ruffin, ESPN’s No. 17 defensive tackle prospect, initially committed to Texas A&M last fall over offers from schools including Ohio State, Georgia, Texas, Michigan and Florida State. Yet Belichick and his staff — which has placed an emphasis on in-state recruiting since the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach arrived at North Carolina — made Ruffin a priority target in 2025.

The flip comes weeks after Ruffin took an unofficial visit with the Tar Heels, during which he attended a North Carolina-Duke basketball game and met former North Carolina All-American defenders Lawrence Taylor and Julius Peppers.

Ruffin, who plays at North Duplin High School in Mt. Olive, North Carolina, is the ninth prospect committed to the Tar Heels’ 2026 class. He joins Charlotte, North Carolina, quarterback Zaid Lott as the second in-state prospect pledged to the program in the cycle.

Belichick and the Tar Heels signed the nation’s 45th-ranked recruiting class at the close of the 2025 cycle last month. That group of high school signees included four-star quarterback Bryce Baker (No. 200 in the ESPN 300), who initially committed to North Carolina coach Mack Brown before affirming his pledge to the program shortly after Belichick’s hiring.

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