The latest update around the US LBM Coaches Poll is less about a single ranking and more about the machinery behind it. Sports has named the 2026 season Board of Coaches, the panel that will help shape the weekly Coaches Poll College Football rankings throughout the regular season.
How the poll works
The poll is conducted weekly throughout the regular season and uses a panel of head coaches at Football Bowl Subdivision schools. According to the published process, the panel is selected by random draw, conference by conference plus independents. That detail matters because it explains why the poll is not simply a popularity contest or a closed circle of familiar names. The board is built to represent the FBS landscape in a structured way, with coaches from different conferences feeding into the same weekly rankings process.
The 2026 season board includes Tim Albin, Blake Anderson, David Braun, Jeff Brohm, Fran Brown, Neal Brown, Troy Calhoun, Jamey Chadwell, Curt Cignetti, Sonny Cumbie, Spencer Danielson, Ryan Day, Kalen DeBoer, Manny Diaz, Jake Dickert, Matt Drinkall, Eliah Drinkwitz, Sonny Dykes, Jason Eck, Mike Elko, Tony Elliott, Matt Entz, Jedd Fisch, James Franklin, Willie Fritz, Scott Frost, Tony Gibson, Alex Golesh, Will Hall, Blake Harrell, John Hauser, Clay Helton, Tyson Helton, Charles Huff, Butch Jones, KC Keeler, Charles Kelly, Brent Key, Zach Kittley, Collin Klein, Tre Lamb, Rhett Lashlee, Clark Lea, Lance Leipold, Pete Lembo, Sean Lewis, Dowell Loggains, Joey McGuire, Jeff Monken, Kirby Moore, Eric Morris, Dan Mullen, Billy Napier, Pat Narduzzi, Brian Newberry, Ken Niumatalolo, Barry Odom, Tim Polasek, Tavita Pritchard, Ricky Rahne, Matt Rhule, Rich Rodriguez, Jay Sawvel, Morgan Scalley, JaMarcus Shephard, Kirby Smart, Will Stein, Jon Sumrall, Lance Taylor, Jeff Traylor, Scotty Walden, Kyle Whittingham and Casey Woods.
For readers, the significance is straightforward: this is the group whose weekly ballots help shape how teams are viewed across the season, and those judgments can influence the broader conversation around the sport. Sports also included the standard Gannett betting-disclosure language with the announcement, a reminder that modern college football coverage often sits alongside the larger business of wagering and rankings.
In other words, the board itself may not decide games, but it does help define the national picture week after week. For teams, coaches and fans, that makes the Coaches Poll College Football process more than a formality; it is part of the season’s ongoing argument.
