The College Football Playoff field continues to get slimmer as the field of 12 is now left with just 4 teams remaining in contention for the National Championship. As the field continues to get smaller, coaching matters even more as there aren't any pushover teams left competing making the margins razor thin.
When you look at the field of head coaches in the College Football Playoff, it's truly remarkable what this field looks like. Pete Golding has been a head coach for just two games, leading his team to two pivotal wins. Curt Cignetti and Mario Cristobal have completely transformed their programs taking them to the semifinals. Dan Lanning has mastered this modern era more than anyone else over the past two seasons.
Power Ranking the final four head coaches in the CFP
4. Pete Golding
Pete Golding's only coached two games, but it's becoming clear that Ole Miss picked the right guy to lead this program. It's impossible not to come away impressed with how Golding has rallied his team after Lane Kiffin's departure and got them to block out the outside noise. Considering how Ole Miss looked to be in serious trouble at halftime, and flipped the switch in the second half against Georgia shows that he's built for this.
The biggest disadvantage for Golding at this point is the lack of experience which was shown with Ole Miss' end of the first half clock management. With each game Pete Golding coaches, he's only getting more impressive, and Ole Miss looks like a program poised to be well set up for the future as well as this Playoff.
3. Mario Cristobal
You can't say enough about the job Mario Cristobal has done building Miami to a point where they're back on the map and contending for Championships. The most impressive part about what Miami has done in the Playoff is realizing they needed to change everything. After Carson Beck's interceptions cost Miami against Louisville and SMU, the entire offense has changed.
Miami has a clear path to winning every game, which is dominating in the trenches and turning each game into a rock fight. Cristobal has built a team that can win tough, and now the team is game planning to win that way.
2. Dan Lanning
After a shocking early exit last season, the Oregon Ducks are on to the Semifinals as Dan Lanning continues to build Oregon into a yearly contender. The Ducks' path to this point has been rather easy as they faced James Madison, who shockingly moved the ball with ease, and Texas Tech, who couldn't get anything going on offense.
Some of Dan Lanning's decisions in the game against Texas Tech were questionable at best as he constantly passed up taking points. You have to believe that Dan Lanning's going to value getting points on the board much more in closer games, but we've seen bad decisions get Oregon in trouble in the past.
1. Curt Cignetti
The job Curt Cignetti has done at Indiana is unfathomable as one of the worst programs in the Power 4 has become a monster the last two seasons. Anyone who was still doubting Indiana truly can't have any reason not to believe after the Hoosiers beat Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship and dominated Alabama in the Rose Bowl.
Despite being the top ranked team in the College Football Playoff, Curt Cignetti's team looks to be taking every game personal, and they're the only team to win after having a first round bye over the last two seasons. Cignetti continues to prove that this isn't a fluke, and his team is going to be better prepared for every game than their opponents.