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Talent vs. coaching: 2026 College Football Chart

College Football Charts
Data updatedOct 31, 2026

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Talent vs. coaching

Coach RECEIPTS (up) against Talent composite (across). 138 teams.

Up and right are always better: metrics where lower is better (like ranks or points allowed) run in reverse. Dashed lines are the averages of the teams shown and split the chart into four groups. There's no trend line or gray band here: the chart compares two separate skills, so no spot is "expected." The lists rank teams on both skills together. Tap or click a team to open it in Head to head.

What this shows

Right has more talent on paper; up wins more than that talent says it should. Up and left is coaching up a thin roster; down and right is wasting a loaded one.

There is almost no relationship here (r = +0.16): knowing a team's Talent composite tells you little about its Coach RECEIPTS.

Split by the averages: Loaded and coached up 43, Coaching up a thin roster 22, Loaded and wasting it 23, Thin and underachieving 50.

Loaded and coached up: LSU (8th and 7th), Ohio State (5th and 13th), Alabama (4th and 15th). Thin and underachieving: Sacramento State (114th and 138th), Akron (121st and 137th), UL Monroe (132nd and 133rd). Ranks are among the 138 teams shown, Talent composite first, then Coach RECEIPTS.

Pac-12: 0 of 8 in Loaded and coached up, 4 in Thin and underachieving. Top of the list: Boise State (74th and 16th of 138).

Mountain West: 0 of 10 in Loaded and coached up, 5 in Thin and underachieving. Top of the list: North Dakota State (131st and 5th of 138).

Where the data comes from. Coach RECEIPTS: our split of every game result, games through Oct 24, 2026, using SP+ (last pulled Oct 27, 2026), the 247Sports talent composite and CollegeFootballData.com returning production. Talent composite: 247Sports, preseason.

Loaded and coached up

  1. LSU 8th and 7th of 138
  2. Ohio State 5th and 13th of 138
  3. Alabama 4th and 15th of 138
  4. Georgia 1st and 30th of 138
  5. Texas 2nd and 33rd of 138
  6. Notre Dame 6th and 21st of 138

Thin and underachieving

  1. Sacramento State 114th and 138th of 138
  2. Akron 121st and 137th of 138
  3. UL Monroe 132nd and 133rd of 138
  4. Northern Illinois 126th and 131st of 138
  5. Charlotte 104th and 134th of 138
  6. Southern Miss 94th and 136th of 138

About the stats on this chart

What is talent composite?

247Sports talent composite: every player on the roster weighted by his recruiting rating, with the best players counting most. Includes transfers at their current school.

Where does the talent composite data come from?

From 247Sports, preseason.

What is coach RECEIPTS?

Coach RECEIPTS: wins from playing better (plus) or worse (minus) than the roster says the team should. Covers development, scheme and transfers, plus injuries. Service academies get extra credit because recruiting rankings undersell their rosters.

Why does coach RECEIPTS matter?

RECEIPTS splits a team's wins into what the roster should have produced and what the coaching added. It's the closest we can get to grading coaches with numbers.

Where does the coach RECEIPTS data come from?

From our split of every game result, games through Oct 24, 2026, using SP+ (last pulled Oct 27, 2026), the 247Sports talent composite and CollegeFootballData.com returning production.