Kirby Smart, Ryan Day and the curious power of college football's Year 6

Blake Toppmeyer, USA TODAYFri, July 31, 2026 at 9:11 AM UTC

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Hugh Freeze’s eyes got big a few years ago when someone pointed out Kirby Smart took Georgia to the national championship game in his second season.

Freeze had been busy trying to downplay expectations early in his Auburn tenure, and he literally could not believe the reality of Smart’s success timeline.

“His second (year)? Phew,” Freeze said back then. “I don’t know that that’s accurate, but, um, anyway … "

Wikipedia exists to remind us Smart did indeed take Georgia to the national title game in his second season, which infamously ended on 2nd-and-26 with the Bulldogs losing to Alabama in overtime.

Smart’s bio also reminds us he didn’t win his first national championship until his sixth season.

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That’s also true of Ryan Day.

Day endured a what-could-have-been finish in 2022, when Noah Ruggles’ field-goal attempt sailed wide left as the clock struck midnight of a playoff semifinal game against Georgia.

If that kick splits the uprights, Day’s Buckeyes would've beaten TCU in the national championship that season. Instead, Day had to wait until the 2024 season to taste glory.

Like Smart, Day’s championship breakthrough came in Year 6.

Consider it college football's curious power of six.

Sure, Curt Cignetti raced along the fast lane to success — one wonders how big Freeze’s eyes got when Indiana won a national championship — but a little patience proved necessary for each of college football’s other active championship coaches.

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I bring that up because inside the nation’s most pressure-packed conference, the SEC, four coaches are entering their sixth season at their current job.

Let’s take a status check of how close each appears to a national championship:

SEC football coaches entering Year 6

Steve Sarkisian (Texas): Could be on the brink of a title. Sark’s Longhorns underachieved last season and became the first preseason No. 1 team in the US LBM Coaches Poll to finish the season ranked outside of the top 10 since 2012 LSU. That hiccup doesn’t change that Sark’s tenure remains on schedule for him to experience the Year 6 success that came to Smart and Day. He’s in possession of one of the most talented rosters in the country.

Josh Heupel (Tennessee): Doing fine, but not on the verge of a title. Heupel reaching Year 6 is notable because none of his Tennessee predecessors since Phillip Fulmer reached a sixth season. He’s a force of consistency, serving nothing but winning seasons, and his offenses routinely rank among the nation’s best. The Vols seem positioned for a Top 25 season, but a national championship is not imminent. Heupel will break in a young quarterback, no matter whether Faizon Brandon or George MacIntyre wins the job. And although Tennessee made a strong hire of defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, his defenses tend to shoot up during his second season on a staff, not the first.

Shane Beamer (South Carolina): On the hot seat. Beamer is much closer to a firing than a national title — or an SEC title, for that matter. He delivered some good times, but his fifth season became the low point of his tenure. Beamer noted at SEC media days a lot of familiar faces return this season. Is that cause for excitement or trepidation? This group of guys served a 4-8 record and just one SEC win in 2025. At least Beamer made it this far. Only five Gamecocks coaches lasted longer than six seasons.

Clark Lea (Vanderbilt): Settled in, trending in right direction. Last season taught us a playoff bid doesn’t have to be a pipe dream at Vanderbilt. Thanks to Diego Pavia, the Commodores were in playoff contention, right up to selection day. Their 10 wins set a program record. Can Lea do it again? Not this year, but the presence of five-star freshman quarterback Jared Curtis shows they're done being a doormat. Vanderbilt’s patience in Lea has been rewarded, even if that reward never rises to the level of a national title.

[ This column first published in our SEC Unfiltered newsletter. Want more commentary like this? Sign up here to get the newsletter delivered free to your email inbox.]

In the Big Ten's on-deck circle

Now, I present two coaches to consider outside of the SEC: Oregon’s Dan Lanning and Southern Cal’s Lincoln Riley. They’re each entering Year 5, and they talk as if they believe they built national championship contenders.

“It’s time," Riley told ESPN and CBS earlier this offseason. "The program's ready (to contend).”

That’s even more believable at Oregon, where Lanning’s Ducks reached the semifinals last year, before the Hoosiers steamrolled them.

“We’re close,” Lanning said to ESPN at Big Ten Media Days.

Close enough to cut in line and achieve in Year 5 what it took Smart and Day six seasons to do? That’d be an eye-opening achievement.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.

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