ACC basketball head coach rankings 2026-27

Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey points during a NCAA basketball game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Tennessee State Tigers at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center in Knoxville, Tenn., on Nov. 20, 2025.

NC State finished 20-13 overall and 10-8 in ACC play under Will Wade, who departed after one season to return to LSU, earning a No. 11 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament and its 28th all-time bid. Justin Gainey, a former Wolfpack player and Tennessee associate head coach, inherits a program with genuine momentum, a fanbase still energized by the 2024 Final Four run, and a roster that has already proven it can compete in the ACC.

16. Micah Shrewsberry — Notre Dame Fighting Irish

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - DECEMBER 02: Head coach Micah Shrewsberry of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish reacts against the Missouri Tigers during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center on December 02, 2025 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Shrewsberry's résumé has one genuinely shining moment — he got the Penn State Nittany Lions to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in more than a decade. However, in South Bend, three seasons into his tenure, Shrewsberry has yet to finish above .500 overall in the ACC.

The 2026-27 roster is the most talented Shrewsberry has assembled in South Bend, and the program's inability to compete in ACC play over back-to-back seasons has created genuine urgency heading into what must be a meaningful improvement campaign for Notre Dame.

15. Mark Madsen — California Golden Bears

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 30: Head coach Mark Madsen of the California Golden Bears shouts out to his team on the floor against the Louisville Cardinals in the second half at Haas Pavilion on December 30, 2025 in Berkeley, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

California earned the No. 9 seed in the ACC Tournament and fell to No. 8 Florida State 95-89 in the second round — a competitive showing from a program still adapting to the demands of playing in the ACC. Madsen, a two-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, is doing credible work with limited resources in Berkeley.

14. Gerry McNamara — Syracuse Orange

GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA - MARCH 19: Head coach Gerry McNamara of the Siena Saints looks on during the first half against the Duke Blue Devils in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 19, 2026 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

McNamara, nicknamed "G-Mac," is returning to where he and Carmelo Anthony led the Orange to a national championship in 2003. He then spent 14 years as an assistant under Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim before a season as associate head coach under Adrian Autry.

McNamara's most recent stop was Siena, where in his second year he led the Saints to a MAAC tournament championship and to the NCAA Tournament, where they trailed No. 1 Duke by just six points at halftime before losing 71-65. He brings genuine passion and deep program roots. The question is whether he can translate that into wins in one of the most difficult environments in the modern ACC.

13. Michael Malone — North Carolina Tar Heels

DENVER, CO - MARCH 12: Head Coach Michael Malone of the Denver Nuggets looks on from the sidelines during the first quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Ball Arena on March 12, 2025 in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)

Malone led the Denver Nuggets to the 2023 NBA championship and spent 12 seasons as an NBA head coach, winning 510 regular-season games. His college coaching experience, however, dates back to 2001, making him the first North Carolina Tar Heels head coach hired without direct ties to the Tar Heels' men's basketball program since Frank McGuire in 1952.

Malone ranks this low not because of his basketball acumen, but because the college coaching landscape is a distinct animal. He has a steep learning curve. The talent around him at Chapel Hill will determine early whether this is a masterstroke or a misfire.

12. Scott Cross — Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - APRIL 18: Head Coach Scott Cross of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Men's Basketball team attends the 2026 Georgia Tech Spring White v Gold Football Game at Bobby Dodd Stadium on April 18, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for ONIT)

Cross enters with a strong mid-major track record, but inherits a program in disarray. He won seven conference championships and 350 games across 19 seasons at Texas-Arlington and Troy, and closed out at Troy with back-to-back Sun Belt championships and NCAA Tournament berths.

He replaces Damon Stoudamire, who went 42-55 in three seasons and was fired after the Yellow Jackets finished 11-20 overall and 2-16 in the ACC with a 12-game losing streak to close the year. He is a strong hire for a program that badly needed a culture reset.

11. Steve Forbes — Wake Forest Demon Deacons

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS - DECEMBER 03: Head coach Steve Forbes of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons looks on against the Texas A&M Aggies during the first half at Reed Arena on December 03, 2024 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

Wake Forest has yet to make an NCAA Tournament in six seasons under Forbes, going 106-78 overall. This, despite having real talent. In the past four seasons, Wake has had four first-team All-ACC players, an ACC Player of the Year, and two players selected in the NBA Draft.

Forbes wins enough games to stick around, but is 6-29 in Quad 1 games over that stretch, the clearest possible signal that his teams underperform against the competition that matters most for Selection Sunday.

10. Jeff Capel — Pittsburgh Panthers

Mar 11, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Jeff Capel III reacts in the first half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Pitt earned the No. 15 seed in the ACC Tournament and pulled off one of the tournament's most stunning upsets, defeating No. 10 Stanford 64-63 in the first round before falling to No. 7 NC State 98-88 in the quarterfinals. Besides that, Capel has made the tournament once in eight seasons at Pitt, and his teams have been under .500 in ACC play five of those eight seasons.

Capel is an excellent recruiter with real basketball IQ, and the Pitt administration has remained patient, but patience has limits. He has proven he can coach at VCU and Oklahoma, but he has struggled at Pitt. This is probably a make-or-break season.

9. Mike Young — Virginia Tech Hokies

Mar 10, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies head coach Mike Young reacts in the first half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Young ranks among the active national leaders in wins as a head coach with 404 victories. He is a legitimate basketball coach, and the Hokies consistently play hard, organized basketball under his watch. What prevents him from ranking higher is the feeling that Virginia Tech remains perpetually stuck, good enough to not embarrass themselves, not quite good enough to take a significant leap. A breakout year is overdue.

8. Luke Loucks — Florida State Seminoles

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 11: Luke Loucks of the Florida State Seminoles looks on during the first half of a game against the Florida Gators at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on November 11, 2025 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

The Seminoles' 2025-26 season ended with an 18-15 record, including a 10-8 mark in the ACC that stands as the school record for the most ACC wins by a first-year head coach. Through January, FSU ranked 101st in the country in overall team quality. They finished the season ranked 58th overall and 26th over the final two months.

FSU won 10 of its last 13 regular-season games and pushed No. 1 Duke to the final possession before falling just short in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. FSU's 2026 signing class is ranked No. 8 in the country and No. 2 in the ACC by 247Sports, featuring five four-star prospects. The rebuild in Tallahassee is real and accelerating.

7. Andy Enfield — SMU Mustangs

DAYTON, OHIO - MARCH 18: SMU Mustangs head coach Andy Enfield reacts during the second half against the Miami (OH) RedHawks in the First Four game of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 18, 2026 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

Enfield arrived in Dallas with a strong track record — a USC Elite Eight and the legendary 2013 FGCU "Dunk City" run — and he has made SMU a legitimate mid-tier ACC competitor in a short time. His ability to assemble shooting-heavy, guard-driven rosters fits the modern game, and the Mustangs have made the conference more interesting. The question heading into 2026-27 is whether he can break through to the conference's upper tier.

6. Kyle Smith — Stanford Cardinal

Mar 7, 2026; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Stanford Cardinal head coach Kyle Smith looks on during the second half against the NC State Wolfpack at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

Smith is one of the most underrated coaches in the conference. He builds through international recruiting and disciplined transfer portal work on a campus that presents unique admissions obstacles, and he does it consistently. His development of Ebuka Okorie into an All-ACC performer in 2025-26 is emblematic of what he does: find talent others miss, develop it, and win.

5. Jai Lucas — Miami Hurricanes

ST LOUIS, MISSOURI - MARCH 22: Head coach Jai Lucas of the Miami Hurricanes reacts against the Purdue Boilermakers during the first half in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Enterprise Center on March 22, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Miami finished 25-8 overall and 13-5 in ACC play — one of the largest turnarounds in Division I basketball this season — earning the No. 7 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament in Lucas' first year as a head coach. The Hurricanes notched their 13th NCAA Tournament bid and their first under Lucas, who guided the program from its worst stretch in recent history to a postseason berth in a single calendar year.

At an age when most coaches are still working as assistants, Lucas has already delivered results that most veteran head coaches never achieve. The ceiling on this program under his direction has never been higher.

4. Brad Brownell — Clemson Tigers

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 13: Head coach Brad Brownell of the Clemson Tigers looks on in the second half against the Duke Blue Devils during the semifinals of the men's ACC Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 13, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)

Brownell has done more than just put together good teams — he has succeeded in building a consistent program with long-term staying power. The ACC's longest-tenured head coach ranks among the active national leaders in wins with 459 career victories.

He rebuilt his entire roster in 2025-26 after losing his core from a 27-win season and still produced a competitive, tournament-caliber squad. In a transfer-portal era that rewards overhauling rather than developing, Brownell keeps finding a way to do both.

3. Pat Kelsey — Louisville Cardinals

BUFFALO, NEW YORK - MARCH 21: Head coach Pat Kelsey of the Louisville Cardinals looks on against the Michigan State Spartans during the first half in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at KeyBank Center on March 21, 2026 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Kelsey is the ACC's most transformative coaching story of the modern era. In his first season, he took over a program that had been by far the worst in the conference for two years running, created his initial team entirely from scratch with zero scholarship returnees, and developed a top-15 squad that earned ACC Coach of the Year honors.

Year Two showed that the turnaround was no aberration. Playing a frantic style with intensity that mirrors his high-octane personality, Louisville flexed its muscles with an emphatic early-season win against rival Kentucky. Kelsey is one of the best coaches in college basketball and has earned every bit of the acclaim coming his way.

2. Ryan Odom — Virginia Cavaliers

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - MARCH 22: Virginia Cavaliers head coach Ryan Odom reacts during the second half in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Xfinity Mobile Arena on March 22, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)

No one in the ACC had a more impressive coaching performance in 2025-26. Odom's first Virginia team greatly exceeded preseason expectations and doubled the previous year's win total, going 30-6 and 15-3 in the ACC, finishing second of 18 teams in the regular season and runners-up in the ACC Tournament. He did all of it with a rebuilt roster assembled in months.

Odom's fingerprints were everywhere, he overhauled the offensive system, dramatically increased scoring, and imposed a full-court press defensively, transforming Virginia into one of five ACC teams to rank in the top 10 in both scoring and scoring defense. This was a masterclass in program-building speed.

1. Jon Scheyer — Duke Blue Devils

Mar 29, 2026; Washington, DC, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer looks on against the UConn Huskies in the first half during an Elite Eight game of the East Regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Through four seasons, Scheyer has amassed 124 career victories, the most by any Division I head coach in their first four seasons, while leading Duke to three ACC Tournament championships, three NCAA Elite Eight appearances, and a trip to the Final Four.

In 2025-26, he led the Blue Devils to a 35-3 record and both the ACC regular-season and tournament championships behind National Player of the Year Cameron Boozer. Duke landed top guard transfer John Blackwell, adding a high-level, veteran scorer to a retooling Blue Devils team that could be picked to win the ACC again before a single ball is tipped next November.

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This article originally appeared on FSU Wire: ACC Basketball: Rankings all 18 head coaches entering 2026-27