When points no longer come at a premium in the age of tempo-based spread offenses in college football, what differentiates an above-average scheme from elite?

Take notes from the handful of head coaches listed here, guys who routinely generate the nation's top units offensively across many statistical categories.

TampaBay.com recently published a Top 25 ranking centered around the nation's top coaches offensively, gurus with a track record of scoring points in bunches. When it comes to keeping defensive coordinators up at night, these coaches are the best.

According to reporter Matt Baker, the Times "ranked every coach's yearly offensive production (as head coach or offensive coordinator) in five categories: scoring average, passer rating, yards per rush, yards per play and the S&P+ advanced metric. We ignored stats from the NFL and teams outside Division I-A, and our analysis only stretched back to 2009 (Mullen's first year at Mississippi State). We also excluded coaches with fewer than three years of data.

"The methodology and data aren't perfect, and there are mitigating factors that don't show up in the numbers. But consider this one attempt to try to quantify whether a coach's offensive reputation matches his production."

Here's a look at college football's 10 top offensive masterminds entering the 2018 season: