After over 30 coaching changes took place following the 2025 season, it's unlikely the 2026 season will yield a similar number of moves. But that doesn't lessen the pressure that some coaches are facing as the season approaches. Not every coach on our list below is on the hot seat by any means. But disappointing seasons in 2025 mean that the 2026 season is pivotal for every man below. Baylor's Dave Aranda The 2021 season feels more than five years ago for Baylor fans. After Matt Rhule left for the NFL following an 11-3 season in 2019, the Bears hired Aranda. The 2020 season was a struggle, but it was easy to write off as an aberration when Baylor went 12-2 in Aranda's second year with the team. Instead, it's 2021 that's starting to look like the aberration. Baylor has just one finish above .500 in the four seasons since and has gone 22-28 in that span. The Bears were 5-7 a season ago after ending 2025 on a three-game losing streak and five losses in the team's last six games. Before a 31-24 loss to Houston to end the season, Baylor released a statement saying Aranda would return and admitted that the decision "will generate strong opinions." Those opinions will only get stronger with another losing season. Baylor added former Florida QB DJ Lagway in the transfer portal, but the biggest key will be improvement from a defense that should have better health. Baylor gave up nearly 33 points a game last season. South Carolina's Shane Beamer The Gamecocks entered 2025 with considerable expectations after a six-game win streak to end the 2024 regular season. LaNorris Sellers was the first-team all-SEC QB on the 2025 preseason team, and South Carolina was picked to finish fifth in the league. Well … that didn't happen. After beating Virginia Tech and South Carolina State, the Gamecocks proceeded to win just two of their final 10 games. That included an epic collapse against Texas A&M in November and a 14-point loss at home to a Clemson team that underachieved all year. Sellers is back for the 2026 season and the offensive line was a focal point in the transfer portal after blocking was a big issue last season. Former NC State tackle Jacarrius Peak is one of four transfers who could potentially start up front for the Gamecocks in Week 1. While Beamer isn't on the hot seat by any means, there is pressure to win. South Carolina hasn't had three losing seasons in a four-year span since going 6-27 from 1997-1999 in a disastrous close to the decade that led to the arrival of Lou Holtz. Can North Carolina win more than four games in Bill Belichick's second season? (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) Andy Lyons via Getty Images
North Carolina's Bill Belichick Improvement is paramount in Belichick's second season at North Carolina. The 2025 season was an abject disaster as the Tar Heels won just two ACC games and lost to all three of its in-state rivals to end the season. As general manager Michael Lombardi bombastically declared that UNC wanted to be the NFL's 33rd team, it was clear that the UNC staff had a lot of work to do in identifying college football talent. Now, Lombardi is on leave following a human resources complaint from a fellow school employee after he and Belichick turned the roster over once again. The schedule doesn't do UNC any favors this season, either. The Tar Heels get Notre Dame, Clemson, Miami and Louisville while also starting 2026 in Ireland against TCU. If UNC fails to make the postseason again, it'll be the first time the Tar Heels have gone back-to-back seasons without a bowl since 2018 and 2019. Those seasons spelled the end of Larry Fedora's tenure. Alabama's Kalen DeBoer After Indiana beat the Crimson Tide by 35 points in the Rose Bowl, DeBoer said that it was "a fine line between being here and being at the top." While that may be true, it was easy to see how the line between the success Alabama had under Nick Saban and the worst loss in school history since 1998 was anything but fine. And the way the 2025 season ended put even more pressure on DeBoer as he enters his third season in Tuscaloosa. Alabama is still good. We have the Tide as a potential playoff team heading into 2026, and they should be in contention for the SEC title game. But not only has Alabama lost eight games in his first two seasons, five of those losses have come in November or later.
Wisconsin's Luke Fickell Things have gotten progressively worse in each of Fickell's three seasons in charge in Madison. If things continue to go south in Year 4, it'll be a stunner if he makes it to the end of the season. Heck, it was a relative surprise that Fickell even earned a fourth season. Wisconsin was booed in September after a 24-point loss to Alabama was followed up by a 17-point home loss to Maryland. That loss to the Terps was the second in what turned out to be a six-game losing streak that was only broken by a 13-10 upset of Washington in the rain. Yes, Billy Edwards' injury was a big deal (he's now at North Carolina, by the way), but Wisconsin's offense averaged a putrid 12.8 points per game in 2025. Former Old Dominion QB Colton Joseph has been brought in to help jumpstart the unit and his first game in a Wisconsin uniform is against Notre Dame. After a Week 4 game at Penn State, things become much more manageable. Wisconsin needs to get to a bowl game at the very least. Maryland's Mike Locksley It's less than ideal when you're trying to parse consecutive 4-8 seasons. "We've had two different 4-8 seasons, and at the end of the day, it's 4-8 and I'm not diminishing that I am a 4-8 coach the last two years," Locksley said at Maryland's media day. "But the 4-8 last year was a lot different than the 4-8 the year before." To be blunt, it's hard to see Locksley surviving another 4-8 season at Maryland. That win at Wisconsin ended up being Maryland's last of the 2025 season. The Terps lost three straight games after the road win by four points or fewer. They then lost the next five games by double digits. QB Malik Washington has shown promise and the defense brings back a lot of experience. But Maryland may need to pull an upset or two to make the postseason and earn Locksley a ninth year in charge. Florida State went 5-7 in 2025 after a 2-10 season in 2024. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) Don Juan Moore via Getty Images
Florida State's Mike Norvell Hey, another three-win improvement for Florida State in 2026 would mean an eight-win campaign. Would that be enough for Norvell to earn another season in Tallahassee? Last year's Florida State team showed it was capable of beating Alabama and blowing out a nine-win Wake Forest team while also losing to Stanford in comical fashion and falling by 19 points at Florida with a bowl game on the line in the last week of the season. Former Auburn QB Ashton Daniels is the team's Week 1 starter. He's thrown 24 career TDs and 22 career interceptions. Former Texas RB Tre Wisner was added to help boost the run game alongside Ousmane Kromah. We'll know a lot about Florida State — and likely Norvell's fate as the team's coach — before November. The Seminoles face SMU and Alabama in September and have consecutive games against at Louisville, at Miami and against Clemson to close out October. USC's Lincoln Riley Riley is unafraid to talk a big game about his team heading into the 2026 season. It's time for the Trojans to prove it. At Big Ten media days, Riley said that he believed USC was "more equipped than at any point in the previous few years" to compete for championships. "That's not a hope or a wish. Those are facts, and there's a lot of facts to back that up." What's also a fact is that USC hasn't won at least 10 games since Caleb Williams was winning the Heisman in 2022. The Trojans are 16-10 in their two seasons in the Big Ten and appear to have one of the toughest schedules in the country. The series with Notre Dame is on pause, but Oregon, Penn State, Ohio State and Indiana are all on tap. That's three playoff teams from a year ago and another team that was in the Big Ten title game in 2024. If USC is truly ready to be a contender in the Big Ten, it can't lose more than two of those games while also needing to avoid a loss everywhere else. Colorado went 3-9 in 2025 after the departures of Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter to the NFL. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images) RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images via Getty Images
Colorado's Deion Sanders This season is setting up to be pivotal for the Buffaloes. Five-star freshman QB JuJu Lewis is the team's clear starter after Colorado preserved his redshirt in a lost 2025 season. And the team has another new offensive coordinator in former UNLV play-caller Brennan Marion. Will that lead to offensive success? Colorado's 3.5 yards per carry were the highest of the Sanders era in 2025. But that came at the expense of the passing game. The QB play was awful, as Colorado averaged just 203 passing yards a game and its quarterbacks completed fewer than 60% of its passes. Even if the offense takes a step forward, the defense will have to hold its own. After Colorado allowed almost 31 points a game in 2025, every player who had at least 14 tackles is no longer on the roster. You don't need us to tell you that is a ton of turnover. Don't overlook athletic director Rick George's departure, either. George took a risk in hiring Sanders from Jackson State and it's paid off by making the Buffaloes relevant and bringing the school a Heisman winner — even if Colorado won more games in 2024 than it has in 2023 and 2025 combined. New athletic director Fernando Lovo certainly understands the value that Sanders brings to the program. But what's the benefit of being popular when you don't sniff bowl eligibility? Clemson's Dabo Swinney As he enters his 19th season at Clemson, Swinney has earned the benefit of the doubt. But he also needs to show that the 2025 season was a one-off. The Tigers looked primed for another playoff run a season ago before everything came crashing down. Clemson lost five of its first eight games of the season before winning four in a row in November to guarantee a winning record. It was the worst season for the Tigers since Swinney's second season in 2010. Like Alabama, it's clear that Clemson has taken a step back. And the Tigers' step back came earlier than the Tide's. Clemson has lost at least three games in each season since 2021. But there's a massive gap between finishing a season above .500 and losing the Pinstripe Bowl to a team with an interim coach and one regularly playing in the ACC title game.