The college football season is underway and multiple coaches already feel warmth under their seats.
Job security often is in short supply in the current era, and being upset by a lesser school or getting routed by a bitter rival can send a coach from seemingly secure to images of moving vans.
Among the coaches who moved from the hot seat to ejected during the 2025 season were the men running the show at Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, LSU, Oklahoma State, Penn State, UCLA and Virginia Tech.
It stands to reason that at least a few coaches will be shown the door during the 2026 season.
Perhaps the coach on the most slippery slope is Florida State’s Mike Norvell (39-34 in six seasons, plus one 2026 game).
Norvell went 10-3 in his third season with the Seminoles in 2022 and followed up with a 13-1 campaign in which his program received a raw deal from the then four-team playoff committee.
He then bottomed out at 2-10 in 2024. Last season, Florida State started with three wins before collapsing and finished 5-7. So it’s no surprise to see Norvell firmly on the hotter than lava seat.
Florida State beat New Mexico State 34-17 in its opener last weekend but real challenges come later this month with consecutive games against SMU and Alabama. In October, back-to-back games against Louisville and Miami occur prior to a bye week.
If Florida State is below .500 after that stretch, Norvell may be receiving that pink slip. But if the Seminoles are 4-3, they will enter the lighter portion of the schedule with momentum and Norvell will have a chance to save his job.
South Carolina’s Shane Beamer had the escape hatch for the taking last season with the Virginia Tech job open — he was an assistant under his famed father with the Hokies — but he didn’t pursue the gig and remained with the Gamecocks. This despite going 1-7 in SEC play last season as part of a 4-8 campaign.
Beamer (33-30 in five seasons) should get off to a 3-0 start this season before things could unravel. A road game against Alabama is troublesome but more dicey is a three-game stretch of host Tennessee, at Oklahoma and host Texas A&M.
A November home game against Georgia could prove to be the see-you-later game.
Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell (16-21 in three seasons) somehow made it through last season when the Badgers went 4-8 overall and 2-8 in Big Ten play. Wisconsin scored 14 or fewer points in nine of its 10 conference games.
Hard to expect much better results in 2026. The opener against Notre Dame on Sunday at Green Bay could be telling – and that might not be in a good way.
The conference slate is highly favorable in that Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon and Michigan aren’t on it. That means another eight-loss conference slate will certainly end the Fickell era.
Having six Super Bowl rings as an NFL head coach is impressive but that has nothing to do with college football. And Bill Belichick’s first season (4-8, 2-6) at North Carolina didn’t offer much optimism that he will be anything but an average ACC coach.
The Tar Heels opened with a lethargic 15-10 victory over TCU in Ireland last weekend. The third game of the season, at Clemson, will be a telling sign whether North Carolina has improved.
Home games against Miami and Louisville are on the slate. If Belichick finishes below .500, somebody in North Carolina’s upper administration needs to ask whether a 74-year-old coach can be a program builder.
Southern California’s Lincoln Riley (36-18, four seasons plus one game) could join this list with a substandard season. Riley is paid a ton of money and has huge resources but the reputation as a consistent playoff contender was left behind at Oklahoma, where he inherited an elite program.
USC beat San Jose State 42-26 last weekend. The Big Ten slate is tough and includes home games against Ohio State, Oregon and Washington and road games against Indiana and Penn State.
It might be the prime time to ask about Colorado’s Deion Sanders.
His star dimmed considerably with a 3-9 mark last season (1-8 in Big 12 play) and he’s just 16-21 over three seasons despite having a nine-win campaign on the resume. Get routed by Texas Tech in early October and he could join the list.
Others with warm seats who could land in trouble: Baylor’s Dave Aranda (36-37 in six seasons), Maryland’s Mike Locksley (37-49 in eight seasons), North Carolina State’s Dave Doeren (95-71 in 14 seasons) and Middle Tennessee’s Derek Mason (6-18 in two seasons).
