5 College Football Head Coaches Who Are Firmly On The Hot Seat In 2026

Every year, certain College Football coaches overstay their welcome with their fanbases and enter the season already on the hot seat. On occasion, these guys can coach their way off the hot seat and back into good graces.

Most of the time, though, it doesn't work out that way. Especially with donors putting money on the line, it's clear when the seat is too scorching to cool off. These five head coaches are in that situation right now.

Mike Norvell

There's no more obvious example of a lame duck in the country than Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell. With lead play-caller Gus Malzahn retiring in February after the transfer portal window closed, many feel the offensive pieces brought in weren't convincing.

Malzahn's stint felt like a ploy to springboard back into being a head coaching candidate, but he read the writing on the wall and got out before there was more regression in Tallahassee.

With Tony White entering year three on the other side of the ball, but losing safety Ashlynd Barker, EDGE Jaden Jones, cornerback Earl Little Jr., and DBs Ja'bril Rawls and Edwin Joseph, there's little confidence in this roster being good enough in an increasingly competitive ACC.

Under Norvell, the Seminoles lost ground to the Miami Hurricanes in the Sunshine State. That alone should be the impetus for consideration of replacing Norvell, especially since it's happened quickly in two years.

If things are off the rails early in 2026, and it could be with the SMU Mustangs, Alabama Crimson Tide, Virginia Cavaliers, Miami, and Louisville Cardinals all before the last week of October, then Norvell could be the first major firing of the upcoming campaign.

Dave Aranda

The Baylor Bears are still chasing the 2022 Sugar Bowl high of Dave Aranda's second season. Since then, Baylor has been, at best, a middling Big 12 team and, at worst, one of the most disappointing teams in the Power 4 conferences.

We've all been waiting for the high-powered offense Aranda promised, and in some ways, we're getting what was advertised with Jake Spavital over the past two years. The offense is over 33 points per game in 2024 and 2025, up from a 23 PPG average during a 3-9 campaign in 2023. It won't matter if the defense ranks 94th in adjusted efficiency, 323rd in points allowed per game, and owns a nation-worst run-stuff rate (4%).

There are a lot of issues Aranda needs to fix in Waco, Texas, and no guarantees Aranda has the pieces to do so. Florida Gators quarterback transfer DJ Lagway could help keep the Bears in games, but they need to do a lot of winning to keep Aranda after spending so much to help him get the job done.

Shane Beamer

Shane Beamer's $27.9 million buyout is probably the only reason why the South Carolina Gamecocks retained him for the 2026 season. 2025 was supposed to be a special season with Mike Shula calling plays for LaNorris Sellers, but eight interceptions and four fumbles during the quarterback's 12 starts undid a Heisman campaign and any chances for a dark horse run in the SEC.

With a top-25 transfer portal class and a focus on bringing in veterans along the offensive line, it's clear that University of South Carolina AD Jeremiah Donati is doing everything he can to make the Beamer era work.

If the Gamecocks don't sniff their 9-3 standard during the 2024 season this fall, Beamer may be out of chances in Columbia.

Luke Fickell

The Wisconsin Badgers' Luke Fickell is in a nearly identical situation to Beamer, with the main difference being that the former hasn't produced a single unforgettable run in Madison since being hired in November 2022.

Wisconsin was reaching historic lows during the 2025 season, sporting the No. 126-ranked offense with 4.68 yards produced per play. During one particularly brutal October stretch, UW was shut out in consecutive home games for the first time since 1968, with a 37-0 loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes and a 34-0 beatdown to the 1 Ohio State Buckeyes.

The Badgers spent money on Fickell to either improve the bottom line or justify his firing. If Wisconsin continues to be hopeless, the cord will be cut sooner rather than later.

Dabo Swinney

While no other coach on this list has a national championship at his current school, Dabo Swinney may be the most necessary firing of this bunch because of his refusal to play ball in the NIL/rev-share era. Clinging to a bygone era of building high school classes, Swinney is saying it's his way or the highway. Clemson may finally be ready to send him back down I-85.

The Tigers were the No. 4 team in the country last year and ended up losing the Pinstripes Bowl to a similarly disappointing preseason No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions program, whose head coach, James Franklin, was long fired by the time the two teams squared off. That level of disappointment is unacceptable coming off a CFP appearance.

If 2026 is somehow worse than 2025, the band-aid may finally be pulled on Swinney's Clemson tenure.