2026 College Football Coaching Hot Seat: Ranking Top 7 CFB Coaches Likeliest to Be Fired

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Week 3 of the 2026 college football season delivered a matchup between two head coaches on the hot seat, with Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers delivering a second-half comeback to hand Bill Belichick and the North Carolina Tar Heels their first loss of the year. As we now turn our focus to another week, there are still plenty of prominent coaches sitting on warm seats right now.

Let’s dive into our rankings for head coaches on the college football coaching hot seat entering Week 4.

1. Greg Schiano, Rutgers Scarlet Knights

College Football Coaching Hot Seat, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Greg Schiano — Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images

Greg Schiano’s Rutgers Scarlet Knights nearly pulled off the upset at home last Saturday, only losing 42-35 to the USC Trojans. It was an impressive effort from Rutgers, but it might be more of an indictment on the inability of Lincoln Riley’s teams to perform well on the road. Rutgers should finally get its first win of the season in Week 4, hosting Howard, but it’s also realistic to think that might be the program’s only win until potentially the regular-season finale on Nov. 28 against Michigan State. At a minimum, the Scarlet Knights will win fewer than five games in 2026, and that would be the third time it’s happened since 2020 under Schiano and the fourth time the program has lost seven-plus games in a season. Another way you know this marriage is over? The Brian Kelly rumors started.

2. Mike Norvell, Florida State Seminoles

College Football Coaching Hot Seat, Florida State Seminoles, Mike Norvell — Florida State football coach Mike Norvell coaches his players as they warm up after the game was delayed due to a power outage. The SMU Mustangs beat the Florida State Seminoles 27-24 on Monday, Sept. 7, 2026.

Mike Norvell knew his days were numbered in Tallahassee the moment the Florida State Seminoles fired athletic director Michael Alford. It’s admirable that the players stepped up in Tuscaloosa, taking a 21-6 lead midway through the second quarter, but the Alabama Crimson Tide responded by outscoring the Seminoles 44-15 the rest of the way. Norvell’s program clearly has the talent to win a few more games, likely against Central Arkansas (Week 4), Virginia (Week 5), Clemson (Oct. 31), Boston College (Nov. 7) and NC State (Nov. 21). That’s not good enough to stick around in 2027. Unless Norvell can pull off a win against Louisville, Miami or Florida, we see no way that he’s still this program’s football coach in December.

3. Dave Doeren, NC State Wolfpack

College Football Coaching Hot Seat, NC State Wolfpack, Dave Doeren — Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

Dave Doeren was on the perimeter of the college football coaching hot seat coming into the season. A 1-2 record in itself turned up the heat on him, but it’s how the NC State Wolfpack lost this past Saturday that should get him fired this year. The Wolfpack dominated the first half against Vanderbilt, leading 17-0 late in the second quarter, and it was even more one-sided than the score indicated. As the saying goes, NC State statethed after that. Penalties set up a touchdown for the Commodores before the half, and Vanderbilt made it a 31-28 game with 6 seconds left. All quarterback C.J. Bailey had to do for the win was either launch the ball downfield to burn off the final few seconds or run around in the end zone to drain the final seconds, then take the game-ending safety. Instead, he fumbled, and Vandy recovered with 1 second left for the game-deciding score in a 35-31 loss. That implosion is a reflection on Doeren, who seems to have this program headed for its second six-win season in three years.

4. Bill Belichick, North Carolina Tar Heels

College Football Coaching Hot Seat, North Carolina Tar Heels, Bill Belichick — Mandatory Credit: Ashley Tumlin-Imagn Images

It seems pretty clear more than a year into the Bill Belichick era that there’s no real institutional control when it comes to the North Carolina Tar Heels football program. Endless recruiting violations and Jordon Hudson were the headlines out of Chapel Hill in 2025, a season that ended with a 4-8 record with only two victories over Power 4 teams. This year, the Tar Heels’ football season featured the resignation of Belichick’s best friend Michael Lombardi (general manager) and his son Steve Belichick (defensive coordinator), who both were forced to step away following investigations into misconduct.

It did appear for a moment last Saturday like Belichick would finally have his first signature win as a college football coach. Except, his defense blew a 17-3 lead and allowed 22 points and 265 total yards in the second half to a Tigers offense that has looked lethargic early in September. The Tar Heels schedule gets a lot tougher from here, too. A university can handle some ridiculous and negative PR if it means winning a lot, but Belichick has only brought embarrassment to the storied university, and it’s cost them tens of millions of dollars.

5. Lance Leipold, Kansas Jayhawks

College Football Coaching Hot Seat, Kansas Jayhawks, Lance Leipold — Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Things can change quickly in a few years. Following the 2023 season, Kansas Jayhawks coach Lance Leipold was a hot name in the college football coaching carousel coming off a nine-win season capped off with a victory in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. Since then, his program has won 11 total games with a .407 winning percentage. The Jayhawks did look competitive in Saturday’s loss to Arizona State, but that one-score game was a credit to the defense. Leipold’s offense turned it over three times, went 6-for-16 (37.5% conversion rate) on third down, and fell to 79th in the FBS in scoring (29.7 PPG). It’s becoming pretty apparent that Leipold shouldn’t get another year with Kansas.

6. Luke Fickell, Wisconsin Badgers

College Football Coaching Hot Seat, Wisconsin Badgers, Luke Fickell — Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell has technically brought the temperature down a bit regarding his hot seat, but only barely. Victories over Western Illinois and Eastern Michigan aren’t signals that this team is on the turnaround. If Fickell wants to prove that, this upcoming five-game stretch will be the real litmus test. Losing to Penn State on Saturday at Beaver Stadium is justifiable, but Wisconsin can’t be embarrassed. With that said, the Badgers must beat Michigan State, UCLA (3-0) and likely one of USC or Iowa for the Badgers’ athletic department and boosters to have any confidence that this program is finally headed in the right direction. Considering how bad Wisconsin looked in the second half against Notre Dame, we’re not optimistic. If Fickell enters November with a 3-5 record, we believe the Badgers coaching search will start behind the scenes.

7. Dave Aranda, Baylor Bears

College Football Coaching Hot Seat, Baylor Bears, Dave Aranda — Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images

Baylor Bears coach Dave Aranda always felt like one of the most realistic big names to be fired in 2026. He’s helped himself out a bit in September, starting the season 2-1 with that lone defeat being a close one (17-16) against Auburn. Assuming DJ Lagway plays this Saturday, it’s reasonable to think Baylor will win at home against Colorado to improve to 3-1, and there could be a few more victories in store this month against TCU (Oct. 17) and Kansas (Oct. 24). Unfortunately for Aranda, Baylor’s schedule closes out against BYU, Texas Tech, and Houston. A three-game losing streak to close out his seventh year in the program will probably lead to his termination in the first week of December.

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