ACC Coaches Talk Anonymously About Conference Foes for 2026

NCAAF College Football
May 20, 2026
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It’s not easy getting college football coaches to honestly comment on another coach, player or team. Most coaches don’t want to give opposing teams bulletin board material, which is why there is a lot of coach speak or overused cliches used during the year.

In order to get an accurate assessment of teams heading into 2026, Athlon asked coaches in the ACC to talk anonymously about their opponents.

Note: These scouting reports come directly from coaching staffs and do not necessarily reflect the views of Athlon’s editorial staff.

[Editor’s note: This article is from Athlon Sports’ 2026 College Football Preview print magazine. Order your copy today online, or pick one up at retail racks and newsstands nationwide.]

“[Bill O’Brien] is an excellent coach.”

“They just don’t have any playmakers. When that place has been good, it’s always been good quarterback play, and they could run the football, really good tight ends, which they do have one now with Kaelan Chudzinski. He’s a really good player, but they don’t have a lot of really dynamic playmakers. I know that they brought in a couple of transfers at quarterback, but I don’t know if any of them are elite players.”

“Zay Flowers is the only receiver that Boston College has had drafted in the last 30 years, but as a recruit, he was a peanut who ended up being an incredible player. They’re not gonna out-recruit anyone at receiver. Ever.”

“I think they did a great job with this new staff. They have a great grasp of what they want for the future. It’s a great alumni base.”

“With them being able to get [quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele] to return, that just shows their commitment to winning. Putting the right players around him, they can make a run in the ACC. I’m not saying they’re gonna be able to win the ACC, but they’re gonna have a chance to hang around just because of the quarterback play. The guys around him will rise to his level.”

“Their recruiting guy, Marshall Cherrington, is as good as they get in the industry. He’s incredibly well-respected, a phenomenal evaluator. He’s the best networker I’ve ever been around. He’s an absolute superstar in every facet.”

“It’s almost like they overcoach their defensive players instead of letting them cut it loose and play. There were some schematic things where you felt like you could get them out of position. Usually, teams that are really talented do a little less and try to just let those guys cut it loose.”

“Their backup QBs didn’t play much last year, and I didn’t think they were very good. I’d be shocked if they were better on offense even if they’re coached better. When Clemson is good, their quarterback is really good.”

“The same concepts that they ran in 2025, you can go back to the beginning when Dabo [Swinney] got there and see the same thing. I don’t think it was [offensive coordinator] Garrett Riley’s offense. It was essentially Chad Morris’ offense being called by Garrett Riley.”

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“What’s so tough in this era is the timing of when Duke lost [quarterback Darian Mensah] to Miami. There’s no way that they thought they were going to lose him. So they didn’t replace him or get someone comparable because why would someone comparable come while he’s there? That’s a tough blow.”

“But the culture, the belief and the mindset are there at that place right now.”

“One of the best things that Manny Diaz did when he became head coach was making sure he retained Dave Feeley, the head strength coach, and not lose him to Texas A&M. From a toughness, physicality and stability standpoint for them, that culture starts in the weight room.”

“They don’t have the booster support that people might think that they do.”

“The volatility with [head coach] Mike Norvell is something that I’ve never seen. Norvell is a really good coach, but one of the hardest things in football is fighting complacency. I think once things started going well, they gave in an inch here and there, then you look back in a year and you see that you gave up a mile.”

“They can reinvent themselves and be who they set out to be. But can they do it consistently and not just a flash in the pan? With a new group of people and some new coaches, I think it can be reversed. The players have to take charge of that.”

“I’m most interested in how it’s going to look without [quarterback] Haynes King and [offensive coordinator] Buster Faulkner. Those two hid a lot of deficiencies within that program. Single-handedly as a player and single-handedly as a play-caller, they affected games more than talent or culture. I don’t know that they would’ve been more than average without those two people.”

“Now they’re on their fourth defensive coordinator in four years. I would imagine that’s a cause for concern.”

“[Michigan transfer running back] Justice Haynes is a f—ing savage. I saw him hit a guy and it was like two cars hitting each other. Great balance, great vision. Such a physical back. I think he’s going to be a big-time NFL back.”

“They got a good portal quarterback. [Ohio State transfer quarterback Lincoln Kienholz] is gonna be better than what people anticipate.”

“They’ll be decent, but overall, there’s a little less excitement in the program than there was two years ago.”

“I think the [Louisville general manager] Vince Marrow deal is weird, and my guess is that it won’t go well in the long run. Just from player evaluation and getting the right players, I don’t know that he and [Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm] totally see eye to eye with that. Long term, is that the guy to hitch your wagon to? I don’t know.”

“Losing their offensive line coach [Richard Owens], who was really good and ended up at Alabama, that’s a big loss for them.”

“They’re absolutely the favorite in the ACC.”

“[Head coach] Mario Cristobal has enough scars from losing heartbreaking games the last couple of years that he is not going to let that happen again. The people there that he’s finally surrounded himself with are going to be in position to give him guidance, especially on game day, management of the game, all of those kinds of things with just making decisions to win the game. He’s phenomenal around recruits. When it comes to getting big-time players to come there, he’s special. It’s great to see his growth as a head coach. I truly think that the painful losses that he’s had the last couple years will be the reason why he makes sure that he wins the ACC this year.”

“Schematically, it felt like a Bill Belichick defense. They do a really good job of using the people they have, mixing up who the rushers are, looking at who you are and how they want to match up to you. Week to week, they actually make better adjustments than a lot of people. They just didn’t have the players. And they were better on defense than on offense.”

“They were pretty bad on offense, but the guy they hired, Bobby Petrino, is phenomenal. He’s as good of a coach as there is with offense in college football. I can’t imagine how that dynamic [with Belichick] is gonna go, though.”

“I don’t think there’s a sense that they’ve improved their evaluation abilities for this day and age of college football to bring in the right guys.”

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“They’ve always been able to recruit some of those edgier kids. When they get off the bus, they look like Clemson or they look like Florida State. It seems like every year with them, the hype has been really big, then it falls off quickly at some point. I don’t know why that’s the case.”

“I don’t think they really have the funds to compete at a high level in the ACC.”

“For a while, they could feed off the great players they had there with the Russell Wilsons, the Mario Williams-type guys. But I don’t get the sense that they have super deep pockets and that they’re able to be competitive with NIL.”

“They’re a really good defensive team, and they’re adequate on offense, I guess.”

“If you’ve got a Kenny Pickett, then you’re gonna be really good. I thought they did an awesome job with [quarterback Eli Holstein] the past two years. When they’re good, they’re really good, but they’re not that dynamic. I don’t know who you’re concerned about when they’re on offense.

“On defense, they’ve got good players, but they’re really great at what they do. It’s more like they’re coached really well and their players fit the system. They do create turnovers and things like that.”

“They put [quarterback Mason Heintschel] in there, and they could just check it down to the running back all day. I do think they’re well-coached. I just don’t think that they’re elite anywhere on offense.”

“Man, [head coach Rhett Lashlee] does a great job. He’s done such a great job the last several years, and the football world knows it, too. Any time one of these big jobs opens up, you’re probably gonna hear Rhett’s name.”

“They do a great job with recruiting and the true evaluation of players. Just being able to get those guys in at that university — it’s one of those high-academic schools that you have to be able to get in and stay in.”

“I know a lot of the guys on SMU’s staff, and I think [Lashlee’s] coaches are some of the best that I’ve been around. He just knows how to evaluate people.”

“The direction that they went with [new head coach] Tavita Pritchard and obviously with [general manager] Andrew Luck being there, just having those guys in the building after they cried, sweat, bled in those same locker rooms and on that same field, that’s gonna give those guys a bit of an edge.”

“Knowing that they got someone there from home to be leading them, it’s just like what Cal has with [new head coach] Tosh Lupoi being there.”

“Their recruiting is still so much more on the academic side. Like it’s truly, ‘we’re a better school because of academics.’ That’s the only thing I would ever hear about what they were doing.”

“If [quarterback] Steve Angeli is healthy, it’ll be fixed. It’s really what it comes down to. I don’t know if the other guys in that room are any good. But [Angeli] is really good.”

“[Head coach] Fran Brown is a good leader. If he sticks to his strengths, he’ll do fine. He does a good job running that program. He does a good job evaluating. Hopefully the overhaul of the staff will help him tremendously, especially on the defensive side.”

“On the offensive side, I don’t really know the receivers they brought in, but there’s some talent still there.”

“They let some good players go, and I know they changed ADs, but I think [Brown] is in good shape there. I don’t think they’re a place that wants to spend a lot of money to get rid of a coach unless they just bomb it.”

“I’m a fan. Stock up on them.”

“I’ve heard good things about their NIL and the way that they’re structuring things. They’ve got a really unique incentive package for how they’re gonna do stuff to be sustainable and not have to pay boatloads of money up front to anyone, even if they’re a good player, but that it was still going to be able to incentivize guys to come while motivating them to get on the field.”

“[Missouri transfer quarterback] Beau Pribula is a good complement to any QB room. I felt like he was a great add for them, especially considering the dual-threat ability they asked of their QB last year. Now that he has some experience, I think he’ll take the next step, especially in the offense that they run.”

“The blueprint that [new head coach] James Franklin has had in his career from Vandy to Penn State translates very well to that league.”

“Virginia Tech should be one of the top three programs in the ACC when done right. I’m excited to see what they do because I’ve got a ton of belief in the recruits they brought in and the infrastructure that’s in place for them to be successful.”

“The level of respect that I have for the humbleness and lack of ego that [former head coach] Brent Pry has to [stay on as defensive coordinator] is off the charts. I don’t think enough can be said about how special and how difficult that kind of a move is. Being able to take the head coach duties off his plate again might provide better defensive production.”

“They’re in a really good situation financially. They raised all of this money for new facilities right as NIL was starting to percolate. That’s allowed them to be incredibly competitive with paying guys. They’d have third-string guys making $150K. I know now, they’re a lot more proactive with giving money to guys who aren’t reaching out than they were even a few years ago.”

“I’ve heard a lot of good things about [new head coach] Jake Dickert. People seem to really like what he’s doing. He seems incredibly genuine. He’s high energy, and he brings other high-energy, genuine guys around him.”

“Their defensive line coach, T.J. Hollowell, he’s as good as they get in the business. I say stock up on them. I wouldn’t bet against those guys.”

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on May 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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