Week 2 barely has a chance to settle in before the heat starts climbing on a few college football head coaches. Some teams are rolling. Others are already giving off the kind of early-season smoke that makes everybody around the program start checking the temperature.
The most uncomfortable situation on this list belongs to Dabo Swinney. Clemson’s 2026 season opened with a 51-10 blowout loss to LSU, and that came after a 7-6 finish last year, his worst season since 2010.
Swinney then got into a war of words with a media member after the LSU game before Clemson came back and beat Georgia Southern 22-7 in Week 2. Even with the win, the pressure isn’t going anywhere.
His buyout would be $57 million if he were fired in 2026.
Rutgers is in a rough spot too, and it started immediately. The Scarlet Knights opened with a 37-21 loss to UMass, snapping a 16-game losing streak for the Minutemen, even though Rutgers was a 29.5-point favorite.
Greg Schiano’s group then dropped a 28-21 game to Boston College. The schedule does them no favors either, with two top-12 teams coming up in the next three games.
If Schiano is fired after the season, the school would owe him roughly $18.5 million.
North Carolina has won both of its first two games under Bill Belichick, beating TCU and East Tennessee State to go 2-0. On the field, that’s the right start.
But the program has been dealing with turmoil away from it, and those off-field issues could end up defining the tenure if they keep hanging around. If North Carolina fires Belichick at any point before Dec. 31, 2027, the school would owe him everything he was set to be paid up to that date.
Mike Norvell looks like the next coach who could really feel the squeeze. Florida State opened with a win, but it was a shaky 34-17 effort against New Mexico State, and then came a 27-24 loss to SMU.
The Seminoles had a bye in Week 2, but Alabama is next, and the program already made a move by firing its athletic director, which only adds to the sense that the head coach could be under even more scrutiny. His buyout is set at $45.6 million after this season.
Dan Lanning is the one who may surprise some people, but the concern is real. Oregon entered the year ranked No. 2, and Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt went as far as calling the Ducks the clear best team in college football.
"There is a clear number one," Klatt previously said. "And I honestly don't understand why this is not more unanimous.
If you actually evaluate rosters out there and what's coming back. Everyone else out there has a question.
Everybody.... Guess who doesn't have questions?
Not one. Oregon.
Oregon is No. 1 in the country, and quite frankly, it's not close."
The Ducks opened with a narrow 34-27 win over Boise State, then lost 39-31 to Oklahoma State, a team that had been on a 12-game losing streak and had just lost to Tulsa. That kind of result is exactly why Lanning’s name is in this conversation. The buyout may help protect him, since Oregon would owe 100% of the remaining money on his contract if it fired him without cause.
Week 2 is still very early, and that matters. Most of these situations can change fast. But right now, Swinney, Schiano, and Norvell all need results in a hurry, Belichick has to keep the off-field noise from swallowing the good work on the field, and Lanning has to prove Oregon’s loss to Oklahoma State was a one-off instead of another sign that the Ducks are coming up short when the expectations are highest.
In Other News...
Clemson Got The Win But A Bigger Offensive Concern Just Emerged
Clemson got back in the win column in its home opener with a 22-7 victory over Georgia Southern, a result that offered some relief after the loss to LSU but also came with a familiar-looking offensive grind. The defense did its part, limiting Georgia Southern to 266 yards and recording three sacks, while Nolan Hauser was perfect on five field goal tries to help keep the Tigers in control even when the offense never fully found a rhythm.
The bigger concern emerged at quarterback, where Christopher Vizzina got the start but was knocked out by injury and replaced by Tait Reynolds, who handled the entire second half. For a Clemson offense still searching for consistency, any disruption under center adds another layer of uncertainty, and the Tigers will now have to see how serious the issue is before turning the page to the next stretch of the season. [Read more 🡒]
Dabo Swinney Has One Clemson Problem He Must Solve Fast
Clemsons second game offered a little of what Dabo Swinney needed to see and a little of what he didnt. The defense looked sharper, the special teams held up, and Tom Allens group again showed the kind of competitiveness and cohesion that can keep the Tigers afloat while the offense searches for answers. Even with those positives, the biggest concern remains the same: Clemson is still trying to find an identity on that side of the ball.
Tait Reynolds stepped in after the injured starter went down and looked like the most likely quarterback of the future, flashing enough potential to make the job feel like his to lose. But the growing pains were obvious, and the larger issue goes beyond one player. The offensive line has drawn criticism, the scheme coordination has been uneven, and Clemson cannot afford to let those problems linger if it wants the rest of this season to mean anything. [Read more 🡒]
Clemson Won But One Big Question Still Follows This Offense
A lightning delay pushed the start back nearly two hours, but Clemson eventually settled in and handled Georgia Southern 22-7 behind a defense that controlled the game from the opening series. Nolan Hauser matched his career high with five field goals, T.J. Moore found the end zone on a touchdown reception and Will Heldt added two sacks as the Tigers found enough complementary plays to leave little doubt about the outcome.
Even so, the win did not fully quiet the larger concern hovering over this offense. Clemson moved the ball well enough at times to stay in control, but the way the points came mostly through Hauser kept the focus on how much more explosive this unit still needs to become as the schedule stiffens. For a team that expects to lean on balance and finish drives, the next stretch will say plenty about whether this was simply an early-season hiccup or a sign that the same old questions are still hanging around. [Read more 🡒]