College football coaches can survive a lot if the wins keep coming. A strong overall record, regular trips to the postseason, a program that looks stable on the surface - that usually buys plenty of patience. But there’s one thing that can turn all that goodwill into a short leash fast: losing to the rival everyone cares about most.
That’s the backdrop for Oklahoma coach Brent Venables, who enters this season needing to handle Texas and improve on his 1-3 record against the Longhorns. If he doesn’t, the pressure only gets louder.
And he’d be in familiar company. Plenty of successful coaches have built impressive résumés, only to see their jobs unravel because they couldn’t win the games that mattered most to their fan bases.
James Franklin at Penn State is one of the clearest examples. His overall mark there was 104-45, and he helped steady the program after the post-Paterno chaos.
But his 1-10 record against Michigan and Ohio State told a harsher story. Franklin won a lot of games, just not enough against the Big Ten’s top powers.
Rival losses weren’t the only issue, but they were a major part of why he was pushed out. Now at Virginia Tech, he won’t have that same two-headed rival problem, with just Virginia and West Virginia on the calendar.
John Cooper’s Ohio State run followed a similar script. He went 111-43-4 overall, which is the kind of record most coaches would love to hang on the wall forever.
But against Michigan, he was 2-10-1, and that kind of imbalance is impossible to ignore in Columbus. His bowl record didn’t help either - 3-8, including a 24-7 loss to unranked South Carolina in the 2001 Outback Bowl, which ended up being the final straw.
At Georgia, Jim Donnan gave the Bulldogs a needed reset after the Ray Goff era and left the program in solid shape for Mark Richt. Still, his 5-7 record against Auburn, Florida and Georgia Tech hung over the job. Three straight losses to Georgia Tech were too much for Bulldog Nation to stomach, even with Donnan’s overall success and his eventual Hall of Fame status.
Brian Kelly’s LSU tenure also fits the pattern. His overall record there was 34-14, but he went just 2-6 against Alabama and Texas A&M.
The source material makes clear there were plenty of reasons his dismissal came when it did, but failing to stack up against those two programs clearly left a mark with LSU boosters. Kelly also rubbed a lot of people the wrong way from the start, and the rough beginnings to his seasons didn’t help.
Still, beating the teams LSU fans hate most might have softened a lot of that.
Then there’s Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State, whose 170-90 overall record raises a different question: how did he last so long? His tenure came with plenty of tense moments and facepalms, but the defining number is the 4-15 mark against Oklahoma. For all the swagger, he couldn’t deliver in the game that mattered most to Cowboys fans, and that’s the piece that lingers.
In Other News...
LSU May Have Finally Found The Receiver This Offense Has Missed
LSUs receiver room looks a lot different under Lane Kiffin, and Jackson Harris is one of the additions that makes the overhaul feel more than cosmetic. The Hawaii transfer brings the kind of size and downfield ability this offense has been searching for, and after a strong 2025 season, he arrives in Baton Rouge with a reputation as a player who can tilt the field the moment the ball is snapped.
What makes Harris especially intriguing is how naturally he seems built for LSUs pace. In a fast-moving, no-huddle system, a receiver who can slip through coverage and threaten defenses vertically becomes more than just another target, and Harris is expected to fill that role in 2026. If he settles in the way LSU hopes, the Tigers may have finally found the kind of deep threat that changes how opponents have to defend the entire offense. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs No. 49 Theo Grace Is A Name Tigers Fans Should Track
The No. 49 jersey has started to draw a little extra attention around LSU, and for good reason. Theo Grace is a redshirt freshman linebacker who arrived from North Dakota State with four years of eligibility left, giving the Tigers another young piece to develop at a position where depth and growth matter as the season moves along. He is still early in his college career, but LSU has made a habit of finding value in transfers who can grow into bigger roles over time.
Grace also comes from a football family, with his older brother Zach Grace joining LSU as a tight end transfer from Oregon, which adds another layer to the Tigers' roster watch. The number itself carries some LSU history too, from Derrick Dillon's 49-yard touchdown in the Fiesta Bowl to the kind of memorable moments fans still associate with the jersey, so it is easy to see why this one has started to stand out. [Read more 🡒]
Lane Kiffin Faces His First Real LSU Pressure Test In Atlanta
Lane Kiffin is about to take his first SEC Media Days turn as LSUs head coach, and the setting in Atlanta should tell plenty about how he plans to frame this new era. He will be joined by several players, giving the Tigers a chance to project the kind of confidence that comes with a roster loaded by the No. 1 transfer class and a fan base already talking about the national title ceiling.
The questions, though, are likely to move quickly from optics to substance. Reporters will want to know how Kiffin talks about the offense he is building, how much of the plan is centered on Sam Leavitt, and whether he keeps leaning into the championship language he has used since arriving in Baton Rouge. Even with defensive coordinator Blake Baker back and providing some continuity, this is the first real public test of how Kiffin balances big expectations with the slower work of developing a team. [Read more 🡒]