The pressure is on for a handful of Power Four coaches heading into 2026, and for some of them, the margin for error is basically gone.
After a 2025 season that saw nearly 20 Power Four programs move on from their previous head coaches at different points during the year, the coaching carousel figures to slow down in the 2027 offseason. But that doesn’t mean the hot-seat conversation is over. A few coaches cannot afford another step backward in 2026 if they want to keep their jobs secure.
Bill O'Brien is one of them at Boston College. A seven-win debut quickly gave way to a two-win follow-up, and that kind of drop-off has put him in a vulnerable spot.
The frustration around him has only grown because of testy press conference interactions, and Eagles fans are openly wondering whether he is the right fit. Boston College also faces a roster with major turnover beyond the defensive backfield, and the likely quarterback is Mason McKenzie, a Division II transfer from Saginaw Valley State.
The schedule does him no favors, either, with three Power Four non-conference games and a slate that includes several upper-echelon ACC opponents.
Luke Fickell is in a similar bind at Wisconsin, where steady decline across his first three seasons has pushed him onto the hot seat. The Badgers spent 2024 and 2025 trying an air raid offense, a move that never really matched Wisconsin’s identity or Fickell’s background, and the results never followed.
Wisconsin is now hoping Old Dominion transfer Colton Joseph can stabilize the quarterback position after a long run of turnover there. The stakes are obvious: the Badgers are trying to avoid a third straight losing season for the first time since the early 1990s.
At USC, Lincoln Riley’s seat is hot for a different reason - expectations. The Trojans bring back 15 starters from a 2025 team that won nine games, and Riley has said this is the best shape his roster has been in to make a College Football Playoff run during his time in Los Angeles.
But the path is brutal. USC has to face all three of the Big Ten’s 2025 College Football Playoff teams, plus Washington and Penn State, two programs trying to break into the playoff picture.
If the Trojans again finish one or two losses short of a playoff berth, the questions around Riley’s long-term future at USC will only get louder.
North Carolina made a bold move in the 2025 offseason by replacing Mack Brown with Bill Belichick, but the switch from one older coach to another hasn’t produced the kind of stability the Tar Heels wanted. Brown never missed a bowl game in his later run, while Belichick’s first season was enjoyable for about one possession before things unraveled against TCU and then continued to slide through ACC play. The Tar Heels are turning to new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino, who has a reputation as a strong play caller, though he also has the unfortunate distinction of being unable to save the last two coaches he worked under from getting fired.
Mike Norvell enters 2026 with the least goodwill of the group at Florida State. The shine from his perfect regular season is long gone after the Seminoles followed it with a 2-10 collapse in 2024, and fans never really got over it.
Florida State opened 2025 with a win over Alabama, but the follow-up against Power Four competition was a disappointing 2-7. Even reaching bowl eligibility in 2026 would not be enough to satisfy Seminoles fans.
In Other News...
USCs Top Freshman Is Already Getting The Welcome Fans Wanted
Luke Wafle is already getting a taste of what comes with being USCs highest-profile freshman, and it is happening well before he takes a snap in cardinal and gold. The five-star defensive end, the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2026 class, took part in the Sack Summit event hosted by NFL players, where he crossed paths with former Trojan linebacker Willie McGinest and got another reminder of the standard that comes with wearing the USC name.
McGinest also had reason to talk up the programs momentum, from the new Bloom Football Performance Center to the recruiting haul that gave USC its largest class in program history. Wafle and McGinest even touched on the Trojans 2026 slate, which already looks like a demanding one, and that is part of what makes this early welcome so notable: USC is trying to build something big, and its top freshman is stepping into it with plenty of attention already following him. [Read more 🡒]
Lincoln Riley's New Ranking Will Sting USC Fans
USA TODAY Sports latest look at the college football coaching landscape landed with a familiar jolt for USC fans: Lincoln Riley, once viewed as one of the sports elite offensive minds, was not treated like an elite coach in the 2026 rankings. The list put Indianas Curt Cignetti at No. 1 after his rapid rise, while Ohio States Ryan Day checked in at No. 3 and Oregons Dan Lanning landed at No. 5, a reminder of how quickly the sports hierarchy can shift.
For USC, Rileys placement is the part that stings. He arrived in Los Angeles with the kind of reputation that usually keeps a coach near the top of these exercises, but this ranking suggests the national perception has changed after his uneven run with the Trojans. The bigger question now is whether USC can change that conversation on the field, because in a sport this competitive, reputation only travels so far before the next season starts rewriting it. [Read more 🡒]
USC Just Lost Another Key Piece Of Its Baseball Turnaround
USCs baseball rebuild has already been moving at full speed, with a roster churn that includes 16 players entering the transfer portal and 10 new transfers committed. The program is also looking ahead to the long-awaited upgrade at Dedeaux Field, with full access to the new facilities not arriving until the 2027 season, so the Trojans are trying to keep momentum in the present while waiting on the future.
Now there is another layer of uncertainty around the turnaround. Hitting coach and recruiting coordinator Travis Jewett is departing after helping shape the offense and the talent pipeline, and head coach Andy Stankiewicz is still under contract through 2030 as he tries to steady a program that has been changing almost as quickly as it has been improving. With the staff continuing to shift and the roster still being remade, USCs next step feels just as important as the progress it has already made. [Read more 🡒]