September exposed a handful of college football’s highest-paid coaches, and not in the flattering way. By the time October arrives, six staffs are carrying more questions than momentum, with big-money expectations colliding with flat offenses, leaky defenses and results that have already started to turn the heat up.
Some of these programs came into the season with playoff hopes. Others knew the pressure was baked in from the start.
Either way, the margin for patience is shrinking fast. The next few weeks will tell the story: whether these were just ugly September stumbles or the start of something much worse.
Mike Elko is finding out that the standard changes quickly when you win big early. After Texas A&M reached the CFP in Year 2 last fall, Elko signed up for a tougher reality in 2026 with a salary of $10.75 million.
Regression was always part of the equation, but losing at home to Kentucky and then getting blown out 35-6 by LSU is a different kind of problem. That LSU loss laid bare the offensive issues that have hung around since last season, and it also put a spotlight on Elko’s offseason choices: sticking with Marcel Reed at quarterback and promoting Holmon Wiggins to offensive assistant instead of going outside the program.
The numbers from A&M’s recent stretch against Power Four opponents tell the story pretty clearly. The Aggies have had enough yards in some games to look competitive, but the results have been mostly losses, and Reed’s production has swung wildly from week to week:
at Texas (2025): 337 total yards, L, 27-17
vs.
Miami (2025): 326 total yards, L, 10-3
vs.
Arizona State (2026): 255 total yards, W, 48-20
vs.
Kentucky (2026): 423 total yards, L, 31-21
vs.
LSU (2026): 197 total yards, L, 35-6
Brent Venables is in a similarly uncomfortable spot at Oklahoma, where the Sooners are 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the SEC. He’s making $10.5 million in 2026 after signing a new six-year deal coming off last year’s CFP appearance, and right now that contract is not looking like a bargain.
The offense was already a problem last season, and it has somehow gotten worse with a quarterback who has regressed more than any other player at the Power Four level. The loss at Michigan in Week 2 was a warning sign.
The showing against Georgia was worse, especially after John Mateer’s mistake-filled day.
Venables now has major staff and roster decisions ahead of him with six games left against ranked opponents. Texas is next in Red River in Dallas, along with the SEC’s top-ranked scoring defense, and a lopsided result there could force his hand.
Lincoln Riley’s situation at USC is no cleaner. His latest setback came in a 41-27 loss to Oregon, his 15th loss in 20 games against ranked teams since arriving in Los Angeles. USC has been one of the sport’s highest-paid jobs under a coach who still hasn’t delivered enough, even after offseason staff changes were supposed to spark the defense.
The Trojans’ 4-0 start looks a lot less impressive now. Louisiana scored 30 on them, Rutgers scored 35, and Oregon used a backup quarterback to bury USC with a 28-point second half. Riley still has a long list of defining games ahead - Penn State, Ohio State, Indiana and UCLA - but the clock is clearly ticking.
Mike Locksley is another coach who has done little to quiet the noise. Maryland is paying him $6.4 million in 2026, but the Terrapins are coming off a 51-point loss to UCLA and look worse, not better, after the school doubled down on him last November.
The NIL support was supposed to help keep quarterback Malik Washington and other key players in place, with the expectation that Locksley would turn that backing into progress. So far, that hasn’t happened.
Shane Beamer’s seat has also gotten hotter at South Carolina. He was already entering Saturday’s home game against 24th-ranked Kentucky having gone a calendar year without an SEC win, and the pressure around the program is no longer subtle.
The Week 3 loss to Mississippi State looked like a test he had to pass, but the Gamecocks blew a 16-point lead in that one and then followed it with another rough night in Tuscaloosa. After the latest collapse, Beamer indefinitely suspended his best defensive player, and South Carolina is now on an eight-game losing streak against Power Four opponents.
The Gamecocks’ recent slide has been brutal:
at LSU (Oct. 11, 2025): 20-10, LOSS
vs. Oklahoma (Oct.
18, 2025): 26-7, LOSS
vs.
Alabama (Oct. 25, 2025): 29-22, LOSS
at Ole Miss (Nov. 1, 2025): 30-14, LOSS
at Texas A&M (Nov. 15, 2025): 31-30, LOSS
vs. Clemson (Nov.
29, 2025): 28-14, LOSS
vs.
Miss. St.
(Sept. 19, 2026): 41-34, LOSS
at Alabama (Sept. 26): 49-18, LOSS
Deion Sanders rounds out the list at Colorado, where the pressure is different but just as real. After a 3-9 collapse, Sanders talked boldly about a transfer-heavy roster, but four weeks into 2026 the Buffs are 2-2 and 0-1 in the Big 12, and the offense has not taken off with Julian Lewis at quarterback. Colorado also embarrassed itself at Northwestern after players mocked the Wildcats’ temporary “quiet as a library” stadium.
The opener in Atlanta briefly suggested something better might be coming, but that win is looking less meaningful by the week. Georgia Tech has been sliding without Haynes King at quarterback and without Buster Faulkner calling plays, and Saturday’s loss to Stanford dropped the Yellow Jackets to 1-3.
In Other News...
USC Quarterback's Response To Dante Moore Injury Has Oregon Fans Talking
The late sequence between USC and Oregon turned into more than just a targeting call when Dante Moore stayed down after a hit by linebacker Desman Stephens, who was ejected from the game. In the aftermath, USC quarterback Jayden Maiavas decision to remain nearby while Moore was being tended to drew attention, adding a human moment to an otherwise heated Pac-12-style collision. Moore was later diagnosed with a concussion, though scans came back clean, and Stephens was suspended for the next game.
Maiava still had to finish the job on the field, and he did so with a strong day through the air, throwing for 326 yards and two touchdowns. Afterward, he also made clear he was sympathetic to what Moore went through, a response that has resonated beyond the box score and given Oregon fans plenty to discuss after a rivalry-type matchup that ended with both injury concern and disciplinary fallout. [Read more 🡒]
USC Is Suddenly Leaning On A Freshman More Than Expected
An injury to Trent Mosley has pushed Kayden Dixon-Wyatt into a much bigger role than USC likely envisioned for a true freshman this early in the season, but the wideout has handled it with the kind of production that changes expectations fast. Against Oregon, he turned in his second 100-yard game, catching seven passes for 114 yards and a touchdown while earning an 81.0 Pro Football Focus grade for Week 4.
Through four games, Dixon-Wyatt now leads the Trojans with 25 receptions, 272 yards and three touchdowns, a striking start for a player still getting his footing at the college level. The bigger question for USC is no longer whether he can contribute, but how much of the passing game will continue to flow through him as the schedule moves forward and the Trojans adjust to life without Mosley in the mix. [Read more 🡒]
USCs Big-Budget Vision Is Facing A Credibility Test Already
USCs push to modernize the program has been one of the defining stories of the Lincoln Riley era, and it has been easy to see why the school poured so much into the effort. Early in 2023, the Trojans overhauled their personnel operation with Chad Bowden leading the new staff, added assistant coaches, and opened the Bloom Football Performance Center, all of it aimed at giving the program a more comprehensive, forward-looking foundation. The early returns were encouraging enough to justify the investment, with recruiting rankings trending upward and the win total improving in 2025.
But the selling point of a big-budget rebuild has always been credibility on the field, and that is where the conversation has started to turn. The loss to Oregon, along with persistent defensive issues, has made it harder to separate the long-term plan from the week-to-week reality, and it has put Riley under a more skeptical microscope. For a program that has been trying to show it can operate like a heavyweight again, the next stretch matters less for optics than for whether the overhaul is actually producing the kind of football USC says it is building. [Read more 🡒]