College football presidents are not known for their patience when it comes to football. After last season, that patience might be in even shorter supply.
That’s because Indiana and Curt Cignetti have blown up the idea that it takes time to win in college football. In two years, Cignetti took the Hoosiers from a complete afterthought to national champions. He’s 27-2 in Bloomington over that span. For comparison’s sake, Indiana won 28 games combined from 2018 to 2023. Additionally, Cignetti has already won more games than six of the Hoosiers’ previous eight coaches.
So anyone can find themselves on the hot seat at any time. New Virginia Tech coach James Franklin is further evidence of that. This time last year, nobody expected Franklin to be unemployed. Penn State was coming off a College Football Playoff semifinal appearance and had plenty of talent returning. Then the Nittany Lions lost three straight, and suddenly, Franklin was out.
But for these coaches, the hot seat is where they start the year. It’s not a fun place to be, and in some cases, they’re only here because of circumstances. The first two names on this list probably would have been fired last year if not for financial concerns.
Here’s a look at the coaches who have to win now.
Mike Norvell, Florida State
The fall of Florida State has been swift and stunning. In 2023, the Seminoles got robbed of a playoff appearance because of injuries. Since then, it’s been ugly in Tallahassee. FSU has gone 7-17, including their first-ever loss to Duke. And that’s now defending ACC champion Duke, something that was never supposed to be possible in football when the league expanded.
Meanwhile, the Seminoles finished dead last in the ACC in 2024, 17th out of 17 teams(!). They were a bit better in 2025, but they’ve still won only three conference games in two years. It took Bobby Bowden until his 10th year in the ACC to lose a total of three conference games.
There doesn’t seem to be an end in sight for the Noles. If Norvell is fired, Florida State still has to pay him $51 million to leave. But if this program embarrasses themselves again with a third straight losing season, Florida State just might find enough money to make a change.
Luke Fickell, Wisconsin
Wisconsin made an interesting call at the end of last season. Rather than blame Fickell for the Badgers’ failures, Wisconsin pointed the finger at itself. The school decided it had not made the proper adjustments to the NIL era and upgraded its spending, giving Fickell a chance to prove himself with more resources behind him.
If he doesn’t, Wisconsin won’t be so quick to stand behind him. His buyout is now $25 million, which is much more manageable than Norvell’s. The Badgers also face a very reasonable path this year once the first game is in the books.
Facing Notre Dame in Green Bay will be a tough task. But after that, Wisconsin should have a legitimate shot every time it takes the field. Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon aren’t on the docket, and the Badgers will not be outmatched in talent or physicality in any of their final 11 games.
That gives Fickell both an opportunity and a lot of pressure. He doesn’t have the excuse of an overwhelmingly difficult schedule. He has to find seven wins on a schedule where USC will likely be his second-toughest opponent after the Irish. If he can’t do that, he won’t last in Madison.
Dave Aranda, Baylor
The Sugar Bowl win in 2021 looks light-years away now. Aranda has three losing seasons since then, and he hasn’t finished higher than fifth in the Big 12. Baylor’s not a place with crazy expectations. In fact, you can win eight or nine games most years and Bears fans will be happy.
Aranda has managed to win eight games only twice in six years. That’s not good enough. It didn’t help that the Bears lost five of six to end last season after a 4-2 start. Nor did it help that Baylor’s defense got shredded. The Big 12 is an offensive league, but defense is supposed to be Aranda’s specialty.
Not so much in 2025. The Bears allowed 32.6 points per game, and over the final six games, Baylor gave up 40 or more four times. Making matters even more uncertain, athletic director Mack Rhoades resigned, and the new administration has explicitly deferred any long-term decisions regarding Aranda.
If Aranda gets tripped up late again, especially because of his defense, that’s probably the end of the line.
Mike Locksley, Maryland
The end of divisions in the Big Ten seemingly marked the end of Maryland as a decent football team. No one expected Maryland to win big in an East Division that included Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan, and the Terrapins didn’t. But they finished fourth three times in four years, and the other year came when Michigan State was a top-10 team. College Park fans were fine with that.
Those eight-win seasons are a distant memory. Despite not playing Ohio State at all and missing Michigan and Penn State once each, Maryland is 2-16 in the Big Ten since the end of divisions. They’ve beaten USC and Wisconsin, and that’s it. After Halloween last season, Maryland didn’t come within 10 points of anybody.
Locksley feels like he’s cooked. Ohio State comes back onto the schedule this year, as do Penn State and Illinois. Maryland at least doesn’t play Indiana or Oregon, but the Terps face old friend James Franklin at Virginia Tech out of conference. It’s hard to see Locksley finding six wins this season, and that might finish him off.
Shane Beamer, South Carolina
The good news for Beamer is that he seems to follow his poor seasons with strong ones. He went 8-5 in 2022 and 9-4 in 2024, when the Gamecocks had a legitimate case to make the playoff. But South Carolina fell apart last season, going just 4-8.
South Carolina can’t afford to take a step back for too long. The SEC is just too good, and the league keeps getting better as schools like Vanderbilt stop being pushovers. The Gamecocks don’t have the luxury of scheduling their way into a bowl game, so they’ve got to find a way to win consistently in the conference.
Beamer will have a tall task this year, as South Carolina travels to Alabama, Clemson and Florida. Georgia comes to Columbia, as do Tennessee and Texas A&M. There’s not much wiggle room, so either the Gamecocks have to be much better or Beamer will need some patience from his administration.
Bill Belichick, North Carolina
This would be hard to believe given Belichick’s legendary career, but easy to believe if you watched North Carolina play. The Tar Heels went just 4-8 last year, winning only two games in the ACC.
To make matters worse, Carolina has dropped five in a row to NC State and two straight to Duke. The Blue Devils have actually split the past 14 meetings with the Tar Heels, unthinkable given that Carolina went 21-1 against Duke from 1990 to 2011.
Belichick is now 74, and he looked befuddled trying to learn the college game. His team looked equally lost, and the season ended up wasted. Off-field issues have plagued the Tar Heels again, and athletic director Bubba Cunningham called it a career.
New AD Steve Newmark has publicly backed Belichick, saying in May that North Carolina is "on the right trajectory" and that coaches need time. But patience only lasts so long when the results look like they did last season. If year two doesn’t bring significant improvement, Newmark might have a much different decision to make.
Barry Odom, Purdue
November 25, 2023 changed a lot about football in the state of Indiana. It’s the last time Indiana played a football game without Curt Cignetti in charge. It’s also the last time Purdue won a Big Ten game. The Boilermakers claimed the Old Oaken Bucket with a 35-31 win over the Hoosiers, and since then, it’s been all downhill for Purdue.
Indiana has since embarrassed the Boilers twice, beating them by a combined score of 122-3. But it hasn’t just been Indiana, as Purdue is 0-18 in the Big Ten over the past two seasons. The expectations aren’t crazy in West Lafayette, but Odom has to win some conference games and at least appear competitive.
The problem is, looking at the schedule and roster, Purdue might well go 1-11. The Boilers play Wake Forest and Notre Dame out of conference, leaving Indiana State as the only sure win. If the Boilers somehow find a way to lose to the Sycamores, Odom might be out of a job before Labor Day.
New athletic director Tommy McClelland can’t have a football program that’s won four games in three years while Indiana and Notre Dame are competing for national titles.
Deion Sanders, Colorado
Colorado swears Sanders is not on the hot seat. But he has yet to prove he can win without his son Shedeur and Travis Hunter, both of whom are now in year two in the NFL. Last year, Colorado crashed without them, going 3-9 overall and 1-8 in the Big 12. In three seasons at Colorado, Sanders has one strong season and a pair of 1-8 conference records.
So far, Sanders has shown himself to be a solid recruiter but a poor in-game coach. When he has a talent advantage, he’s won. When he doesn’t, he hasn’t made the adjustments needed to get the most out of his team. If the Buffaloes again flirt with a 10-loss campaign, either Colorado or Sanders himself might decide this isn’t working anymore.
