6 college football coaches under the most pressure entering the 2026 season

As college football's 2026 season approaches, six head coaches find themselves under intense pressure to deliver immediate results. Florida State coach Mike Norvell, with a .500 record in six seasons at the program, struggles to maintain momentum after a 31-17 Week 1 upset of Alabama and a shaky finish to the 2025 campaign. Bill Belichick, who brought six Super Bowl titles with the New England Patriots to the University of North Carolina, faces a tough year with 60 new players and a team that lost five double-digit games and missed a bowl game for the first time since 2018.

South Carolina's Shane Beamer enters his fifth year at the University of South Carolina with an 4-8 record and a team that failed to reach the AP Top 25 after a preseason ranking of No. 13. Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell, struggling with a 4-8 record in his second full season, faces a challenging start after a 4-8 season that included back-to-back shutout losses against Iowa and Ohio State.

Maryland's Mike Locksley, with a 4-8 record and 1-8 mark in Big Ten play over his past two seasons, hopes to improve with a talented roster after nearly identical performances in 2024 and 2025.