Why the 2026 coaching carousel could get a lot bigger: Jobs to watch at USC, Michigan and Colorado

What was initially expected to be a slow college football coaching cycle began to pick up steam over the weekend, with NC State and Baylor firing their longtime head coaches two days in a row.

That’s three FBS openings before Halloween weekend, and there are several other jobs worth keeping an eye on as the season enters its final stretch.

This is the latest we’re hearing at CBS Sports about vacancies, coaching status in the hot seat and even a position that could cause an earthquake in the 2026 carousel.

U.S.C.

There’s no situation that sparks more intrigue or questions in the industry than what’s going to happen between Lincoln Riley and USC. The pressure mounted on Riley after the Trojans’ loss to Oregon a month ago, and things came to a head with a disastrous 24-7 loss to Wisconsin last week.

Is Riley, a Texas native, looking for an off-ramp and pursuing the newly vacated Baylor position to restart his clock? Is there another job in Texas that might open up that might present a similar opportunity?

In this scenario, it would help USC get out of what is considered an expensive $70 million buyout if it were to fire Riley outright. Regardless, industry sources say it’s increasingly likely the Trojans will have a different head coach in 2027. It’s worth noting that USC athletic director Jen Cohen did not hire Riley.

In what was initially expected to be a quieter coaching carousel, USC’s opening has the potential to create a significant domino effect throughout the college football ecosystem.

For what it’s worth, Riley said he’s determined to stay at USC. “I love it here,” he said Tuesday. “I’ve told you this many times. There aren’t many people in the history of college football who gave up what I gave up to come here.”

Lincoln Riley ends USC exit speculation as pressure mounts: ‘I believe in this place’

Austin Nivison

State of Florida

At the start of the season, CBS Sports ranked four coaches as being in the hottest seat. Until the end of October, two of them were fired. One of them is playing in the hot seat (Luke Fickell of Wisconsin). Then there’s Mike Norvell from Florida State.

The fate of the FSU coach was never completely predetermined; some industry sources still believe Norvell has a chance to keep his job through 2027. The key factors here: Some prominent FSU officials support Norvell’s success and think it’s more of an institutional problem than a coaching problem; the school doesn’t have a permanent athletic director, and there’s a big $50 million buyout to manage.

Still, Norvell will need to win games down the stretch, starting this weekend against Clemson. If Norvell goes 4-1 and finishes with seven wins, there appears to be a real possibility he could be back in 2027 as head coach of the Seminoles.

Florida State President Richard McCullough released a statement Tuesday on the status of the school’s athletic director search, which he said is expected to begin “soon.”

Rutgers

Despite much outside speculation about Greg Schiano’s future, several industry sources believe the position is less likely to be open than the public believes, at least for now. Schiano’s buyout of more than $17 million is more burdensome for the Rutgers athletic department than many of its Power Four peers, as it faced a $78 million deficit in the 2024-25 fiscal year. Rutgers is 2-5 this season and has a tough remaining schedule that includes Michigan, Wisconsin and Nebraska.

TCU

Despite signing a contract extension in April, pressure continues to mount on Sonny Dykes after a 1-4 start against Power Four opponents. The Horned Frogs have lost four winnable games by a total of 20 points. It’s an early-season stretch that took TCU out of the Big 12 title race for a fourth straight season, and it’s considered the norm for a funded program among the league’s best. The thinking around the football building is that Dykes should be safe — as he is coming off nine straight winning seasons — but there are promoters and decision-makers frustrated by the lack of league success since TCU’s 2022 national title game.

One thing to watch with TCU is the recent change in the school’s chancellor. Daniel Pullin recently resigned after just 17 months, and the university’s former chancellor, Victor Boschini Jr., returned to his position. Boschini helped hire Dykes. But as some have pointed out: this is the same chancellor who was on the decision-making group to leave Gary Patterson, believing the program needed a spark.

South Carolina

Shane Beamer appears to be on solid footing after recent wins against two top 20 teams: Florida and Tennessee. The Gamecocks are 4-3 with a manageable enough schedule that Beamer could finish with seven to nine wins. South Carolina has never shown much interest in paying a $22 million-plus buyout, and the recent winning streak makes it easier to avoid doing so.

Colorado

Things can get weird in Boulder. Industry sources believe first-year athletic director Fernando Lovo might be interested in a move — New Mexico’s Jason Eck, who was with Lovo at New Mexico, would be a potential target — but the feeling around the industry is that the school is unable to pay a $25 million-plus buyout to fire Deion Sanders. Is there a negotiated settlement that would allow Colorado and Deion to move on? It’s unclear whether Sanders would be open to this. After all the attention garnered by the Deion Sanders era at Colorado, it hasn’t led to much success recently. Sanders is 3-12 in his last 15 games and has two wins against Power Four opponents in the last two seasons.

Michigan

One situation that has not yet received media attention, but is the subject of rumors behind the scenes in industry circles, is that of Ann Arbor. Athletic director Warde Manuel is set to leave and first-year coach Kyle Whittingham was a replacement. Could this ultimately only be a one-year bridge? It’s too early to go that far, but several industry sources believe it’s at least possible that Michigan could be back in the head coaching market for a second straight cycle. Whittingham, 66, is 4-3 this season and has lost three of his last four games. With games against Oregon, UCLA and Ohio State still to come, it’s possible the Wolverines go 6-6 this season.

Is that enough to push Michigan back into the coaching market? Sources believe Michigan wants to figure out its athletic director search first — it hired Turnkey ZRG to help — but also aren’t ruling out a change at the football coaching position.

“I think they know it’s not a long-term solution,” an industry source said. “It’s just, do you tear it up after a year?”

Boston College

The Eagles are off to a 4-3 start this season, and talk of Bill O’Brien has died down. Boston College has a tough final stretch with games against Duke, Florida State, Notre Dame, Miami and Syracuse. BC administration acknowledges the Eagles were under-resourced in 2025, when O’Brien went 2-10 in year two. That season, BC operated on one of the smallest Power Four teams in the country.

Syracuse

Fran Brown started year one well with a 10-3 start, but he’s only been 6-13 since then, and things have heated up in New York. The Orange picked up an overtime win over North Carolina last weekend, which calms things down for the moment. But the pressure is on Brown, especially since the Orange have a new athletic director, Bryan Blair, in place.

Group of Six

UTEP: Scotty Walden is 6-25 at UTEP, including just 1-6 as a third year. The on-field transition to the Mountain West has been difficult for the Miners. Walden has brought in coordinators – six in three seasons – and its seat is among the hottest in college football.

Sam Houston: The Bearkats are still looking for their first win against FBS competition after going 2-10 in the first year under Phil Longo. Sam Houston is currently lacking an athletic director, which complicates the situation. But industry sources agree that Sam Houston is a job to watch.

Charlotte: Tim Albin has enjoyed considerable success in Ohio. But it’s been tough for the 49ers, who have won just two of 17 games under Albin’s tenure so far. Charlotte lacks elite resources. But expectations are higher for the 49ers than for a 2-17 team. Employees are optimistic they will get another year, but this position keeps coming up among industry sources.

Tulane: Although Will Hall is in his first year with the program, some industry sources believe this could be a unique situation. Tulane initially offered the job to LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker, who opted to stay in Baton Rouge. The Green Wave then pivoted to then-Toledo coach Jason Candle, but he chose to take the UConn job rather than Tulane. That led the school to name Hall, the program’s passing game coordinator, as head coach. The Green Wave sits at 3-4 in 2026, a year removed from a playoff appearance.

Other Group of Six jobs we’re watching include Akron, New Mexico State and Louisiana-Monroe.