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

Patience for poor performance is a rarity in college football and that's only become more clear in recent years. Eight power four coaches were jobless by November in 2025, and fifteen Bowl Subdivision coaches were fired throughout the season, totaling a record $270 million in buyout packages.

As the 2026 season arrives, here are six coaches entering the fall under the most pressure for instant results:

Florida State peaked too early last season with a 31-17 Week 1 upset of Alabama and two blowouts against East Texas A&M and Kent State, cruising to a 3-0 start. And then things got shaky for the Seminoles, winning just two of their final nine games. Coach Mike Norvell is just above .500 in his six years at FSU (38-34). Thirteen of those wins came during the Noles’ playoff run in 2023. Since then, FSU has landed in the win column just seven times and finished bottom five in the ACC in back-to-back years — leaving Norvell in the win now bucket.

Bill Belichick arrived at UNC as a first-time college coach who had won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots, but the hyped hiring fell flat in Year 1. The Tar Heels had 70 new players while ending up with more double-digit losses (five) than total wins (four) and missing a bowl for the first time since 2018, and there were multiple helpings of unwanted off-field headlines, too.

Belichick enters this year with 60 new players in another roster overhaul. The Tar Heels are picked to finish 15th in the 17-team Atlantic Coast Conference and have a tougher schedule in Year 2, including home games against Notre Dame and preseason ACC favorite Miami. Another off-field issue hit before camp: General manager Michael Lombardi is on leave as the subject of a school investigation.

Belichick originally signed a five-year, $50 million contract paying him $10 million in base and supplemental pay each year, though only the first three years were guaranteed. That means the school would owe the 74-year-old Belichick roughly one year's pay if it decided to move on after the season.

Shane Beamer ’s first year at South Carolina didn’t quite go to plan, with the Gamecocks finishing 4-8 and 15th (1-7) in the SEC. South Carolina’s stint in the AP Top 25 was short-lived, entering the season at No. 13 in the preseason poll and falling out of the rankings entirely after a Week 3 loss to Vanderbilt. The Gamecocks lost six of their final eight games.

Beamer returns with something to prove and he has quarterback LaNorris Sellers, standout edge rusher Dylan Stewart and receiver Nyck Harbor to help.

It’s no secret Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell is back on the hot seat — he acknowledged it himself at Big Ten media days. A 4-8 record in 2025 was Wisconsin’s second straight losing season for the first time since the early 1990s. The Badgers reached lows they hadn’t seen since the 70’s this past season with shutout losses against Iowa and Ohio State in back-to-back weeks. Fickell hasn’t been able to replicate the level of success he had in Cincinnati yet, with a 17-21 record. Wisconsin opens against Notre Dame at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

After leading Boston College to a 7-6 record and Pinstripe Bowl appearance his first season, the Eagles regressed in 2025, finishing with a 2-10 record and ahead of only Syracuse in the ACC. Boston College’s two wins came in the first and last weeks of the season against Fordham and Syracuse, sandwiching 10 straight losses. The sharp decline after an encouraging first season has left little margin for error heading into Year 3.

Maryland’s Mike Locksley remains squarely on the hot seat after nearly identical seasons in 2024 and 2025, finishing 4-8 overall and 1-8 in Big Ten play. In eight seasons, Locksley is 37-49 for the Terps and the best years in the stretch were back to back 8-5 seasons in 2022 and again in 2023, where Maryland won its third bowl game in as many years.

Locksley said the tough days are behind the program at Big Ten media days, looking forward to ramping up this season with what he described as one of the most talented rosters during his time at Maryland.

AP Sports Writer Aaron Beard in North Carolina contributed to this report.

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FILE - Boston College head coach Bill O'Brien reacts during the second half of an NCAA football game against California on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Chestnut Hill, Mass. (AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper)

FILE - Florida State head coach Mike Norvell, center, reacts during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Alabama, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)

FILE - Maryland head coach Mike Locksley reacts during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Rutgers, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in Piscataway, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File)

FILE - Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell watches during the second half of an NCAA college football game against the Illinois Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Andy Manis,File)

FILE - North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick on the sidelines during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Duke, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward, File)

FILE - South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer watches a replay during the first half of an NCAA college football game against the Coastal Carolina, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Scott Kinser, File)

GUWAHATI, India (AP) — The flood crisis in India’s northeastern Assam state remained critical on Monday, with the death toll reaching 100 after two more people died overnight, officials said.

Several rivers remain above danger levels, raising the risk of fresh flooding in vulnerable areas, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority said. Days of heavy monsoon rain has caused rivers, including the Brahmaputra, to overflow that inundated communities while disrupting livelihoods and damaging infrastructure.

The river, one of Asia’s largest that originates in China’s Tibet region and flows about 900 kilometers (560 miles) through Assam, flooded villages, swept away homes and forced nearly 300,000 people into government-run relief camps, officials said.

The floods that began last month displaced more than 700,000 people and submerged vast stretches of farmland and damaged roads and other local infrastructure. Although many residents have begun returning to their homes as floodwaters recede, at least 49,000 flood-affected residents remain housed in 125 relief camps and relief distribution centers, officials said.

Authorities remained engaged in relief and monitoring efforts as they assessed the extent of the damage and the needs of affected populations.

The floods also devastated livestock, with large numbers of cattle lost, dealing a blow to rural communities and raising concerns about disease outbreaks. As the waters receded in some areas, many families returned to homes buried under thick layers of silt, adding to the challenges of recovery.

Farukuddin Ahmed, a 47-year-old trader from Nazira town in Assam’s worst-hit Sivasagar district, said displaced families were slowly returning home, many to rebuild on ground still buried under two to three feet (up to a meter) of silt.

A nearby village, Nepali Khuti, had about 100 households before the floods. “Only a few houses are left and the rest washed away by the surging flood waters,” Ahmed said.

“The residents, mainly dairy farmers, have to rebuild their lives from scratch having lost all their cattle.”

Aid in the form of roofing sheets and other building materials was beginning to arrive, he added.

“We have directed officials to complete damage assessment as soon as possible so the government could provide financial assistance for their rehabilitation,” Assam Agriculture and Irrigation Minister Pijush Hazarika said after a review meeting. He said some 50,000 affected people were already paid interim monetary compensation.

The annual monsoon season frequently triggers flooding in Assam, where swollen rivers inundate large areas and displace thousands of residents each year.

Experts say human-caused climate change is intensifying South Asia’s monsoons, which traditionally run from June to September and again from October to December. The rains, once predictable, now arrive in erratic bursts that dump extreme amounts of water in short periods, followed by dry spells.

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This version corrects that 50,000 people were paid interim compensation, not 500,000.

A villager prepares to cross floodwaters in a small boat in Alengmora village in Jorhat, India, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Parikhit Saikia)

A school girl and her father wade through floodwaters in Alengmora village in Jorhat, India, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Parikhit Saikia)

A villager rows a small boat to cross floodwaters in Alengmora village in Jorhat, India, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Parikhit Saikia)

A villager rows a makeshift banana raft to cross floodwaters near his submerged house in Alengmora village in Jorhat, India, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Parikhit Saikia)

A villager rows a makeshift banana raft as he brings grass for his cattle in floodwaters in Alengmora village in Jorhat, India, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Parikhit Saikia)

A cyclist waits to cross a street in the rain in Chennai, India, Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)