Names like Dabo Swinney and Bill Belichick who have moved on and off this list as the season has gone along. Others, like Mike Locksley and Mike Norvell, have been mainstays. This week, we have Mike and Mike still at the top but also an old friend from previous weeks makes a big jump into the No. 3spot.
This was an insane week of college football games and with it came some changes in which coaches may now be safe and who could be forced out.
5. Tosh Lupoi, Cal
The reason Lupoi has not been on this list before now is that 2026 is his first season at his alma mater, and you do not fire a coach from his own school this soon. But it is becoming so bad that a move might need to be made.
When I spoke with Lupoi at ACC Kickoff, he said that he loved his team and that he remained fervent in his desire to continue the Cal pipeline from Hawaii to Berkley. But things are going so badly he has already been forced to replace offensive coordinator Jordan Somerville with Pat McCann — a move he made at halftime of the Bears loss to UNLV.. While this change led to Cal scoring 24 points in the second half after scoring only seven during the first 30 minutes, Cal still lost on Saturday to Wake Forest by a score of 41-7.
Things are not going well. But Cal was able to give Justin Wilcox a long leash, and they may want to do the same here with Lupoi.
4. Greg Schiano, Rutgers
Schiano finally got his 100th win at Rutgers — a great accomplishment but still not a reason to continue to employ him after this season.
This was the first Rutgers victory this season over an FBS school and it was Maryland, who may be the worst team in the power conferences. (The worst in some non-power conferences also).
Rutgers is going nowhere and they are getting their quickly. Unlike Baylor and Maryland, the school owes it to Schiano to let him finish the season. But they do need to make the move and rip the band-aid off.
3. Dave Aranda, Baylor
Aranda was on this list a few weeks ago before getting a few wins under his belt. After an ugly loss to TCU, where he lost the team, he's back on.
With Baylor being a private institution, the buy out for Aranda is unknown. But what is known is that the Bears have the money to get rid of Aranda anytime they want to. And they should want to as Aranda is finishing his seventh season in Waco with nothing to show for it other than a litany of mediocre seasons and defenses which he would be ashamed of if he were still a defensive coordinator rather than the head coach.
Baylor, like Maryland, needs to make this move sooner rather than later. Otherwise, they will be picking from what is left over rather than starting the dominos tumbling.
2. Mike Norvell, Florida State
Norvell and the Seminoles performed far better than expected on Saturday, taking the Hurricanes to overtime before losing.
Although they ended up losing by eight points, they still played hard and Miami had what might be their letdown game. Florida State still needs to make the move to fire Norvell. This is the week to do it — their final bye week. But, with everything in flux around the program and the university, Norvell will likely get a reprieve until the end of the season.
1. Mike Locksley, Maryland
As mentioned in the upset watch column last week, the game between Rutgers and Maryland was like a loser goes home match.. Schiano ended up winning and the Terrapins looked more lost than ever in the defeat.
Locksley has completely lost this team in the same manner that Aranda has lost Baylor. It is time for Maryland to make the move and get a head start on finding the next coach who wants to fill a Big Ten coaching job. Charlie Huff, anybody?
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