Blog Article
Coaches Hot Seat Rankings – Week 7
We’re halfway through the 2026 season, and Oct. 17 is going to settle something.
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What a great week. Five of the Top 10 coaches didn’t play, which is the safest thing some of them have done all season.
The other five should have tried it.
Shane Beamer and Lincoln Riley won on the road, and both dropped. Mike Locksley, Jedd Fisch, and Mike Norvell lost, and none of them moved down.
Those three gave up 130 points among them. Last week’s top three also gave up 130.
I checked it twice. I’m no math major, but I can add.
1. Mike Locksley, Maryland (2-4)
Last week: No. 1
Maryland has played three Big Ten games.
UCLA 54, Maryland 3. Nebraska 48, Maryland 23. Ohio State 45, Maryland 16.
That’s 147-42, and the closest the Terrapins have come is 25 points. Nobody expected Maryland to win in Columbus, but at some point you’d like to see the other team break a sweat.
Last week the athletic director said he and Locksley are “aligned.” I’m sure they are. So is a car with three flat tires.
He stays No. 1. At this rate they ought to retire the spot.
2. Greg Schiano, Rutgers (1-4)
Last week: No. 2
Greg Schiano had the week off, and Rutgers didn’t lose. Best weekend they’ve had in a month.
The last time anyone saw the Scarlet Knights, Indiana was scoring 47 on them on homecoming. They’re 1-4 and 0-2 in the Big Ten, and a bye only gives Piscataway an extra week to look at it.
Next up is a trip to Maryland on Oct. 17, No. 2 at No. 1. Someone has to win that game. I’ve watched both teams, and I’m not sure either one knows that.
3. Jedd Fisch, Washington (3-3)
Last week: No. 6
Last week Jedd Fisch jumped 90 spots. This week he moved up three more, so at least he’s consistent.
No. 20 Iowa came to Husky Stadium Friday night and won 41-24. Washington has lost two straight and is 0-3 in the Big Ten. Fisch is 2-7 against ranked teams at Washington and 35-36 as a head coach.
Year three was supposed to be the arrival. Has anyone checked the flight status?
Only two coaches rank above him now, and they’ve won three games between them. That’s the neighborhood.
4. Mike Norvell, Florida State (3-3)
Last week: No. 4
Last week Norvell beat Virginia by 31 and stayed at No. 4. This week Louisville beat him 44-20, and he stayed at No. 4.
Win big, stay put. Get blown out, stay put. If he ties somebody, I’m calling a meeting.
The athletic director who gave him the extension was fired in September. The man who made the bet has left the table, and Norvell is still sitting there with the chips.
Nobody in Tallahassee is grading the scoreboard anymore.
5. Sonny Dykes, TCU (2-3)
Last week: No. 5
TCU had a bye, and Sonny Dykes spent it sitting by the phone.
Two Saturdays ago, 247Sports’ Scoot McGee reported Dykes could be fired as soon as that night. He wasn’t. Seven days of nothing followed, which is either good news or the longest week of his life.
This is the same Sonny Dykes who coached in the national championship game after the 2022 season, and TCU extended him in April. Now it’s 2-3, 0-2 in the Big 12, and headed to Baylor on Oct. 17.
He’s 3-1 in his last four against Dave Aranda. The bad news is that’s the good news.
6. Shane Beamer, South Carolina (3-3)
Last week: No. 3
Shane Beamer went into The Swamp and won by 19. I’d like to say I saw it coming. I’d also like a raise.
South Carolina beat No. 16 Florida 38-19, ending an eight-game SEC losing streak nobody in Columbia will miss. And that 35-34 overtime loss to Kentucky that got him booed off his own field? Kentucky beat No. 10 LSU on Saturday and is now ranked 15th, so Beamer gets to say he lost by a point to a ranked team, as long as nobody asks when it got ranked.
He drops three spots, the biggest fall in the Top 10, and he’s still 1-3 in the SEC. One road win doesn’t end last week’s buyout talk.
But it’s the first week this season South Carolina fans had to argue for him instead of against him.
7. Dave Aranda, Baylor (4-1)
Last week: No. 8
Dave Aranda moved up a spot this week, and he did it from the couch.
Baylor had a bye and is still 4-1 and 2-0 in the Big 12. He climbs because Beamer fell past him on the way down. TCU comes to Waco on Oct. 17, and Aranda has lost that game three of the last four times.
Baylor fans have heard “turning the corner” before. They’d like to see the corner.
8. Luke Fickell, Wisconsin (4-1)
Last week: No. 9
Luke Fickell moved up a spot without playing, because Lincoln Riley won at Penn State and fell right past him.
Wisconsin is 4-1 and 2-0 in the Big Ten, and everyone in Madison feels better. Fickell is still 21-22 there.
That number didn’t take the week off.
9. Lincoln Riley, USC (6-1)
Last week: No. 7
Lincoln Riley won at Penn State, 31-23, and dropped two spots. You’re welcome, Coach.
USC is 6-1, 3-1 in the Big Ten, and ranked 19th. A week ago his own student section was chanting “Fire Lincoln” during a win over Washington. During a win.
I’d hate to hear what they chant during a loss. Then again, they’re college students in Los Angeles, so they might not have noticed the score.
Winning on the road in the Big Ten cooled things off by two spots. Nobody’s forgotten the chant.
10. Deion Sanders, Colorado (2-3)
Last week: No. 10
No game for Colorado this week, so for once nobody left the playbook at the hotel bar. That’s progress.
The Buffaloes are 2-3 and 0-2 in the Big 12. Texas Tech, the team that beat them 29-7, is still unbeaten and ranked 10th, so if Coach Prime wants to say he lost to a Top 10 team, go ahead.
A bye week is the quietest a Deion Sanders team ever gets, and I’m sure he hated every minute of it.
Bubbling Under
Dave Doeren and Phil Longo hold at Nos. 11 and 12, and both lost by at least 24, so nobody can say they’re not earning it. NC State lost 38-14 at home to Wake Forest, now ranked 21st, and Sam Houston lost 35-3 at Liberty to fall to 1-4.
Joe Moorhead moves up one to No. 13 after Akron lost 25-23 at home to Eastern Michigan and fell to 1-5. Somewhere in Ypsilanti they’re still celebrating.
Ryan Silverfield moves up two after Arkansas lost 24-17 at home to then-No. 15 Tennessee. Last week it was 34-7 at Texas A&M, so it’s progress, the way a smaller dent is progress. The paper bags were aimed at the athletic director last week, and every loss moves a little more of that toward the sideline.
Matt Campbell moves up two to No. 15. Penn State moved on from a coach who won games to hire one who’d win the big ones, and Campbell is 0-3 in the Big Ten: Wisconsin, Northwestern, USC. Riley drops two for beating him, and Campbell climbs two for losing.
I didn’t design the system. I just keep the books.
Meanwhile, in Texas
Steve Sarkisian jumped 34 spots, from No. 91 to No. 57, after Oklahoma beat No. 1 Texas 27-24. No. 57 is a long way from the Top 10. Then again, ask Jedd Fisch how long that trip takes.
Mike Elko moves up five to No. 45. After Missouri beat Texas A&M 27-6, somebody asked him about fans losing faith, and he said, “Billy’s cesspool can go be Billy’s cesspool.” Billy is Billy Liucci, co-owner of TexAgs, and the cesspool is the people who buy the tickets.
The Aggies started the season ranked eighth. They’re 3-3, and they’ve scored six points in each of their last two SEC losses.
Sark lost a football game. Elko lost a football game and then picked a fight with the people paying for it.
Circle Oct. 17
Rutgers at Maryland, Schiano at Locksley. TCU at Baylor, No. 5 at No. 7.
One of the top two coaches is going to lose that day. The other one gets to find out whether a win still buys a quiet week.
I now leave you with one suggestion: Don’t bet on it.
See where all 138 coaches rank: https://coacheshotseat.com/#rank
