College football’s firing season is here. These coaches should be nervous

The Big Ten never trails the ACC on the gridiron, but it does at this moment in one key category: employing coaches who are failing at their jobs.Hello, Greg Schiano.Meanwhile, ACC residents NC State and Florida State, swallowing nearly $70 million in the process, ejected first Dave Doeren and then Mike Norvell.Toppmeyer: FSU should thank Jimbo Fisher for the memories, then lose his numberBaylor separated from Dave Aranda, Maryland parted with Mike Locksley, Sam Houston dispatched Phil Longo and Northern Illinois, that paragon of the Mountain West Conference, will conduct a full-scale search to replace current interim Rob Harley.Here’s USA TODAY Sports’ Heat Check: Backside discomfort.Greg Schiano, RutgersThe Scarlet Knights are winning one … out of every four games against Power Four opponents over a span of more than two years. They’re 6-18 in their past 24 after Saturday’s 28-21 loss to Michigan.Of note: The defensive-oriented Schiano just watched his Rutgers squad yield 28 points to Michigan, easily the Wolverines’ highest scoring output this season against P-4 competition.To fire Schiano as of Nov. 2, Rutgers would owe a buyout of $18.99 million, down a few hundred thousand from a week ago.Scotty Walden, UTEPThe skid has reached 12 consecutive losses against FBS opponents.Worse, UTEP is now 1-17 in its past 18 games against FBS competition. This past weekend, the Miners were dispatched to the coal mines in a 31-7 drubbing by North Dakota State, an absolutely fine program … in Year 1 as an FBS program.Walden’s buyout as of Nov. 2, 2026, is a tick above $1 million, no small sum for a cash-strapped program.But at what cost is inaction?Lance Leipold, KansasSince his breakthrough nine-win campaign in 2023, Leipold, a proven winner and bona fide coach, has been unable to generate any sustained momentum for Jayhawks football.Again, investment has been a priority for Kansas athletic director Travis Goff. Results have not followed.Since the start of the 2024 season, Kansas is 13-19, with just one win this season against P-4 competition. Leipold is now 29-40 atop the program.Like Doeren did at NC State, Leipold has made Kansas a tough out.But still too often an out.Tim Albin, CharlotteThe 49ers took a better, much more resourced Tulane program to overtime at home Friday night.And still lost.They’re now 2-18 in 20 games under Albin and paid The Citadel to come into the Queen City and beat them to open this season. It’s been mostly a freefall ever since.What Albin did at Ohio to earn the Charlotte job cannot be overstated. But this situation isn’t a fit.WARMING WATCHBrent Key, Georgia TechMake it 10 losses in 13 games for Georgia Tech, which simply isn’t the same program without quarterback Haynes King and offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, who continues to emerge from his new post at Florida as a viable future head coach.Sure, Faulkner’s Gators had a tough time this weekend against archrival Georgia.But not as tough as Key’s Tech program.The Yellow Jackets have one, yes, ONE, win this season against FBS competition. They’ve now suffered losses by 10, 21, 22 and 23 points to fellow P-4 opponents this autumn.Worse, Tech isn’t done losing this season, and its next defeat would clinch a losing campaign. Still on the schedule: Louisville, Clemson and top-15 foes Wake Forest and Georgia.More ouch is coming.Luke Fickell, WisconsinA college coaching agent reached out to USA TODAY Sports on Sunday afternoon with this warning:“There are two perfect candidates out there for Wisconsin in Jake Dickert (Wake Forest) and Jason Eck (New Mexico). Hard to see Wisconsin standing still if [Luke] Fickell drops one of these next two games.”And what games are those?The Badgers host the dead-men-walking of Rutgers on Saturday, Nov. 7, then travel to Maryland, which already has fired its coach, on Nov. 14.The flip side? Wisconsin clearly is improved, and it could win any combination, or all, of its final four games: Rutgers, Maryland, Purdue and Minnesota.But a loss to either of those two Big Ten cellar-dwellers?That would be quite damning.This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College football’s firing season is here. These coaches should be nervous