Last October, a string of elite job openings occured within a few weeks of each other, as Penn State, Florida, and LSU all jettisoned their head coaches for underperforming relative to the expectations placed upon them.So far, 2026 has seen its fair share of Power 4 firings, but most fans and coaches alike seem to be waiting for a "blue blood" type of job to come open.This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners.If you sign up or place a wager, FOX News may be compensated.
This content was created by a team that works independently from the FOX newsroom.KEEP AN EYE ON THESE UNDER-THE-RADAR NAMES DURING THIS SEASON'S COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHING CAROUSELWhile Florida State appeared to be the most likely opening heading into the season, their new administration has made it clear a change at head coach in 2026 is unlikely.That begs the question, then: Which "big boy" job will be the next to open up this season?The way I see it, there are three big time Power 4 coaches who have the potential to be handed their pink slip before season's end.Let's explore all three of these jobs, ranked in order of how likely they are to be open by the end of the year.Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney talks to an official during the NCAA football game against the Duke Blue Devils during the game at Memorial Stadium on Nov.1, 2025.
(Alex Martin/Imagn Images)Things are going pretty poorly for the Clemson Tigers, and have been for quite some time now.Their offense is absolutely putrid, and they're coming off a dismal performance against Virginia Tech, dropping them to 4-3 on the year.There's still technically plenty of season left to right the ship, and if the Tigers win out, there's an outside chance they sneak into the ACC Championship Game with just two conference losses.Now for the reality: even if they win out, they'd still need losses from SMU and Wake Forest (whom they don't play) and another loss from Virginia Tech thanks to that aforementioned defeat to...