Keep an eye on these under-the-radar names during this season's college football coaching carousel

Every year in the modern era of college football, dozens of head coaches go into the season on what we like to call a "hot seat." This means there's a very good chance that they don't make it through the end of the season, and 2026 is no exception.

After witnessing an absolutely historic coaching carousel in 2025 that saw job openings at perennial powerhouse programs like LSU, Florida, and Penn State, the expectation is that this year's carousel will take a step back.

RANKING THE TEN BEST COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHES IN THE COUNTRY AHEAD OF THE 2026 SEASON However, that doesn't mean we won't see plenty of premiere programs in the market for head coaches by the end of the season, as teams like Florida State, South Carolina , and Baylor all have coaches with exceedingly hot seats heading into the fall.

The question is: who will replace those head coaches once they're given the boot? A lot of marquee names from the last hiring cycle are just now settling into their new digs, so some of these once-proud programs might have to find their next captain to steer the ship from some unlikely places.

Here are a few names that you might not know just yet, but could be coaching at big-time programs in 2027.

When you think of stable, winning college football programs, your mind probably doesn't immediately go to the UTSA Roadrunners, but that is precisely what head coach Jeff Traylor has turned them into.

He guided the Roadrunners to two of the best seasons in program history in 2021 and 2022, which included their first appearance in the AP Poll and first conference championship, and has three straight bowl victories to boot. 'HOT SEAT RANKINGS' FOR ALL 16 SEC COACHES AS BEGINNING OF 2026 COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON DRAWS NEARER Aside from a two-year stint as Arkansas' running backs coach, Traylor has spent his entire career in the Lone Star State, and that is significant for the sole fact that a job could be opening up just three hours north on I-35.

I mentioned Baylor having a coach on the hot seat , and if the Bears decide to pull the trigger and fire Dave Aranda, I believe Traylor should be one of their first calls.

He has deep ties to the state of Texas and even coached high school football for a decade and a half at powerhouse Gilmer, which could help a ton with recruiting in-state talent.

It feels like Traylor is ready for a step up to the big-leagues of Power 4 football , and Baylor seems like the logical choice to make that transition as comfortable as possible.

Staying in the Lone Star State, the Houston Cougars are coming off a brilliant 2025 campaign in which they won ten games and finished in the top-25 of the AP Poll, and the man they have to thank for that is head coach Willie Fritz.