Hot seat watch: Dabo Swinney, Lincoln Riley among coaches reigniting buzz after poor Week 11 showings

Crushing Week 11 setbacks ended playoff dreams and left fanbases frustrated, but massive buyouts complicate potential moves down the stretch Nov 15, 2026 at 12:04 pm ET • 6 min read Four Power Four programs have moved on from head coaches this season, and there could be more coming.Updating our hot seat watch coming out of Week 11, several speculative candidates negatively affected their situations after narrative-setting losses, including a couple who took their respective teams out of the College Football Playoff conversation after brief boosts of confidence. College football's coaching carousel hasn't been nearly as active this season as it was last, with sizable buyouts being a factor, along with expansive funds being earmarked for player retention and roster acquisitions in a few weeks. However, for programs whose fanbases are tuning out down the stretch, potential moves are being made behind the scenes relative to 2027 and beyond.Here are five coaches who did themselves no favors following losses on Saturday with two games left in the regular season: Lincoln Riley, USCSaturday's result: 27-13 loss at IndianaProjected final record: 8-4Clearly, Riley is still engaged with the Trojans and believes he can win a national championship at USC. He'll have to get to the CFP first, and that's not happening this season after another loss on the road to a ranked opponent. There were no prepared statements this time around for Riley, whose team dropped four interceptions, turned it over several times in critical situations and dropped a winnable matchup against the defending national champions.Riley's contract is private in Los Angeles, but an estimated reported price tag of around $70 million is one of the biggest in college football, and next season's allure of a 24-team playoff should buy him more time. If he gets to nine wins in 2027 — heck, even eight might do it — Riley will at least get the Trojans to their first CFP appearance and offer reason for optimism moving forward. Beating Ohio State a few weeks ago strengthened perception a bit, but losing to the Hoosiers was another black mark on his record. Dabo Swinney, ClemsonSaturday's result: 20-6 loss vs. Georgia TechProjected final record: 6-6Heavy coaching staff changes after the 2025 season haven't led to improved play from Clemson this fall, and Swinney's spiral hit all-time lows against the Yellow Jackets. Clemson is now 2-9 over its last 11 home games against Power Four competition, this coming at a program that won a school-record 40 consecutive games in Death Valley from Nov. 12, 2016 through Nov. 26, 2022. This was Clemson's first loss to a team with a losing record at kickoff since 2010, snapping a 38-game win streak, and came against a Georgia Tech squad that had fired four assistant coaches after last week's loss Swinney's decision to bring Chad Morris back to his program to call plays has been a disastrous move. The Tigers have scored just five touchdowns in four home games this season against Power Four opponents, three of those coming in the second half of a 28-20 win over North Carolina in Week 3. The sticking point here is Swinney's cumbersome buyout. His remaining total compensation starting in 2027 is $60 million, but the Tigers would get a slight $3 million discount if the university parts ways with him this fall due to a buyout clause featuring a descending flat rate. Unlike most coaching contracts, however, Swinney's deal does not include a mitigation clause; if he takes another job, Clemson would not see its portion of the buyout reduced. Luke Fickell, WisconsinSaturday's result: 24-21 loss at MarylandProjected final record: 7-5How does a team go from the highs of beating nationally ranked USC on Oct. 24, to being shut out by Iowa and losing on the road to dreadful Maryland over the following three-game stretch? The level of inconsistency associated with Fickell right now at Wisconsin is maddening for decision-makers, especially first-year athletic director Shawn Eichorst, who might be running out of patience waiting on things to improve for the Badgers.CBS Sports' Chris Hummer wrote this week after speaking with sources prior to Wisconsin's loss to the Terps that Fickell had "probably saved himself" getting to bowl eligibility this season, but this was another unexpected and further damning setback on the road. Fickell's now 23-25 overall with the Badgers and just 14-20 against Big Ten competition. Maryland, by the way, was under an interim coach for the third straight game following its midseason firing of Mike Locksley. Perhaps another Big Ten vacancy will surface if Wisconsin fails to deliver against Purdue and Minnesota the remainder of the month? Shane Beamer, South CarolinaSaturday's result: 34-6 loss at ArkansasProjected final record: 7-5Beamer bought himself more time with four consecutive wins since the Gamecocks' stunning 0-3 start to SEC play this season, but every time the program takes a step forward under his tutelage, inexcusable results like what happened in Fayetteville surface. South Carolina, as a 7.5-point road favorite and in the CFP discussion, was never competitive against the Razorbacks with quarterback LaNorris Sellers on the sideline — but was he injured? Beamer stressed after the game that his QB1 was off the SEC's final "availability report" because he was "available" to play, but the staff simply thought Cutter Woods gave the Gamecocks the best chance to win. Sellers suffered a lower-body injury in last week's win over Texas A&M and was limited throughout the week in practice, despite being listed as "probable" on Friday night before being upgraded before kickoff. Beamer's insistence on being coy with Sellers' injury status is why speculation has run rampant Sunday morning on his decision to roll with Woods, who threw three interceptions in the Gamecocks' most important game of the campaign leading into next week's tilt vs. top-ranked Georgia.The belief from boosters in early October was that South Carolina needed to beat Florida heading into its open date or that could be it for this coaching regime. The Gamecocks responded with a confidence-building win, then took out Tennessee, Oklahoma and the Aggies prior to Week 11's failure to launch on the road against one of the SEC's worst teams. Next weekend's home game against Georgia was supposed to be an opportunity to stay afloat inside the top 20 but now comes with zero stakes. A loss puts the Gamecocks at 6-5 heading to Clemson, where falling to this Tigers team puts Beamer's directly back into the job-security crosshairs. Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati Saturday's result: 41-13 loss at Iowa StateProjected final record: 6-6Much has changed regarding Satterfield's safety with the Bearcats following his third straight setback since Cincinnati's win over then-Big 12-leading Texas Tech last month. On the verge of being ranked at 5-2 overall, the Bearcats are now .500, never found their footing at Iowa State and looked unprepared. In fact, Cincinnati's output was similar to its home bout with Utah on Halloween when Satterfield watched his defense give up 42 first-half points during a blowout loss. The rug could be pulled out from under this coaching staff if next week's game against Colorado goes south with a trip to BYU looming. Two losses mean no postseason appearance and no momentum ahead of the offseason. Kyle Whittingham, Michigan Saturday's result: 31-7 loss at OregonProjected final record: 5-7Has there ever been a more awkward fit for a first-year coach at an elite program? Whittingham has done himself no favors this season, at any point, and his comments prior to Saturday's loss at Oregon about Dan Lanning using NIL to recruit simply fell flat. He said there were no more "trophy games" after last week's 15-6 setback against Michigan State, somehow skipping over the rivalry showdown with Ohio State at the end of the month. Firing OC Jason Beck isn't going to fix what's broken in Ann Arbor, and there's a growing belief Michigan's deep-pocketed boosters are simply playing out the stretch before making a move in a couple of weeks. Does Whittingham want to deal with a rebuild with the Wolverines at his age coming off this embarrassing campaign? It's hard to see light at the end of the tunnel here with a potential mutual parting of ways being a possible outcome. His buyout percentage is also quite low at 75% (one of the lowest in the Big Ten), which means the Wolverines could move on from Whittingham after just one season in charge for the price of $24.75 million.