Deion Sanders is entering his fourth season as the head football coach at Colorado.

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Out of the many intriguing stories inside the Big 12 heading into the 2025-26 season, one that stood out was coaching turnover. 

In the last year, the conference lost two of the longest-tenured coaches on one team in college football, Kyle Whittingham for Utah and Mike Gundy for Oklahoma State. This season, questions will arise for many new head coaches, but more serious consequences could befall five veteran coaches of the conference. 

Here’s a look at five Big 12 coaches who could be on the hot seat in 2026.

5. Lance Leipold, Kansas

Initially, Lance Leipold looked like the man to finally pull Kansas out of the basement of power conference football. A promising nine-win season in 2023 seemed evidence of that. 

But back-to-back years of no postseason with one of the best quarterbacks in college football in Jalon Daniels at his disposal certainly raised eyebrows. Optimistically, the quarterback room headed into this season is full of promising talent, with dual-threat quarterback Isaiah Marshall getting the start ahead of week one. The offense also features a familiar name in the Big 12: transfer receiver Dylan Edwards. 

The Jayhawks seem primed to replace a loss of talent on offense, but their defense– although patched up by transfer talent– still seems vulnerable. Leipold receives the benefit of the doubt for inheriting a perennial dumpster fire of a program, but more losing seasons will hang heavy in Lawrence.

4. Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati

Satterfield took a Cincinnati job that held a lot of expectations in 2023. Coaches like Brian Kelly and Luke Fickell took the program to the brink of national titles in the past. When Satterfield’s Bearcats failed to make bowl games in each of his first seasons, pressure started mounting for newfound success. A seven-win season only saved him temporarily. 

Satterfield shares the same pitfall with TCU head coach Sonny Dykes in that his successor at Louisville, Jeff Bohm, has turned the program into a more consistent winner than it was under Satterfield.

A high-octane offense only got better over the off-season, with a slew of transfer talent led by transfer quarterback JC French IV from Georgia Southern. A previously subpar defense will need to pick up the slack for Cincinnati to have a winning season. A successful season also falls on the coaching staff, with Cincinnati losing many close games last year due to time of possession. If these issues are not cleaned up ahead of schedule, this could be the last of Satterfield.

3. Sonny Dykes, TCU

In many ways, this ranking feels wrong. Had this been written before TCU’s Dublin defeat at the hands of North Carolina, there would have been more confidence in Dykes. But following a flat offensive performance led by Harvard transfer Jaden Craig, dire concerns arise around Fort Worth. 

More pressure falls on Dykes due to the recent success of his former school and neighboring rivals SMU. The ultimate diagnosis on Dykes’s hot seat will become clear with another empty season after unprecedented success in his first year.

2. Deion Sanders, Colorado

The hype Coach Prime brought into Boulder is some of the biggest the sport has ever seen. There wasn’t a day on social media when the top headline or article didn’t have something to do with the Colorado Buffaloes. A dominant opening win over the aforementioned Horned Frogs only fueled the fire. Colorado finished with a measly 4-8 record that season, but a nine-win campaign the next season with Heisman winner Travis Hunter and star quarterback Shadeur Sanders looked like the recipe for success.

So, with all of that talent, why didn’t Sanders lead his team to the College Football Playoff?

That flaw became apparent the next season, when an absence of talent led to a paltry 3-9 record. Over the off-season, Sanders orchestrated a complete rehaul of the roster in hopes of catching on to the rest of the conference. The big problem with Coach Prime and the Buffaloes: it takes good coaching to bring together a team with substance. 

Stringing transfers together and expecting them to gel spells disaster. A revamped offense and defense is great, but it will take discipline forged by the coaching staff to turn it into a successful season. If that’s impossible, this will be the last season of Coach Prime.

1. Dave Aranda, Baylor

Baylor hired Aranda out of Baton Rouge after he coached the defense of one of the greatest teams of all time. The initial outlook seemed phenomenal. In just his second season, Aranda led the Bears to twelve wins, a Big 12 title, and the doorstep of a College Football Playoff appearance.

But in Waco, it’s not a “what did you do for me five years ago” situation, but rather a “what can you do for me now?” Outside of an eight-win season with zero ranked victories, Aranda’s Bears have become college football’s poster child for mediocrity.

Aranda was impeccably close to losing his job last season. Former athletic director Mack Rhoades’ resignation gave Aranda a life vest. Now he must sink or swim. Another subpar campaign, and he will be swept away by the tide.

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