We’re getting closer to the opening of the 2025 ACC Football season, which means we’re getting closer to the first head football coaches getting the axe.
No longer do schools wait for the conclusion of the season to show their head coach the door.
Now the trend is to cut ties when the writing is clearly on the wall, regardless of what the calendar says.
Hard to argue with that, because the early axe provides the school with an opportunity to get a head start on the others that kick the can down the road, waiting for the season to conclude.
The cold fact is simply this: every head coach in college football is living on borrowed time.
The ACC has plenty of coaches who sit on seats that range from hot to scorching.
Here’s my preseason ranking of ACC coaches who are feeling the heat.
#5 Dave Doeren, North Carolina State
For the first time in five years, the Wolfpack finished with a losing record at 6-7 last season.
At some schools, five straight winning seasons may earn a contract extension.
But it was not finishing 6-7 that landed Doeren on my list.
It was how they got there. An embarrassing late-game brawl in the final minute, in the, of all bowls, the Military Bowl.
NC State lost to East Carolina, 26-21, in a game that saw multiple ejections and left one official with a bloody nose.
#4 Mike Norvell, FSU
For Norvell, the #4 hot-seat ranking begins with a 2-10 record in 2024.
For Norvell, 2-10 is all that you need to know.
The 2024 campaign started with a season-opening loss to Georgia Tech in a game played in Dublin, Ireland, and the Seminoles followed that with a loss at home to Boston College.
In fairness, events began to unravel for FSU after missing out on the four-team CFP field in 2023, despite finishing with a perfect regular season and beating Louisville in the ACC Championship Game.
Another sub-.500 season in Tallahassee, and Norvell will be out.
#3 Justin Wilcox, Cal
The Golden Bears have not posted a winning season since 2019.
In Berkeley, Wilcox has a 42-50 record in seven years and finished just 2-6 in ACC play last year.
Despite a contract extension through 2027, Cal has made it clear to Wilcox that this is a crucial season.
Wilcox has a 2025 compensation package of nearly $5 million, with a buyout of around $15 million.
#2 Tony Elliott, Virginia
The Cavaliers appeared to be heading toward a breakout season in 2025, starting 4-1, but they stumbled down the stretch and finished 5-7.
Like Doeren at NC State, it’s not necessarily the 5-7 record in 2024 that has Elliott’s seat blazing.
Heading into the final game of the year in Blacksburg against an injury-riddled Virginia Tech team, Virginia was embarrassed 37-17, in a game that was not that close.
Under Elliott, UVA is 11-23 in three years.
Virginia faces a very friendly schedule this year, but if things aren’t going well by mid-October, then Elliott will be gone, and Virginia will get a head start on a coaching search.
#1, Brent Pry, Virginia Tech
Entering the 2025 season, Brent Pry faces a make-or-break campaign.
Pry is only 16-21 through his first three seasons in Blacksburg, and has struggled in close games.
Last year, some had the Hokies possibly making the ACC Championship Game, only to finish 6-7.
Tech had a sizeable turnover during the off-season, and Pry replaced a couple of key assistant coaches.
If Tech isn’t above the .500 mark after the year, then Pry will be out.
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