5 COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHES THAT COULD JUMP TO THE NFL IN 2026

After a particularly brutal Black Monday (and Tuesday) in the NFL, we now have seven head coach openings in the most important sport on the planet. And, by the time the playoffs wrap up, we could end up with more. 

I’m looking at you, Sean McDermott. A one-and-done Buffalo Bills playoff season this year should wrap up your tenure for good. Also, there’s a solid chance Mike Tomlin walks away for a while on a TV desk retirement. 

In the olden days, the path from college head coach to NFL head coach was well-worn, but as of today, only one head coach, Jim Harbaugh of the Los Angeles Chargers, formerly prowled the college gridiron before taking his current job. This is actually the second time Harbaugh made that move, as he took over the San Francisco 49ers in 2011, fresh off four years at the helm of Stanford.

Before him, you had Matt Rhule, Pete Carroll, Bill O’Brien, Lane Kiffin, Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, Greg Schiano, Lou Holtz, Butch Davis, Dennis Erickson, Bobby Petrino, Tom Coughlin, Jimmy Johnson, and even the legendary Paul Brown, who came to the Cleveland Browns from Ohio State back in 1946.  

That might not be a comprehensive list, but it should be telling. Pete Carroll, Tom Coughlin, Jimmy Johnson, and Paul Brown were great at both and everyone but Brown won a Super Bowl (though, in Brown’s defense, it hadn’t been invented when he coached). The other guys? Most of them were disasters. Nick Saban is arguably the greatest college football coach in all of history, and he was complete garbage as an NFL coach. Guys like Schiano, Erickson, and Patrino are more likely to be arrested at an NFL stadium than invited inside to coach a franchise.  

Is Jim Harbaugh really going to be the last college head coach to make the NFL jump? This year, we have what looks like an especially week NFL Coordinator class. There’s no Mike Vrabel, Ben Johnson or even Liam Coen in this group. Guys like John Harbaugh and Kevin Stefanski will go quickly, but that means there are five more jobs open to fill.

With those seven open jobs (for now), interviews will be requested. Of the current slate of NCAA head coaches, who are the most likely to end up on an NFL sideline in 2026? 

First off, this isn’t a troll list, so you’re not going to see Bill Belichick’s name on it. Anyone tossing his moniker out for an open NFL spot is just looking for clicks and engagement. Sure, I want you to read this, but to put that guy’s name on this list would be an insult to you, the reader, me, the writer, and to the NFL. It ain’t happening.

Same for Lane Kiffin. Now, I do think that he could end up on a list like this next year, but considering he just bolted Ole Miss for LSU, I think he’s keeping that office. Curt Cignetti is never leaving Indiana and will turn it into a Midwest Alabama. So, scratch him from your list. And no one is hiring Kalen DeBoer to run an NFL team, especially when everyone in Alabama wants him fired. Lastly, Kirby Smart is like Saban. He’s just not an NFL coach. And I’m pretty sure he knows it. 

So, here’s how I see it. 

5. MARCUS FREEMAN, NOTRE DAME

Record: 43-12

According to Sports Illustrated, Freeman is already on the Cleveland Browns’ radar (along with the New York Giants and Tennessee Titans) as a possible new head coach. Freeman, of course, just recently signed an extension with the Fighting Irish that apparently pays him something around $10 million a year, which is good money even for an NFL coach. So why would he leave? 

The right job. There is no universe where Freeman bails South Bend for Cleveland, Tennessee, or New York, but if Mike Tomlin heads out the door in Pittsburgh? You better believe he’d answer that call. According to Diana Russini of The Athletic, if Tomlin steps away, the Steelers are going to be in Freeman’s DMs. Since the merger, Pittsburgh has had three head coaches total, and all three are either in the Pro Football Hall of Fame or are heading there: Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Tomlin. The Steelers could literally be an offer that Freeman could not refuse. And, frankly, he shouldn’t.

4. JOSH HEUPEL, TENNESSEE

Record: 73-28

Heupel is another NCAA guy making real cash, around $9 million a year. He was also one of the major names linked to the Penn State opening once James Franklin was canned. Like Freeman, he’s unlikely to jump ship, but it’s all about the right opportunity. While Freeman, at Notre Dame (especially after their hissy fit from being left out of the College Football Playoff), can expect to regularly end up in the bracket when it moves to 16 teams, the Volunteers have no such expectations. The program remains significantly behind Georgia, Alabama, LSU, and now Ole Miss, Texas, and Oklahoma in the SEC. In the present college football landscape, the Vols might have topped out on what they can do as a regular 8-9 win Bowl team. For a rabid and unrealistic Tennessee fanbase (and possibly donor base), that’s not enough. Still, why would Heupel go to the NFL?

Again, it would have to be for a lot of money and for the right job. And that job, the recently opened Baltimore Ravens position. Now, the Ravens’ job (which wasn’t open when I started this article, so I’ve had to go back through and edit things. Forgive me if anything slips through), is maybe a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I think Baltimore will have its pick of any coach it wants, but if they call Heupel, there’s no way he doesn’t pack the U-Haul and head out of Knoxville. I just don’t think it’ll happen. 

What will make it happen later is, again, the right offer (Dallas Cowboys, anyone?) or Vols fandom and donors making that exit an easy call.

3. DAN LANNING, OREGON

Record: 48-7

Lanning has his Ducks in the College Football Playoff for the second straight year and, in some ways, faces a similar problem as Heupel. There are too many well-funded good teams in his own conference in the way to winning a championship. 

Lanning gets mentioned a lot when it comes to open NFL jobs, and he’d be smart to take some calls. He’s a young guy, 39, and while he’s making $11 million a year with Oregon, it’s not a gold standard college program. It’s been a good one, but we’re not talking Notre Dame, Alabama, Ohio State or Michigan. He needs to look hard at these offers and the NFL teams they represent. And while the No. 1 guy on this list down below remains my most likely pick, you don’t see his name associated with pro jobs nearly as much as you did half a decade ago. Lanning would be smart to look at that guy’s trajectory, then glance over at the NFL to other guys that are around his age, like Sean McVay, Ben Johnson, Mike MacDonald, Kellen Moore, Liam Coen, and Kevin O’Connell, and see where their careers are, and compare that to what he wants to accomplish. 

And now think of what his career would look like if he could turn the New York Giants into a winning franchise. Looking at that roster and the NFC East Division, I’d take that call.

2. STEVE SARKISIAN, TEXAS

Record: 94-55

Steve Sarkisian is the NFL’s answer to Cosmo Kramer. No one is better at falling and failing upwards than Ole Sark. He did manage to get the Longhorns into the 12-team College Football Playoff semifinals last season before they got curb-stomped by Ohio State, but before then, his last Bowl win was in the 2014 Holiday Bowl over Nebraska. Back when there was just a four-team playoff, Texas made it in 2023 and lost to eventual runner-up Washington, but an “L” is an “L,” and before last year, Sarkisian was 1-4 in Bowl games. 

Now, Sark tried to kibosh any rumors he was seeking an NFL job back in November, but that’s just how the game is played. He is definitely open for business and should be. He sees the writing on the wall with Texas in the SEC. And with a weak field of potential NFL coordinators in this year’s class, a team like the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, or Atlanta Falcons (who once hired him as an offensive coordinator) could give him the parachute from Austin he’s looking for. It could be time to ‘git’ while the ‘gittin is good.’

1. LINCOLN RILEY, USC

Record: 90-28

There was a time when Lincoln Riley’s name was mentioned with every NFL head coaching opening, but that stopped about three years ago, and much like Stanford’s David Shaw before him, he probably regrets not looking a lot harder at those opportunities. While Riley is still a potent offensive mind, he’s maxed out what he can do in the college game, especially at USC. He should be looking at what guys like Ben Johnson, Liam Coen, and Kellen Moore are doing in the NFL right now and feeling nothing but regret. 

Like Sark, Riley has played the game and publicly said he’s not looking to jump to the NFL, but even he has to notice the calls aren’t nearly as loud as they used to be. Again, this is a weak field. And Riley can get to the top of any potential list of the lower-tier jobs like the Tennessee Titans, Arizona Cardinals, or Las Vegas Raiders, by simply telling his agent to make a phone call. 

Follow Adam Greene on Blue Sky @AdamGreene13, threads @adam.greene and Twitter @TheFirstMan