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Reverend Dabo Swinney (HC Clemson Tigers - GSCS), random mid-century cars, and steroids

ScriptOhio
www.saturdaydownsouth.com

The 8 Power 4 programs who are in college football hell heading into the 2026 offseason

Which programs are in the worst possible situations going into 2026? These 8 are in need of help in a hurry.
www.saturdaydownsouth.com

The 8 Power 4 programs who are in college football hell heading into the 2026 offseason​

I don’t say “hell” lightly. I try not to say it at all, but hey, sometimes, it just fits.

As it pertains to college football, “hell” can’t be confused with purgatory. Some teams exist just fine in purgatory and don’t ever necessarily feel like the situation is dire enough to start throwing around the “H-word.” To be in college football hell, one must understand context. It’s more than just bad vibes. It’s vibes that feel like a certain form of torture is imminent. Whether that’s having an under-performing coach on an insane contract or having a team that can’t seem to get out of its own way, college football hell comes in a variety of forms.

To get out of hell, one can get a breakthrough season or hire the right coach. Indiana was firmly in college football hell for decades, but it hired Curt Cignetti and found a way to replace apathy with dominance. Kentucky was in college football hell the last couple years of the Mark Stoops era, but hiring an offensive-minded, 30-something coach who has dominated the transfer portal has changed the offseason mood in Lexington. Michigan was in college football hell, then Kyle Whittingham bailed the Wolverines out.

Talk to a fan of a team in college football hell, and you’ll probably confirm that notion within the first minute of that conversation. A groan, an exasperated sigh, a Hail Mary plea to the college football gods, etc. You get it. You can smell the desperation on them.

For these 8 Power Conference teams, college football hell is all too real:

Arkansas​

Cincinnati​

Clemson
You had me at “he hired Chad Morris to run his offense.” Ask aforementioned Arkansas or recently hell-departed Auburn (promising new coach) about that. That alone would make Clemson a worthy inclusion of this list, but the Tigers are in hell because the team that Dabo Swinney bragged about breaking Clemson out of its 2020s funk couldn’t even win 8 games. Mind you, that was after it started at No. 1 in the FBS in percentage of returning production. Clemson didn’t pay $60 million to fire Swinney after his disastrous 2025 season. Even worse, he repeatedly defended his ways and all but dared AD Graham Neff to fire him by declaring that he’d find work elsewhere if his time was up. It’s not. Instead, Swinney still has the power to do things like … hire Morris. Clemson fans will defend Swinney to the ends of the earth for those 2 titles, but deep down, they know what everyone else does — the game has passed him by....:nod:

Florida State​

Mississippi State

Nebraska

UNC

Wisconsin

And keep an eye on Tennessee and USC

Just sayin': Dabo would probably sell his soul to the devil for a #11 ranking...... :lol:
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OC Arthur Smith (Official Thread)

pnuts34
BuckeyeNation27 said:
Not attacking you, but look at all the excuses. Rookie Bijan, rookie London, over the hill Rodgers, average Tannehill. At what point are we going to stop and just say he aint it? You ask who can have success with a 2nd year WR? Seattle would say hi, but they're busy preparing for the SB. With what I'm assuming you'd call "average Sam Darnold" if he were to have played under Arthur Smith. Tons of OCs in the NFL would love to have Buckeye fandom defending their failures just because they got (inexplicably) chosen to be on the Ohio State staff for what I hope is just one year.

Think this a good hire, think it's a bad hire....whatever. But when people defend every single thing he does with this much excuse making (not you....everybody as a whole), it makes me wonder if the defense isn't just hopium. I choose to believe that's exactly what it is, because it's one of the things a massive successful fanbase does best.

edit: ah shit....JSN is in year 3. I'll leave it for transparency.
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Not taking it as an attack. Were just having a discussion, and honestly I may be talking myself into the hire. But where youre saying "excuses", im saying caveats or youre not telling the whole story. Just using DK(or even Pickens) as examples but not mentioning the QB is being disingenuous. Saying he didnt use Bijan is correct, but also saying he was only a rookie is also correct. Saying he hasn't done much in a passing game is correct, but ignoring the QBs he had is being disingenuous. Darnold is better than Mariota, Ridder and Tannehill, and Id even take him over Rodgers. Darnell is still an above average QB. Smith has never even had an above average QB. Let's be honest here.

The following names were who fans wanted during the process: JT Barrett(just because hes a former player, but has never called plays so he'd be like bringing back Hartline in having no play calling experience), Joe Moorhead(gotten worse during his coaching tenure and Day didnt seem interested), Brian Daboll(sticking with the NFL), Mike McDonald(a failed HC like Smith, but did less with all the talent he had), Kliff Kingsbury(same as McDonald), Chip Kelly(Day had no interest in him).

I mentioned him before, but Josh McDaniels at one time was considered an overrated OC who was riding Belichek and Bradys coattails and was a terrible HC. And now hes in the SB. Were all just talking and speaking our minds until actual games are played. You're entitled to your opinion and others are entitled to there's. But I dont think this hire will be as bad as you think if Smith can correct some of the issues in the run game, especially short yardage. And have more creativity in the offense as a whole. Which we didnt a lot of last year with the 1st year OC who looked in over his head at times
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Cleveland Browns (Factory of Sadness)

BuckBackHome
OHSportsFan said:
*Pro Bowler, Shadeur Sanders.

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What the...?

His QBR was 18.9. The lowest QBR listed is Cam Ward at 33.1. This is all from the ESPN site.

Uncle Rico or whatever his name is (personally, I couldn't stand that movie) probably has an equivalent QBR.
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Coaching changes: coaches hired and fired, comings and goings

ScriptOhio
www.cbssports.com

College football first-year coach grades: Bill Belichick gets 'D' at UNC

How did the first-year coaches grade out after their debut campaigns in 2025?
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com

College football first-year coach grades: Bill Belichick gets 'D' after rough season at North Carolina​

How did the first-year coaches grade out after their debut campaigns in 2025?​


belichick.jpg


The biggest hire of the coaching carousel didn't work out nearly as well as expected.

It was a relatively quiet coaching carousel a year ago, at least at the Power Four level where only six programs made changes leading into the 2025 season. There wasn't a big marquee opening the way there was the year prior (Alabama, Michigan) or the following year (LSU, Florida, Penn State and Michigan). Instead, it was North Carolina that made the splash of the cycle when it lured eight-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick to Chapel Hill.

Unfortunately for UNC, Belichick and his team made more waves off the field than it did on it. It was another much less heralded hire in North Carolina that fared considerably better.

With the 2025 season officially in the books now, here is the full list of grades on the Year 1 performances of every first-year Power Four head coach.

North Carolina - Bill Belichick: D​

Purdue - Barry Odom: D​

Stanford - Frank Reich: C-​

UCF - Scott Frost: C+​

Wake Forest - Jake Dickert: A​

There were questions about fit as Jake Dickert had spent his entire career out West, but he quickly showed why AD John Currie believed he could win in Winston Salem. Dickert was the best hire of the cycle, taking over where Dave Clawson left off and guiding the Demon Deacons to wins over SMU, Virginia and North Carolina. It was only the fourth time in school history it recorded nine or more wins, quite the accomplishment for a first-year coach. The future looks bright at Wake Forest under Dickert. Record: 9-4

West Virginia - Rich Rodriguez: C-​

Just sayin': The post season review of the power 4 teams making coaching changes for 2026 should be a lot more interesting.... :lol:

Key 2026 Power 4 Head Coaching Changes:
  • LSU: Lane Kiffin (from Ole Miss)
  • Florida: Jon Sumrall (from Tulane)
  • Washington State: Kirby Moore (from Missouri)
  • Penn State: Matt Campbell
  • Virginia Tech: James Franklin
  • Michigan: Kyle Whittingham
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OC Arthur Smith (Official Thread)

BuckBackHome
pnuts34 said:
..
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He prefers to use 1 primary WR, and then the #2 WR and TE then become the next receiving weapons, but depending on the personnel, a RB could move into a top 3 role. I don't see that happening at OSU with all of the WR and TE talent, but Smith likes using his RBs in the passing game, A LOT! So get used to see screens, wheel routes and slants to Bo, Ja'Kobi, Isaiah and company.
.
.
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And if I'm wrong on all of this, PLEASE quote this and laugh in my proverbial face :blush:
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All I could see was a combo of Bo and Legend when I read this highlighted section.
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OC Arthur Smith (Official Thread)

Thump
BuckeyeNation27 said:
I'm not quite sure how you can say this as a Steeler fan. (also....look out. somebody around here doesn't like Steeler fans)

DK Metcalf was invisible this year. He'd have like 2 catches for 30 yards in the 1st quarter and then never get another target. I can't even name another Pittsburgh WR.
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Aren’t you a Raiders fan?
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OC Arthur Smith (Official Thread)

Thump
pnuts34 said:
After taking a day to let my frustration with the hire subside, I started looking into Smith's personnel when he was with the Titans, Falcons and Steelers. I'm also a Steelers fan(Here we Go), so I didn't exactly get the warm and fuzzies when Smith was announced as the HC. But then, after doing a little bit of research, you can easily see that he has had some of the worst collection of talent any coach can have.

Feel free to bash for being a "homer" or wearing "scarlet colored glasses", but I went from not liking the hire, to being very intrigued. Smith has been the OC to the following QBs: Ryan Tannehill, Desmond Ridder and (WELL past his prime)Aaron Rodgers. Not exactly a talented bunch, so then he had to lean on the run game, when he had Derrick Henry. Then had Corradelle Patterson, Tyler Algiers, Bijan Robinson, Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell at RB. He gets knocked for not utilizing a rookie Bijan Robinson enough. That is a fair assessment, but when your RB is a rookie and your starting QB is a 2nd year below average player, you kind of need to rely on more than 1 RB to see any type of success. Which he split carries between Robinson and Algiers. He utilized the same gameplan in Pittsburgh this last season, when it was apparent that Rodgers was limited in his mobility and arm strength(similar to Ridder). As well as having a suspect OL in Ten and Pitt, using a RBBC approach was going to be the best option.

He prefers to use 1 primary WR, and then the #2 WR and TE then become the next receiving weapons, but depending on the personnel, a RB could move into a top 3 role. I don't see that happening at OSU with all of the WR and TE talent, but Smith likes using his RBs in the passing game, A LOT! So get used to see screens, wheel routes and slants to Bo, Ja'Kobi, Isaiah and company.

And the funny thing is, if you look at the offenses of the top 4 teams this weekend in the championship games, ALL of their offenses mimic this. But difference is, they all have better talent than anything Smith ever had. The 2nd leading receiver for NE is TE, Hunter Henry. Treveyon was eased into a starting role at RB, similar what Smith did with Bijan, but the OL were quite different, which led to more success for Henderson. McDaniel was also a failed HC who came back to being an OC, and now has Vrabel in the SB in only his 2nd year as HC. The Broncos didn't have a 1000yd rusher due to JK getting injured, but Harvey filled in and has almost 900yds from scrimmage after seeing JK start the first 10gms.

So to sum it up, expect more of a pro style/NFL offense. There will be a dominant WR1(Smith), a reliable WR2(tbd), a versatile TE(tbd) and a RB who can run and catch(Jackson). Gone are the days of 5 wide, air raid, pass happy offenses that were once so popular in college. Day wants to run an NFL style team, not just on defense, but on offense. And some of the ways that Hartline ran the heavy looks, didn't show the same type of creativity that he's hoping Smith does. Smith has studied under Shanahan, McVey and LeFleur, but has never had the talent that they have had. Well now he will, and similar to Patricia who didn't really have a defense/team with talent for what he wanted to run in Detroit or Philly, along with not getting the serious NFL looks like he wanted, it could be good for both parties.

And if I'm wrong on all of this, PLEASE quote this and laugh in my proverbial face :blush:
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More info. would be appreciated.
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