College Football

Five college football coaches under pressure: Ryan Day, Deion Sanders top the list

Updated Feb. 29, 2024 5:36 p.m. ET

The college football scene has changed a lot over the past two months, with Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh leaving Ann Arbor for the NFL after winning a national championship, and legendary Alabama head coach Nick Saban retiring.

Meanwhile, there is a bevy of head coaches who are trying to establish their vision in their respective programs, while others are trying to keep their jobs.

Which coaches are under the microscope the most next season?

RJ Young provided his five coaches with the most to prove in 2024 in his latest episode of "The No. 1 College Football Show with RJ Young."

5. Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore

Young's thoughts: "He's got to prove that A) he can do this without Jim Harbaugh, B) he can do this without Jim Harbaugh's team and C) he can do this without Jim Harbaugh's staff. This is a really interesting year for Michigan because they're coming off winning the national championship. Sherrone was a very important piece of that national championship team, even being head coach for four of their wins and grooming J.J. McCarthy, grooming what might be the deepest offensive line unit for a single year that the NFL draft has ever seen.

"They could have seven guys selected in April, and being the first Black man to be a head coach at the University of Michigan is just a big deal, and we're all going to remember how it goes. … He's got a lot to prove, and this being his first opportunity to be a head coach and following a national championship season."

Ryan Day, Deion Sanders headline the coaches with most to prove in 2024

4. USC head coach Lincoln Riley

Young's thoughts: "[He] hasn't made a College Football Playoff since leaving Oklahoma. While [he] can still recruit the hell out of this sport and develop the hell out of the quarterback position, [he] just hasn't been able to get into this conversation of College Football Playoff teams. While Steve Sarkisian has made that move at Texas — one of the reasons he's not on this list — Kalen DeBoer leapfrogged Lincoln Riley at Washington showing that it doesn't matter what level he's coaching at, he's going to get it done. Now that Riley went and got D'Anton Lynn and Matt Entz, just put together a staff on that defense that is studded, he's gotta get some production out of those guys.

"USC [has] got a tough schedule, and if Miller Moss is your guy, then fine. I'm not going to second-guess Lincoln Riley on who he selects to be his starting quarterback, but it does say a lot that until Miller Moss threw for a billion yards and six, seven touchdowns. We thought that Will Howard might end up there or that Riley was going to go into the portal and bring out somebody else that can spin it. … I think Lincoln Riley has a lot to prove this year and going into what I think is going to be a pivotal year not just for the Big Ten, but for the fortunes of SC as they're joining [the conference] with Oregon and Washington, it's going to be tough for them, and he's going to have to pull this out."

3. LSU head coach Brian Kelly

Young's thoughts: "Brian Kelly left Notre Dame because he did not believe he could win a national championship at Notre Dame. In that way, he and Lincoln Riley basically share the same idea. They left one program that was in a great position [and] that did make the College Football Playoff to go to another program because they believed they would have the infrastructure to not just make the Playoff but to win the whole damn thing. So far, neither one of those guys has sniffed the College Football Playoff since taking the job. … I think there's a lot of pressure on Brian Kelly because now you're getting into the time for which LSU fans are gonna be like. ‘Clock’s been ticking.'

"Ed Orgeron could get this done. You're trying to tell us you can't get this done? Les Miles could get this done. We're not saying you got to be Nick Saban because nobody is, but he got it done, too. I think after this year if it doesn't go the way that it's planned, I would not be shocked to hear people start muttering, 'Brian Kelly, I don't know, dawg. I don't know.'"

Deion Sanders upgrades Colorado's coaching staff

2. Colorado head coach Deion Sanders

Young's thoughts: "He [has] got a lot to prove with Shedeur [Sanders] going into a draft-eligible year, Shilo [Sanders] being draft-eligible, choosing to come back, Travis Hunter going into a draft-eligible year, he needs those dudes to show up and play. More than that, he needs [offensive line coach] Phil Loadholt to put an offensive line out that can protect the quarterback, and he's going to need [defensive coordinator] Robert Livingston to put a defense on the field that can keep people under 28 [points] because that's what it feels like. Feels like they're going to just give it up, and then Shedeur's going to have to throw for 500 [yards] and five touchdowns to go get them these wins, but they are capable.

"I think if [Coach] Prime can flip around the first losing season that he has suffered as a head coach in this sport, that's going to be tremendous. But if he goes 4-8 a second time, we might have to start talking about him a little bit differently; he knows that better than anybody else."

1. Ohio State head coach Ryan Day

Young's thoughts: "This is going to be the 2024 topic line topic for me: What is Ohio State going to do, not in 2024 per se, but on November 30 in Columbus when the Michigan Wolverines show up to The Shoe? … They're [Ohio State fans] smart enough to tell you, 'Hey, we know what you have on this roster. We know what Michigan lost. We know Jim Harbaugh ain't there no more, and you got a first-year head coach, period: this is the year you got to win that game.' … There has never been a time for which we have thought The Game was irrelevant, but the idea that you could lose The Game, make the playoff and then damn near beat the national champions on a missed field, and people still not give a damn, I don't know that there's more pressure than that — and then he lost The Game [for] a third year.

"Going into 2024, he has pulled out all the stops. He has handed over the play-calling privileges for the first time. He [has] never done that, to his mentor, to the guy that he trusts to call the plays as well as he might in Chip Kelly. He reinforced the roster; they go four deep. I think nobody has more to prove in 2024 than Ryan Day."

[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]