Every year, college football coaches come in facing questions, with the number one being how they can improve. If you're someone like Ohio State football's Ryan Day, it's about getting back to the National Championship. But if you're someone like Colorado football's Deion Sanders, it's about just getting to a bowl game. There are stark differences there, obviously, which leaves those like Sanders and others with more to prove in the upcoming 2024 season.
Entering the 2024 season, there will be a number amount of coaches who have something to prove. Mind you, the results expected of each individual coach range differently. That could be due to a number of things, including tenure, strength of schedule, the program's history, overall expectations — each has its own unique circumstances. However, while they are all unique from one another, they're all required to do the same thing: win. Here are the five college football coaches with the most to prove in 2024.
Deion Sanders, Colorado Buffaloes
Sanders will be entering his second season at a power program with the Buffaloes in 2024. When he came to Boulder, he brought an immense amount of hype that was too much for any Louis bag to contain. The Buffaloes program had never seen anything quite like the spectacle that Sanders brought, where it was an immediate media overload. That only escalated when Colorado won its first three games. However, the Buffaloes soon fizzled out and only won one game for the remainder of the season, failing to make a bowl game for the third season in a row.
It will be a season of reset of sorts for Sanders and the Buffaloes. They leave behind the ashes of the Pac-12 to rejoin a completely facelifted Big 12 conference, where it looks to be anyone's conference next season.
No one can say what Sanders did for Colorado last season wasn't remarkable, increasing the Buffaloes' win total by three games. But in 2024, Sanders must make the next step in the program and get Colorado back to bowl season.
Mario Cristobal, Miami Hurricanes
Mario Cristobal had a successful tenure when he took over the Oregon program. He recruited at a high level, the best the Ducks had ever seen, bringing in top 10 classes. He also got the Ducks to a Rose Bowl win and two double-digit win seasons in four years. That hasn't quite translated at Miami yet.
In two seasons at his alma mater, Cristobal has gotten the Hurricanes to a 25-12 record. He increased Miami's win total from 5 to 7 this past year, but the team still at times looked like they were on shaky ground.
Perhaps what sticks out the most is the Georgia Tech game where Cristobal and staff decided to run the ball in the last seconds of the game instead of kneeling to seal the victory. The Hurricanes ended up losing the game as a result of fumbling the ball that was recovered by the Yellow Jackets who then drove down the field for a late touchdown.
With two 247sports top 10 recruiting classes and notable transfers, including quarterback Cam Ward for the 2024 season, the expectations are mounting, along with the impatience. Anything less than a double-digit win season feels like a bad season for Miami and Cristobal.
Billy Napier, Florida Gators
The only thing that may be hotter than the Florida sun is Billy Napier's seat. That seat will be downright scorching if the Gators don't make some drastic improvements in 2024 under Napier, who is 11-14 overall since coming to Gainesville.
The Gators couldn't even muster enough wins to earn a bowl game this past season, winning just five games. That won't make it for long at a place like Florida where expectations are always high. It doesn't help matters that Florida has been one of the worst conference teams since Napier took over the job, having back-to-back 3-5 records in the SEC.
But the question is, what are realistic expectations for Napier and Florida in 2024? With a new look SEC thanks to the additions of Texas and Oklahoma, the Gators have one of the most brutal schedules in all of college football next season, that includes not just their conference foes but also two of the better ACC teams in Florida State and Miami. Is seven wins the magic number?
Lincoln Riley, USC Trojans
After more or less shocking most of the college football world and uprooting himself from Norman, Oklahoma, as the Sooners head coach for Los Angeles, California, to become the Trojans head coach, Lincoln Riley hasn't quite impressed as much as some would have originally thought.
Riley's first season at USC looked to have immediately propelled the program back into relevance. Thanks to Riley bringing with him highly touted quarterback Caleb Williams, USC found themselves in the Pac-12 Championship but fell again to Utah and missed the College Football Playoff, although still finishing 11-3. The second season didn't go quite as smoothly.
The Pac-12 in its swan song vastly increased with talent across the conference, leaving Riley and USC behind. The Trojans football finished 8-5, a far cry from their projection as a team and Williams not even invited to win a second consecutive Heisman Trophy.
So now, USC moves on from the Pac-12 into the daunting Big Ten, where essentially the competition gets even greater. And, Riley will be without his security blanket at quarterback, Williams, who will most likely be the first pick in the NFL Draft.
Would 8-5 suffice in Year 3, even though it's a rather unconventional year with the Trojans having to replace a lot of talent from last season? It's hard to say what the expectations truly are, but it's doubtful they're light.
Ryan Day, Ohio State Buckeyes
Make no mistake about it, Ryan Day is definitely on this list, and for good reason. Out of any school on this list, none have the expectations like that of Ohio State football. Day's initial task of having to replace Urban Meyer, the last head coach to win a national title in Columbus, was never going to be easy, especially in his first head coaching experience. But then losing to archrival Michigan three straight years has many Buckeye faithful calling for the head coach's head.
Good news for Day is Jim Harbaugh is gone to the NFL and so is much of the talent that was on those last three Wolverine teams. It's likely to be a much different-looking Michigan football team in 2024 that should bode well for Ohio State to finally get back in the win column in the rivalry. But even that in a sense puts a ton of pressure on the Buckeyes' coach to win that game, among others.
Add to all that the approach that Day has taken going into the 2024 season, which includes his impressive use of the transfer portal and overall recruiting class, along with hiring former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly away to become the offensive coordinator. Day knows the pressure is on to win and win now. The question is, what does success look like for Ohio State football in the new college football? Is it a deep run in the playoff, or is it national championship or bust?
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