2026 ACC football head coach rankings

The ACC enters the 2026 college football season with a coaching landscape that spans from one of the sport's most accomplished active coaches to a pair of first-year head coaches still learning their rosters. The Miami Hurricanes are the clear conference favorite entering spring practice, but the wide-open battle behind the Hurricanes is what makes this league one of college football's most compelling storylines heading into fall. Here is a complete ranking of all 17 ACC football head coaches heading into the 2026 season, graded on résumé, current roster trajectory, and program ceiling.

17. Tavita Pritchard — Stanford Pritchard inherits 10 returning starters and a roster that projects to lean on an intact offensive line and running back Micah Ford as the strength of his first squad in Palo Alto. At 39, he is among the Power Four's youngest head coaches, and the patience required to accurately evaluate his tenure extends well beyond a single spring.

16. Tosh Lupoi — California Lupoi's first act as a head coach was to retain quarterback Jaron Keawe-Sagapolutele and surround him with new skill talent, including running back Adam Mohamed from Washington and receivers Ian Strong and Chase Hendricks. The primary spring priority is rebuilding a defense that surrendered 31.

5 points per game in ACC play last season, a figure that must improve substantially for California to compete for the conference's upper half. 15. Bill O'Brien — Boston College Boston College's 2-10 finish in 2025 is the defining number of O'Brien's tenure, and the rebuilding task entering Year 3 remains as daunting as any in the ACC.