With the 2026 college football set to get going in earnest this weekend, that means the coaching carousel isn’t too far behind.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg put together a list of head coaches who could be in position to land a bigger job after the 2026 season depending on how this campaign plays out. Two SEC head coaches made the cut — Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz and Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea.
Drinkwitz won 10+ games at Mizzou in 2023 and 2024 before slipping to an 8-4 regular season in 2025. The Tigers battled quarterback injury issues last season and are hoping to take a step forward with Austin Simmons under center this coming fall.
Here’s what Rittenberg wrote about Drinkwitz’s potential to move on:
His name surfaced for some of the high-profile jobs last year, but he remained at Missouri, which has rewarded him with contracts and program investment. Drinkwitz is 29-10 during the past three seasons and has overseen balanced teams. If the 43-year-old can continue his success while navigating seemingly a tougher schedule this fall — he’s 26-24 all time in SEC games — interest in him should remain strong. Would he leave the SEC for a job such as Florida State?
Lea is perhaps a more complicated case — he’s coming off of back-to-back excellent seasons at Vanderbilt, including a program-record 10 wins in 2025. He’s a Vandy alum, but he won just 2 conference games in 3 SEC seasons before Diego Pavia arrived on campus.
Here’s Rittenberg’s analysis:
Lea is a Vanderbilt guy, and the program has taken care of him, making major investments in multiple areas to build on the momentum from a historic 2025 season. The 44-year-old has won consecutive SEC Coach of the Year awards, and last fall, he earned the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year honor after guiding Vanderbilt to its first 10-win season. Lea likely would leave his alma mater and hometown only for the right type of job — with a higher, more consistent ceiling. He spent 2017-2020 at Notre Dame, the final three years as defensive coordinator, and made a strong impression there.
Week 1 of the 2026 season gets started on Thursday night as Mizzou faces off against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
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Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
