We are less than three weeks away from kickoff in the Big 12 (outside of TCU) and it can’t come soon enough. After months of no football, it’s nice to finally see teams gearing up for the upcoming season.
As always, expectations can vary by school, but there’s always pressure to win. It’s the one thing that saves jobs. Speaking of jobs, I thought it would be fun to make a list of Big 12 coaches with the hottest seats heading into 2026.
Dave Aranda (Baylor)
It doesn’t matter what hot-seat list is out there because Dave Aranda is on it. Even national media outlets list his seat as one of the five hottest in the country. While Aranda is one of the few coaches in the conferences with a Big 12 title under his belt, he still has a lot to prove in 2026.
Since winning a conference championship in 2021, things have been all downhill for Baylor. In his last four seasons in Waco, Dave Aranda has a 22-28 overall record and a 15-21 conference record.
During that four-year span, he’s had just one winning season, and that’s not good enough for a coach in a power four conference. If not for money owed to him, one could argue he would have been gone already, but this could be the year Baylor finally parts ways with Aranda if they stumble once again.
Scott Satterfield (Cincinnati)
I’ll admit I wasn’t the biggest fan of Scott Satterfield when he got hired at Cincinnati, and it seems like many others feel the same way heading into his fourth season with the Bearcats.
While his win totals have gone up in his first three seasons, his record still isn’t great. Under Satterfield, Cincinnati is 15-22 and 9-18 in conference play. Those numbers are bad enough to get anyone fired, but Cincinnati decided to give him another year.
What makes it worse is that in November, Satterfield is 1-11. Every November, his teams seem to fall off a cliff, which is not how any coach wants to end their season. Now with plenty of new faces in the program, Scott Satterfield will face his toughest challenge yet.
Deion Sanders (Colorado)
I could have gone with a couple of other coaches here, but I think Deion Sanders is more deserving of being on here. In his three seasons in Boulder, he is 16-21 and just 9-18 in conference play between the Big 12 and Pac-12 (R.I.P.).
While he did have a great 2024 season that came out of nowhere, last season was a major disappointment as they finished 3-9. It tells me that Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter covered up a lot more than I realized during their time in Boulder.
Between constant roster turnover and staff changes, it feels like every year looks completely different for better or for worse. Maybe the shine has worn off a bit, but it feels like this Colorado program doesn’t have the spotlight it once did when he arrived.
For a coach who is set to make $10 million dollars in 2026, Colorado must be better. Winning can fix that, of course, but if Colorado has another year like last season, then things are going to get interesting in Boulder. My only question is if I would call it quits before they even get the chance to fire him.
