Four college coaches facing the most pressure to win in Week 1

Week 1 of the college football season has several marquee matchups with blue bloods. 

A win can set up a program with momentum to reach the College Football Playoff. Some coaches will be feeling the heat for the rest of the season with an early loss. 

Here are four coaches who are facing the most pressure to win in Week 1.

LSU HC Brian Kelly

Kelly's Achilles' heel at LSU has been Week 1. The Tigers have lost five season openers in a row, three of which have come under Kelly. 

Kelly's program lost to Florida State in 2022-23 and USC in 2024. With a tough SEC schedule, those losses all but guaranteed the Tigers would miss the CFP. 

Led by Heisman Trophy contender Garrett Nussmeier, No. 9 LSU needs to knock off No. 4 Clemson at Memorial Stadium. 

Kelly is making nearly $10 million a year to coach the Tigers; it's about time the program begins the season with a victory over a prestigious school.

Florida State HC Mike Norvell

Coming off a 13-1 season in 2023 in which they were a Jordan Travis injury away from making the CFP, no coach fell flat on their face more last year than Norvell. 

The Seminoles started the regular season ranked No. 10 before finishing with a 2-10 record. 

Norvell needs to prove 2024 was a fluke, and FSU's Week 1 matchup against No. 8 Alabama is a chance to show just that. Florida State doesn't need to pull off the upset, but it can't be blown out by an Alabama program that has a new quarterback, Ty Simpson, under center.

Alabama HC Kalen DeBoer

Alabama had an underwhelming season under DeBoer in his first year with the program in 2024. Upsets to unranked Vanderbilt and Oklahoma derailed the Crimson Tide from making the CFP. 

The margins for DeBoer are the same here. Alabama can't drop its season opener against FSU if it wants to make the CFP for the first time under a head coach not named Nick Saban.

Fans were already frustrated with the way Alabama finished last season. Questions about DeBoer's future in Tuscaloosa will grow louder with a loss to an unranked Seminoles team.

Miami HC Mario Cristobal

Cristobal has brought Miami back to relevance in the CFP conversation, but he has yet to get the Hurricanes over the hump as he enters his fourth season with the program.

Miami looked like it was trending toward making the CFP in 2024 until it lost two of its final three regular-season contests with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, Cam Ward, under center.

The No. 10 Hurricanes enter the regular season with the upper hand at quarterback, with Carson Beck being one of the highest-paid players in college football this year. No. 6 Notre Dame is giving redshirt freshman CJ Carr his first start.

Sunday night's home game at Hard Rock Stadium is Miami's best chance to show that it is back under Cristobal. No other teams are currently ranked on the rest of the Hurricanes' schedule.

A loss to the Irish will make fans wonder if Cristobal can lead the program to become a true national contender instead of a semiannual pretender.