While the Big Ten has won back-to-back-to-back National Championships and the SEC has the prestige, heading into the 2026 college football season, the ACC may be the most interesting conference. The competition from top to bottom of the league is arguably the most competitive of any league, and some of the figures leading the programs are more polarizing than any league.
Most experts are predicting that Miami will run away with the conference, and even if they do the conference is incredibly intriguing. This season, several big name coaches enter the year on the hot seat while other programs are looking to continue building up momentum.
The 5 biggest questions in ACC Football
What does the second season of the Bill Belichick era look like?
When it was announced that Bill Belichick was taking on the challenge of coaching in college football at North Carolina, the news was shocking. All the excitement surrounding Belichick's potential at North Carolina lasted just one drive before TCU served the Tar Heels some humble pie. For the most part, this offseason has been much quieter than the chaos we saw last year, but the concerns are still real.
General Manager and longtime Bill Belichick friend Mike Lombardi was placed on administrative leave with few details surrounding the issue. The Tar Heels have turned over a ton of the roster once again, and if Belichick can't prove he's trending in the right direction, North Carolina will have every reason to pull the plug.
Can Mike Norvell save his career in 2026?
The fall from grace for Florida State head coach Mike Norvell has been staggering, and the 2026 season could easily see him become the first coach fired. In 2023, the Seminoles went 12-0 in the regular season winning the ACC, but Jordan Travis' injury kept the team out of the College Football Playoff, and seemingly broke the program.
Over the past two seasons, FSU has gone just 7-17 with a 3-13 record in ACC play which has been a disaster. Another season with miserable results could mark the end of the road for Mike Norvell, and he's once again banking on a ton of transfers to hopefully get the program trending back in the right direction.
What version of Dabo Swinney will we see in 2026?
Dabo Swinney is coming off a disasterious season as the Clemson Tigers entered the season with National Championship level expectations just to finish 7-6 with a 4-4 record in ACC play. Ever since making te College Football Playoff in 2020, the Tigers have made the CFP just once with a first round loss in the 2024 expanded format.
While Dabo Swinney hasn't contended for National Championships, he's put together solid years with a 47-20 record since the 2021 season. The question will become if another down season from Swinney either forces Clemson to look for a new head coach who better fits the era or if Dabo decides to move on to a new program or a new gig outside of coaching college football.
Can anyone knock off the Miami Hurricanes?
Heading into the season, Miami looks like the runaway favorite to win the ACC, but will the Hurricanes live up to the hype. The biggest concern for Miami fans would likely be the fact that Mario Cristobal's teams have slipped up when everyone least expects it in the regular season. The Canes have all the high level talent a team could want with Darian Mensah, Malachi Toney, and Damon Wilson II, but turnover in the trenches could play a factor in the team stumbling in an upset no one sees coming.
How does Duke replace Darian Mensah and Cooper Barkate?
Miami's deep run in the College Football Playoff makes everyone forget that the Duke Blue Devils won the ACC Championship last season. The driving force behind all the Blue Devils success last season was quarterback Darian Mensah who Duke made the highest paid player in the sport after his emergence as Tulane. As Miami tries to replicate Duke's success, they'll follow the same blueprint after stealing Mensah and star wide receiver Cooper Barkate away from the Blue Devils.
Given how late into the Transfer Portal cycle Duke lost Darian Mensah and Cooper Barkate, there weren't a ton of options left. Walker Eget transfers to Duke with a chance to instantly start after passing for 3,051 yards and 17 touchdowns last year at San Jose State. The numbers haven't been super impressive for Eget, but Manny Diaz showed his staff has an eye for talent with the move for Mensah giving this addition a ton of upside.
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