Someone cue up Eminem, because you only have one shot to win your first game as a head coach.
FBS welcomed a record* 34 members to its Head Coaching Hiring Class of 2026, and after eight months of preparing, it's time for them to go play. Within the class of 34, 11 are head coaches for the very first time, three more are still settling into life as a head coach after taking over on an interim or mid-season replacement basis, and the remaining 20 have done this before. The Class of '26 got off to a 2-0 start in Week 0, with Tavita Pritchard of Stanford defending home turf against Hawaii and Charles Huff kicking off his Memphis tenure with a road upset of UNLV.
For the remaining 32 head coaches, their debuts range from "gulp" to "yawn." On the far end of the "gulp" spectrum: Casey Woods makes his head coaching debut as he leads Missouri State into Kyle Field as 40-point underdogs against No. 8 Texas A&M; Neal Brown leads North Texas for the first time against defending national champion Indiana in the Big Noon window; and Kirby Moore's first game at Washington State comes in the Apple Cup as 23-point road underdogs to No. 17 Washington. We got that out of the way, and there's nowhere to go from here but up is the most likely postgame locker room message in those three.
On the other end of the spectrum, James Franklin opens at Virginia Tech with a light jog against VMI, and Kyle Whittingham's 266th game as a head coach and first at Michigan comes at home against Western Michigan.
In between, there are a number of coaches whose teams have to hit the ground running and hope to not bust their teeth open on the pavement:
-- Billy Napier's James Madison debut comes against longtime rival Liberty.
-- Jim Mora's first Colorado State game happens to be the 118th Border War against Wyoming.
-- All eyes of the nation will be hoping for Lane Kiffin to slip up at home against Clemson.
-- Pete Golding's first Ole Miss team plays a spotlight game Sunday night against a ranked Louisville team at a neutral site.
-- Tosh Lupoi and Bob Chesney rekindle a Pac-12 rivalry against each other in the After Dark matchup on Saturday night.
-- Alex Golesh travels to Atlanta to face Baylor on national TV.
-- Mike Jacobs tries to pull an upset over Michigan State, while Pat Fitzgerald tries not to be upset at home by Toledo.
(* 34 is the largest in FootballScoop's records, dating back to 2008. It's possible, but unlikely, previous hiring classes were larger considering FBS membership has grown by 25 percent since then.)
Here's hoping the Class of 2026 loses themselves in the moment and doesn't show up to the postgame press conference with Mom's spaghetti on their coaching shirt.
FIRST GAME AS A HEAD COACH, PERIOD
- Tosh Lupoi, Cal: vs. UCLA (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
- Collin Klein, Kansas State: vs. Nicholls (7 p.m. ET, ESPN+)
- Will Stein, Kentucky: vs. Youngstown State (1 p.m. ET, SEC Network+)
- Casey Woods, Missouri State: at No. 8 Texas A&M (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)
- Rob Harley, Northern Illinois: at No. 22 Iowa (4:15 p.m. ET, BTN)
- John Hauser, Ohio: at Nebraska (noon ET, FS1)
- JaMarcus Shepherd, Oregon State: at No. 24 Houston (noon ET, ESPN)
- Brian Hartline, South Florida: vs. FIU (7 p.m. ET, ESPN+)
- Tavita Pritchard, Stanford: debuted with a 37-27 win over Hawaii
- Alex Mortensen, UAB: at Illinois (9 p.m. ET Friday, BTN)
- Kirby Moore, Washington State: at No. 17 Washington (4 p.m. ET Sunday, NBC)
FIRST GAME, SORT OF
- Mark Carney, Kent State: at South Carolina (12:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
- Pete Golding, Ole Miss: vs. No. 24 Louisville at Nashville (7:30 p.m. ET Sunday, ABC)
- Morgan Scalley, Utah: vs. Idaho (9 p.m. ET Friday, ESPNU)
FIRST GAME AT HIS CURRENT SCHOOL
- Ryan Silverfield, Arkansas: vs. North Alabama (4:15 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
- Alex Golesh, Auburn: vs. Baylor at Atlanta (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
- Ryan Beard, Coastal Carolina: at West Virginia (noon ET, TNT)
- Jim Mora, Colorado State: vs. Wyoming (6 p.m. ET, USA)
- Jon Sumrall, Florida: vs. Florida Atlantic (7:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
- Jimmy Rogers, Iowa State: vs. Southeast Missouri State (1 p.m. ET, ESPN+)
- Billy Napier, James Madison: vs. Liberty (noon ET, ESPNU)
- Lane Kiffin, LSU: vs. Clemson (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
- Charles Huff, Memphis: debuted with a 27-21 road win over UNLV
- Kyle Whittingham, Michigan: vs. Western Michigan (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC)
- Pat Fitzgerald, Michigan State: vs. Toledo (8 p.m. ET Friday, FS1)
- Neal Brown, North Texas: at No. 6 Indiana (noon ET, Fox)
- Eric Morris, Oklahoma State: at Tulsa (3:45 p.m. ET, ESPNU)
- Matt Campbell, Penn State: vs. Marshall (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1)
- Blake Anderson, Southern Miss: vs. Alcorn State (5 p.m. ET, ESPN+)
- Mike Jacobs, Toledo: at Michigan State (8 p.m. ET Friday, FS1)
- Will Hall, Tulane: at Duke (3:30 p.m. ET, ACC Network)
- Bob Chesney, UCLA: at Cal (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
- Jason Candle, UConn: vs. Lafayette (noon ET)
- James Franklin, Virginia Tech: vs. VMI (7:30 p.m. ET, ACC Network)