ACC Football News & Notes: Five-Day Labor Day Marathon Highlights Week 1

The 2026 Atlantic Coast Conference football season steps into high gear starting Thursday night, launching five consecutive days and nights of league action through Labor Day. Coming off a dominant Week 0 in which ACC teams outscored opponents by a combined 86–54 score (+32 differential), the conference enters the weekend boasting strong poll representation and the nation’s most demanding non-conference slate.

Labor Day Weekend Slate and Scheduling Breakdown

• 12-Game Marathon: From Thursday, September 3 through Monday, September 7, 14 ACC programs will take the field across 12 scheduled matchups.
• Labor Day Tradition: Monday night’s marquee matchup between #19 SMU and Florida State marks the 17th consecutive year the ACC has played on Labor Day night, and the 20th time overall since 2005.
• Marquee Spotlight: On Saturday night, Death Valley hosts one of the nation’s premier non-conference battles when #11 LSU travels to face Clemson.
• Conference Format Transition: As the ACC transitions toward a nine-game league schedule, five programs will play eight conference games this fall due to preexisting non-conference Power Four scheduling agreements.

New Leadership: Three Programs Debut New Head Coaches

• California (Tosh Lupoi): Lupoi becomes the 35th head coach in Golden Bears history. The former Cal defensive lineman returns to Berkeley following four seasons as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Oregon, with additional collegiate stops at Alabama and Washington, alongside NFL experience with Cleveland, Atlanta, and Jacksonville.
• Stanford (Tavita Pritchard): Named the 37th head coach in program history, the 2009 Stanford graduate and former Cardinal quarterback returns to his alma mater. Pritchard spent the last three seasons as quarterbacks coach for the NFL’s Washington Commanders and steps into his first head coaching role.
• Virginia Tech (James Franklin): Following a successful 12-year tenure at Penn State, Franklin takes over in Blacksburg with more than 30 years of coaching experience. Holding a career head coaching record of 128–60 (including 104 victories at Penn State), Franklin has developed 18 All-Americans, 59 NFL Draft picks, and over 100 professional players.

We will return each week throughout the 2026 regular season with updated news, notes, and statistical breakdowns from around the Atlantic Coast Conference.