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15 college football coaches who are on the hot seat in 2017
Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images

15 college football coaches who are on the hot seat in 2017

With the 2017 college football season upon us, coaches are starting their journey of taking their teams to a conference championship and a possibly a major bowl game. Some, however, are already under enormous pressure to right their ships or else they will lose their gigs. There are coaches from powerful programs on this list who just haven't reached the heights the fan base expects. There are coaches who just haven't gotten their programs off the ground. Some haven't found the same success as they had elsewhere.  A few have just been plain bad.

Here are 15 head coaches who could really use a big year to make sure they still have a job in 2018. 

 
1 of 15

Butch Jones, Tennessee

Butch Jones, Tennessee
Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Tennessee fans are waiting to see Butch Jones return the Vols to the heights of the Phillip Fulmer days. And just when you think they'll return to the glory years, it just doesn't happen. For example, after beginning the season 5-0 last year, the Vols lost three straight and finished the year 9-4. Jones has recruited a ton of talent to Knoxville, but the progress expected isn't happening.

 
2 of 15

Brett Bielema, Arkansas

Brett Bielema, Arkansas
Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Bielema is entering his fifth season at Arkansas and he hasn't enjoyed the success in Fayetteville he had previously at Wisconsin. The Razorbacks are 25-26 and are coming off two crushing losses to lowly Missouri and blowing a huge lead to Virginia Tech in their loss in the Belk Bowl. The SEC is a fickle place and while it is unfair to expect Arkansas to topple Alabama in the pecking order, most expect Bielema to at least contend in the conference once in a while. Another flat season and the Hogs could look for someone else to guide the program.

 
3 of 15

Rich Rodriguez, Arizona

Rich Rodriguez, Arizona
Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

Rodriguez is known for wearing out his welcome, and he may be doing so in Tucson. After a 10-4 season in 2014, Arizona has won just 10 games since – including a 3-9 mark last year which he won just one conference game. The AD that hired him is gone, so he doesn't have a long leash.

 
4 of 15

Dave Doeren, NC State

Dave Doeren, NC State
Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports

Dave Doeren got the dreaded vote of confidence from the athletic director late last year after a win over North Carolina. Well, Doeron has gone to three straight bowl games, but going 7-6 the last two years hasn't been inspiring. Doeren has won just nine ACC games in his four years and it won't get easier in the tough Atlantic Division. 

 
5 of 15

Brian Kelly, Notre Dame

Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Just a few years removed from playing for the National Championship, Brian Kelly's squad put up an uninspiring 4-8 season last year. Another season like that and Kelly, who reportedly was looking to jump ship during the offseason, will be out in South Bend. In 2017 he has a roster that could be successful, but if it turns ugly again, new leadership will be ushered in.

 
6 of 15

Jim Mora, UCLA

Jim Mora, UCLA
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Last year was a disappointment for UCLA, but star QB Josh Rosen was hurt. He gets a bit of a pass, but now has a healthy Rosen and a brutal schedule to navigate. They start off with Texas A&M before traveling to Stanford, Washington, Utah and USC in Pac-12 play. It may be a stretch to say that Mora's job is in jeopardy if the Bruins lose a couple of those games, but if they can't win any of them, the heat will be on in Westwood.

 
7 of 15

David Beaty, Kansas

David Beaty, Kansas
Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

Beaty got his biggest win last season when Kansas beat Texas for the first time since 1938. That has easily been the highlight of his time in Lawrence, where the Jayhawks have gone 2-22 in his two seasons as head coach. While Kansas technically improved to a 2-10 mark last season, another horrible season from Beaty's squad could cause another change.

 
8 of 15

Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M

Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Texas A&M came into the SEC with a bang, an 11-2 record in 2012 in the Johnny Manziel era. Over the last three years, though, A&M has sat still at 8-5 each season and they really aren't challenging in the West Division. With fellow former Houston coach Tom Herman taking over in Austin, the pressure is on for Sumlin to compete on the field with Alabama, but off the field with Texas.

 
9 of 15

Chris Ash, Rutgers

Chris Ash, Rutgers
Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

Ash is entering just his second season of a five-year contract with Rutgers so you'd think he'd have a little job security. Maybe, but Ash cannot have the kind of horrorshow season of a year ago. Rutgers went 2-10, including losing all nine Big Ten games. Rutgers lost to Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State by a combined score of 224-0. You read that right. In the 78-0 loss to Michigan, Rutgers gained 39 total yards and gained their first 1st down in the 4th quarter. Ash has got to show some sort of improvement to see his contract through to the end.

 
10 of 15

Steve Addazio, Boston College

Steve Addazio, Boston College
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Addazio has had three 7-6 seasons in his four years at Boston College. Sandwiched in there was an ugly 3-9 season in 2015. The Eagles have been to three bowls games during his tenure, but have won just two ACC games in the last two years. In the ultra-competitive ACC Atlantic Division, that's not going to cut it.

 
11 of 15

Doc Holliday, Marshall

Doc Holliday, Marshall
Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

Doc Holliday and Marshall are one of the more interesting coaching situations. Holliday has had great success at Marshall, going a combined 33-8 from 2013 to 2015 before sinking to 3-9 last year. That was enough for West Virginia governor Jim Justice to talk to Marshall officials about removing Holliday from his post. While that didn't happen, it's not good when the governor is chiming in on your job status.

 
12 of 15

Todd Graham, Arizona State

Todd Graham, Arizona State
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

After two consecutive 10-win seasons, Graham's Sun Devils have gone 11-14 over the last two years. Last season, Arizona State went just 2-7 in a very shaky Pac-12 South Division. Graham can dig them back out of this hole but he could be in real trouble if it doesn't get better soon. 

 
13 of 15

Paul Haynes, Kent State

Paul Haynes, Kent State
Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Haynes enters his fifth year at Kent State and needs a big year if he is to keep his job. He has gone a woeful 12-35 in this previous four seasons and has lost nine games in each of the last three. That's not getting it done, no matter how small your program is.

 
14 of 15

Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech

Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Kingsbury may have been a stud QB at Texas Tech, but he hasn't had the same success as their head coach. The Red Raiders have gone just 16-21 in the last three seasons and, despite having one of the best offenses in the nation, their horrendous defense has lost their fair share of shootouts. More of the same could cause the school to look in a different direction.

 
15 of 15

Lovie Smith, Illinois

Lovie Smith, Illinois
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Lovie Smith was brought in to bring a big name coach to a Big Ten school and hope that he could quickly turn the program around. Year one ended with a 3-9 record and not much doe the Illini to pin their hopes to. While it normally is too much to ask a coach to turn around a program like this quickly, Smith was hired to do just that. Who knows if an NFL coach will have the patience to essentially build an entire program. 

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