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College football coaches on the hot seat heading into the season
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

College football coaches on the hot seat heading into the season

Of those on last year's preseason list of coaches on the hot seat , 10 of the 20 were fired, one left his job for another one and four are back on this year's list. One, Texas Tech's Kliff Kingsbury, was fired and ended up as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. So just because you start out on a hot seat doesn't necessarily mean you can't have a big season...of course you may need one to keep your job though.

As we enter the 2019 season, there is a new crop of head coaches who are feeling the heat to turn around their programs' fates. There are some coaches who survived last year's round of firings and are back on the hot coals once again. Some are pressured to win big — bigger than what they had been doing — while others are taking over tough situations where it is time to deliver. Most just flat out have to get it done now.

So here are the 20 coaches who are on the hot seat heading into the 2019 season.

 
1 of 20

Chris Ash, Rutgers

Chris Ash, Rutgers
Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

Ash is a regular on this list but has gotten a bit of a pass since the Scarlet Knights program was in such disarray when he took the job and has been overmatched since joining the Big Ten. We are now entering the fourth season in the Ash era, and Rutgers has gone just 7-29 and has lost 24 of 27 conference games (some by obscenely large margins). It is a difficult job to turn it around, but another winless Big Ten slate could mean it is time for someone else to try.  

 
2 of 20

Brent Brennan, San Jose State

Brent Brennan, San Jose State
D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports

The Spartans have been horrible in Brennan's two seasons in San Jose, amassing a 3-22 mark with the only wins being over Cal Poly, Wyoming and UNLV. Brennan is a nice guy who has the perfect optimistic demeanor to helm a complete rebuilding project, but San Jose State just isn't good. The program isn't without talent, but it isn't doing anything to indicate it's going in the right direction. Another double-digit loss season and Brennan is gone.  

 
3 of 20

Bob Davie, New Mexico

Bob Davie, New Mexico
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Davie is entering his eighth season in Albuquerque and aside from a decent two-year stretch in 2015 and 2016, it hasn't gone very well. The Lobos are coming off consecutive 3-9 seasons in which they won just one Mountain West game each year. He was suspended in February 2018 for mishandling off-field incidents involving some of his players. It's been a tough eight years that isn't paying off with on-field success anymore. Another 3-9 season could see Davie out.

 
4 of 20

Dana Dimel, UTEP

Dana Dimel, UTEP
Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Hey, UTEP won a game last year! After an 0-12 season in 2017, the Miners beat Rice for their only win in 2018 — Dimel's first season in El Paso. It may be a stretch to think his seat is extremely hot, but the Miners can't go for another one-win or winless season.

 
5 of 20

Randy Edsall, UConn

Randy Edsall, UConn
David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Edsall has been a mainstay on hot seat lists for a couple of years since returning to Connecticut. The Huskies have gone just 4-10 in his two seasons, and he's had some controversy involving his coaching staff. Add in the fact that the Huskies are heading to an uncertain future with the university leaving the American Athletic Conference after this season (or the next), and they aren't a desirable option for any other conference. 

 
6 of 20

Shawn Elliott, Georgia State

Shawn Elliott, Georgia State
Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports

Georgia State has been around for less than a decade and has struggled for much of it. After taking the Panthers to the Cure Bowl in his first season, Elliott's bunch fell to a 2-10 mark last year. The defense was horrible, and the team had some really bad losses (ahem, Texas State). Injuries were a factor last year, but if Georgia State continues to slide then this could be it. 

 
7 of 20

Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech

Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech
Scott Taetsch-USA TODAY Sports

It's always tough to replace a legend, and that's what Fuente did when he took over for Frank Beamer in 2015. After making a nice splash by winning the ACC's Coastal Division in the first season, the Hokies have slipped a bit. Last year the Hokies lost to Old Dominion and had to schedule an extra game against Marshall just to qualify for the Military Bowl. Tech fans aren't used to this and don't want to be. If this keeps trending downward then Fuente may be run out of town. 

 
8 of 20

Clay Helton, USC

Clay Helton, USC
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

USC has struggled to find consistency in the decade since Pete Carroll left for the NFL. Helton did get to the Rose Bowl and Cotton Bowl with Sam Darnold as his quarterback but fell to 5-7 season last year without him. Now Helton is on a scorching hot seat, with fans and alumni dreaming of talking Urban Meyer out of retirement again to take over the Trojans. A big buyout likely bought him this season but anything less than a run at a Pac-12 title (and maybe more) could force a change. 

 
9 of 20

Matt Luke, Ole Miss

Matt Luke, Ole Miss
Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

Luke took over in 2017 when Hugh Freeze was forced out and earned the full-time gig after a 6-6 season. Last season the Rebels went 1-7 in SEC play and had one of the worst defenses in the country. The defensive coordinator was fired and the offensive coordinator left, so Luke is reassembling the coaching staff and the SEC isn't a league that allows for long-term turnarounds. If Luke can't get Ole Miss back into the mix and winning games in October and November than the team will be in the market for a new coach. 

 
10 of 20

Gus Malzahn, Auburn

Gus Malzahn, Auburn
Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

First off, hot seat doesn't always mean you are close to being fired. Malzahn's high buyout keeps his job a bit safer than most. Still, the natives are restless in Alabama, and their anger is focused on the head coach. The Tigers followed up an appearance in the SEC Championship game with a lackluster 3-5 conference mark and were destroyed by rival Alabama. That's been Auburn in the Malzahn era: inconsistency. Meanwhile, the big bad Tide across the state continue to rack up playoff appearances, and Malzahn keeps frustrating Tiger fans. 

 
11 of 20

Doug Martin, New Mexico State

Doug Martin, New Mexico State
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Martin has been the head coach in Las Cruces since 2013 and has only once produced a winning season (7-6 mark in 2017). New Mexico State has lost at least nine games in each of the other seasons, including last year's 3-9 record. Granted, Martin led the Aggies to their first bowl game in 60 years in 2017, so there is some leeway granted to Martin. But as an independent program now, it needs to have something for fans to believe in. 

 
12 of 20

Philip Montgomery, Tulsa

Philip Montgomery, Tulsa
Derik Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

After reaching a bowl in his first two seasons, Montgomery's Golden Hurricane have gone just 5-19 since. There was some promise as Tulsa hung with Texas in Austin (it lost, 28-21) but that was just the beginning of a seven-game losing streak. Montgomery has been sort of safe despite the two ugly seasons, but that could heat up considerably with another stinker. 

 
13 of 20

Chad Morris, Arkansas

Chad Morris, Arkansas
Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

Morris' first season in Fayetteville was bad. Really bad. The Razorbacks went 2-10, which marked the most losses in school history. Their lone wins were over Tulsa and Eastern Illinois, and one of their losses was to 3-9 Colorado State. Now Morris is trying to overhaul the offense from a power running scheme to a passing one, so there will be some growing pains. He's in the second year of a six-year contract, so it may take another horrendous season for the school to pull the plug on this. 

 
14 of 20

Will Muschamp, South Carolina

Will Muschamp, South Carolina
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Muschamp took over a South Carolina program that was a bit in flux. He inherited Steve Spurrier's recruits, who weren't as top-of-the-line as usual, so there was some patience given to the new head coach. We are in the fourth year now when a coach is putting a stamp on the program. The Gamecocks have been 12-12 in SEC play and just 22-17 overall. They went 7-6 overall last year, but that included wins over Coastal Carolina, Chattanooga and Akron. Getting blown out by Virginia (28-0) in the Belk Bowl stings a lot and puts some heat on Muschamp in 2019. By the way, the Gamecocks may have the toughest schedule in the nation, with Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and Texas A&M on tap.

 
15 of 20

Mike Neu, Ball State

Mike Neu, Ball State
Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

It is Year 4 for Neu, and it's time to show some real improvement in Muncie. The Cardinals have gone 10-26 in his first three seasons and have lost 20 of 24 MAC games. The former Ball State quarterback has taken an interesting path to the head job at his alma mater, but it hasn't resulted in success. There was some improvement shown last season with three conference wins (Ball State totaled just one in Neu's first two years), but it may take a bowl appearance for him to make it past this year. 

 
16 of 20

Tony Sanchez, UNLV

Tony Sanchez, UNLV
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Sanchez was already on a bit of a hot seat when he was hired away from Bishop Gorman High School and has stayed on it, as he has yet to have a winning season in four years in Vegas. He is 16-32, but he has actually been positive at raising money for facilities and the energy around the program has been its best in years. Is that improvement more important that what happens on the field? Maybe. But Sanchez needs to break through to keep the momentum going. 

 
17 of 20

Kalani Sitake, BYU

Kalani Sitake, BYU
Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports

Sitake took his name off the hot seat last season due to wins over Arizona and Wisconsin early in the season and reaching the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. Still, the Cougars offense is one of the worst in the FBS, and they lost several close games. If Sitake can straighten out the offense (the defense has done well) and figure out how to win some of those close games then he'll be fine. Another ugly offensive season filled with tough losses could force BYU to revisit his job status. 

 
18 of 20

Lovie Smith, Illinois

Lovie Smith, Illinois
Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Smith's time to resurrect the Illini is running out. In three seasons he's won just four of 27 Big Ten games and has finished last in the West Division the last two seasons. Sure, this was a major rebuild and patience was needed, but Illinois' defense was brutal last season, giving up over 45 points per game in Big Ten play. This is an extremely young team that is adding a good recruiting class. If the Illini show they can be competitive in league play and can find a way to get to a bowl game, Lovie could survive the season. If not, it may be time to move on. 

 
19 of 20

Kevin Sumlin, Arizona

Kevin Sumlin, Arizona
Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

Sumlin was on the hot seat at Texas A&M his entire time there, and it has followed him to Tuscon. It figures, as the Wildcats entered the season with high hopes and a Heisman hopeful in Khalil Tate but crashed and burned to an uninspiring 5-7 record last year. This was a fan base that was sick and tired of 8-5 and 7-6 seasons. The Pac 12 South is wide open and the Wildcats should be...should be...in the thick of the race. Sure, it has been one season, but down the road Herm Edwards has reenergized Arizona State in his first season. If Arizona flails around again, then Sumlin could be out.  

 
20 of 20

Willie Taggart, Florida State

Willie Taggart, Florida State
Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports

Yes, Taggart has been in Tallahassee for only one season, but he's already on an extremely hot seat. The 'Noles limped to a 5-7 season last year and missed a bowl game for the first time since 1981. Quarterback Deondre Francois was kicked off the team with no top recruit waiting in the wings. Florida State is watching Clemson win national championships while it has lost its championship coach to Texas A&M and fallen off the national map. Taggart is tasked with quickly turning that around or FSU may need to go after a big-name coach. 

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