College football coaches who are on the hot seat

The good news is that quarterback Cameron Friel is back after his Mountain West Freshman of the Year season. The bad news is that this program is floundering under Marcus Arroyo. After going 0-6 in the pandemic-ravaged 2020, the Rebels went 2-10 last year ... with a 14-game losing streak spanning both seasons. This has been a lousy program for about two decades now, and with a new stadium (that they share with the NFL Raiders) and the sports entertainment options in Vegas growing (the NHL is already there; MLB's Athletics are rumored to relocate there; they are a prime NBA expansion candidate). The scariest thought is that UNLV football could be a wasteland, if it isn't already. With the winds of conference realignment blowing rapidly, the Rebels don't want to be left out of the discussion because the football program is in poor shape. Arroyo did have the Rebels win two of their final four games last season so there is a sliver of optimism. 

Syracuse's AD says Dino Babers isn't on the hot seat. We say otherwise. Babers has been to just one bowl game in six seasons and that 2018 season (a 10-3 record) seems more like a blip -- the Orange are just 5-21 in ACC play since then. The ACC is about to ditch divisions will need more than an upset win over Clemson and a down Florida State to contend for a league title. That 2018 season got him a contract extension to 2023, so cutting Babers a year short of that wouldn't be damaging to Syracuse. This is a make-or-break year.

Would North Carolina actually fire Mack Brown? Probably not, unless the Tar Heels bottom out and have a disastrous season. Disastrous is a point of view, since many Heels fans feel that the 2021 season was disappointing. A preseason top ten team ended up 6-7 with several head-scratching performances. The negative recruiting about him possibly retiring has already happened and Brown has had to openly address those rumors. The fact of the matter is that Brown is now in his 70s and the end of his career is indeed near. His hiring nearly four years ago was looked at as a legend stabilizing the program so an heir apparent could eventually take over -- are we at that point? UNC likely wouldn't fire Brown but instead "kick him upstairs" to a different role. Still, the heat is on for Brown to get Carolina out of mediocrity.  

Brown's Mountaineers haven't had much success over his three years at the helm. The 'Neers have gone 17-18 during that time and finished 6th or lower in a relatively open Big 12. The offense will be more dynamic with new offensive coordinator Graham Harrell and USC/Georgia transfer quarterback JT Daniels. They also have a lot of continuity on their offensive and defensive lines, leading to team stability during the season. Plus, this will be Brown's season to prove the overhaul from the Dana Holgorsen program is complete. If Brown struggles again with all of these favorable starting points, it may be time to move on. 

There has always been a lot of room for Collins to revamp this program since he updated Georgia Tech's offense from the triple-option style former coach Paul Johnson employed. It has been really difficult, as evidenced by Tech's 9-25 record over the last three years and a six-game losing streak to end 2021. The last two losses were 55-0 to Notre Dame and 45-0 to Georgia. That ending really suffocated any hope that this was turning around. Instead, the Jackets' best players were transferring and the coaching staff was overhauled. There are so many new players to try to work in that it almost seems as if 2022 is destined to be another long one for the Yellow Jackets ... and the last for Collins. It doesn't help that the schedule starts with Clemson and ends with Georgia. 

The Buffaloes have watched about two dozen players transfer out and more than half of their coaching staff had to be replaced. This comes on the heels of a 4-8 record where the Buffs possessed one of the nation's worst offenses. Remember that Dorrell was a quick hire after Mel Tucker left for Michigan State and an incident with a photographer after a loss to USC last year showed the frustrations in the program. The program. There are voices out there that Colorado isn't very interested in investing in its football program (which could explain how Dorrell got the job in the first place). With the Pac-12 in a big transition, it will be interesting to see how Dorrell and this program move forward. 

Edwards seemingly is more of a "when" than "if". There's been an NCAA investigation hovering over the program over recruiting issues and his offensive and defensive coordinators resigned while other coaches were fired. They had a slew of players transfer and the roster is in full rebuild mode. The CEO experiment where Herm Edwards runs the show while his coaches do the coaching saw all those cracks in the logic filled by rule-breaking. The fact that the optics of the scandal that Edwards has his job and his assistants don't have rubbed many in the coaching community the wrong way. Unless the Sun Devils contend for a Pac-12 title (and even if they do) the expectation is that this will be Edwards final season in Tempe. 

Arizona has been absolutely awful over the last three seasons -- going 1-16 in the last two seasons combined and losing 23 of their last 24 games. A year ago, the hiring of Jedd Fisch was laughed at (even I was down on him) and the program seemed to be spiraling down the drain. He's still on the hot seat, but there is a speck of light at the end of the tunnel -- he recruited arguably the best class in the Pac-12. Still, this is a bad program in a league that is in flux. Fisch is known as a rah-rah guy but it will take game-planning and schemes to actually win games. Does he have that in him? 

How much longer can Frost go without getting this thing turned around? He is 15-29 over his four seasons at his alma mater with no bowl appearances and no winning seasons. In a weird twist, 2021 was both his worst season and best season in Lincoln. The Cornhuskers were 3-9 (1-8 in Big Ten play) which was their worst record since 1957, yet Nebraska lost 8 of 9 games by one score or less and actually played both Michigan and Ohio State well before losing. Long story short, they lost a lot of close games. The trick for 2022 is to win those close games. Frost has had play-calling duties taken away from him, and his contract was restructured. This has to be a show-me season for Frost ... and that starts with showing some more wins. 

Harsin is in a weird situation, which seems to be the norm for coaches at Auburn. Fans originally weren't happy with his hiring and even more so after an uneven 6-7 first season (which saw the Tigers nearly topple Alabama). After the season, Harsin was part of an investigation where players and coaches claimed he was abusing them. He survived that, though several players and coaches left the program, and we're off to Year 2 of the Harsin era. Being Auburn, a great season can get you in the fans and administration's good graces as quickly as a bad season gets you run out of town. Too bad this team isn't talented enough to challenge Alabama, Texas A&M, or Arkansas in the division. 

Butch Jones has fallen down the coaching ladder about as quickly as he rose up it. The Red Wolves were terrible last season, going 2-10, which bottomed out a program that had been built up by Blake Anderson (who is now at Utah State). The Sun Belt is improving by the year, and Arkansas State doesn't want to be left behind. An excellent recruiting class likely buys him some time, but they can't have another 10-loss season.  

Back in 2018, Seth Littrell and the North Texas Mean Green were on fire. The program had back-to-back 9-win seasons and appeared in three straight bowl games while being a significant player in Conference USA. Littrell nearly left to become the next head coach at Kansas State, but they couldn't agree on a contract. Fast forward four years and the Mean Green are coming off their third straight losing season (though they went to a bowl the last two years) and it looks like North Texas' success was tied more to QB Mason Fine than Littrell. Littrell even had his UNT contract amended to lower his buyout, which has just two seasons remaining. If the Mean Green have another bad season, expect Littrell to be shown the door. North Texas leaves C-USA for the AAC next July and it would be an optimal time for the program to go in a new direction while entering a new league. 

Loeffler is at that fork in the road when it comes to rebuilding a program. He's been 7-22 over his three seasons, but four of those wins (including a win over Minnesota) came last season. So is this program steadily improving, or does the 2-6 record in the MAC (including a really bad loss to Akron) show that this rebuild isn't moving fast enough? Scot Loeffler knows that MAC's East division isn't very strong, so another poor league season could see him replaced. 

Just think how far this program has fallen. Bobby Bowden and Jimbo Fisher had this program in a bowl game every season from 1982 to 2017, winning three national championships along the way. Since Fisher's final season in 2017, the Seminoles have reached one bowl game in four seasons ... and the coach was fired mid-season. Norvell is entering his third season in Tallahassee and while there seems to be a calm within the administration, that isn't the case with the fanbase. Norvell is a good coach and the kind of guy you rally behind but fans want wins. Clemson dominated the Atlantic Division until last year, and then Wake Forest took it over. That can't happen at Florida State where it spent a long time living at the top of the polls and owning the ACC. If Norvell gets the Noles to a bowl game, that is tangible progress that should keep him around a bit longer. Another subpar season (which could happen with a schedule that includes Clemson, Florida, NC State, LSU, Wake Forest, Miami and a tough Louisiana team) and it will be hard to justify keeping him around.

Hot seat may seem like a stretch, but this is Texas we are talking about. The Longhorns went 5-7 last season including a six-game losing streak (with a 57-56 loss to Kansas mixed in) and there was a lot of heat thrown at the program. I mean, Tom Herman was 32-18 in four years and was canned; Charlie Strong was fired after back-to-back 5-7 seasons. So it is fair to add Steve Sarkisian to this list despite him having possibly the most significant upside of anyone here. He's got Ohio State transfer Quinn Ewers taking over at quarterback and running back Bijan Robinson on some preseason Heisman lists. Xavier Worthy caught 12 TDs last year and the offensive line has the potential to be a really nasty bunch. Oh, and Arch Manning will be arriving next season. Having said all that, the defense had some bad moments last year (see: Kansas) and the schedule is tough (see: Alabama). Sark is trying to build something and it's more likely than not he'll get to see 2023 -- but all bets are off if the Horns produce yet another disappointing season.

When a coach gets fired after going 4-8 in his third season after going 17-8 in his first two, you can't be the replacement that goes 3-18 in the following two seasons. That's where we are at in Tampa as South Florida has won just won one FBS game over the last two seasons ... and that was against Temple. There's a significant investment in the program as an indoor facility debuts this season as plans for an on-campus stadium are being discussed, so they want a worthy program using them. USF has BYU, Florida, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF on the schedule, which makes beating teams like East Carolina, Tulane and ... yes ... Temple again a must to show some progress. Scott seems to have the backing of the athletic department but that could soften with another bad season. 

David Shaw is a really good coach, but there has been rumblings that Stanford's program has gone stale. One of the most reliably good programs has not played in a bowl the last three seasons and their style of play is looked at as old school in today's game. The Cardinal has gone 11-19 over those three seasons and are projected to finish in the bottom half of the Pac-12 this season. Something else to note: the transfer portal is harder for Stanford to navigate than most other FBS schools. They can't dip into the portal to replace players as quickly as other schools can poach Stanford players. All of that combined makes the Shaw era look like it has run its course. 

It isn't that bad at Louisville. Satterfield is 18-19 in his three years with the Cardinals and has taken the program to two bowl games. He's finished with a sub-.500 record for two straight seasons, the AD who hired him is gone and the fanbase isn't very thrilled with him after he got caught looking at the South Carolina job. Meanwhile, the ACC Atlantic Division has watched Wake Forest and NC State pass Louisville in on-field relevance. Needless to say, winning is a great cologne but another off-putting season and the Cardinals may try to take another swing at bringing in another coach.

It is Year 4 for Jake Spavital at Texas State and it seems as if his job is on the line after a 9-27 start to his Bobcats career. Spavital has been all in on the transfer portal and choosing to build his team rather than through traditional recruiting. The Sun Belt isn't just some low-run league anymore as it is attempting to be the best Group of 5 league. Texas State is entering its 10th season of FBS play and has one winning season and no bowl appearances. The athletic department doesn't want this program to fall any further. Again, Spavital needs to show this program is building towards something and not just stuck in the mud. 

Taggart has had one of the most unique coaching careers we've seen. He rose through the ranks during stints at Western Kentucky and South Florida and claimed the Oregon job in 2017. After one season, he bolted for Florida State where they would miss their first bowl game in 27 years. He would be fired in the middle of his second season with the Noles where Florida State had to pay Taggart's buyout, Oregon for buying out his contract there, and South Florida where Oregon was still paying his buyout there.

On to FAU where Taggart's Owls have been middling in his two seasons in Boca Raton. He's 10-11 after losing their final four games of the 2021 season. The coaching staff has been rebuilt (a pretty common theme among the hot seat coaches) and Taggart's buyout goes down significantly after December 1st, meaning Florida Atlantic may want to see significant progress in the program as it enters the AAC next season.