Which coaches are on the hottest seat and under the most pressure after Week 1 of the college football season?
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The hot seat can cool off really, really quickly. One win doesn’t secure a coaching gig, but it makes life a whole lot easier when you come up with a blowout win like Lovie Smith got this week against Akron.
Or, the hot seat can go from flaming to icy after one quarter – just check with Chris Ash of Rutgers on that, after UMass got up FAST, but everything changed around in the second half.
Overall, the hot seat is about pressure. Which ten coaches are going to be feeling it if they don’t win … NOW.
The hot seat rankings are done in two ways. First, the five coaches who need a win for job security, and then the five coaches who aren’t in any real danger of being fired – yet – but could desperately use something positive.
Coaches On The Hot Seat: Win, Or Else
5. Matt Luke, Ole Miss/Chad Morris, Arkansas
It’s a little more like Rich Rodriguez is on the hot seat at Ole Miss. The Rebel program that’s used to cranking out points and yards in chunks. Instead, against a questionable Memphis defense that’s not supposed to hold teams to anything under a gajillion yards, the Ole Miss offense went absolutely nowhere in the 15-10 loss. At least Memphis is supposed to be good.
Arkansas got by Portland State 20-13 in what was supposed to be a showcase game for the improved offense.
The Hogs got close to 400 yards, was +2 in turnover margin, and even got out to an early lead, but it was way, way, way too much of a struggle to get by.
Now Arkansas has to deal with Ole Miss in what should be a game for the SEC’s hottest seat. The Rebels get SE Louisiana after this, and then it’s on to Alabama. Arkansas at least has it easy for a while with Colorado State and San Jose State up after going to Oxford.
4. Clay Helton, USC
The Trojans had to survive a dangerous finish against Fresno State. The USC defense came up with a late pick in the end zone, and there was a scary bobbled snap in the victory formation, but it was still a fight. And it was a win.
But now the Trojans have to go on without starting QB JT Daniels, who was lost for the year to a torn ACL. Worse yet, the team was a bit too shaky with Stanford, at BYU, Utah, at Washington, at Notre Dame up next.
3. Randy Edsall, UConn
The Huskies got a decent defensive performance after a miserable 2018, and it got a win, but it came against a bad Wagner team.
Now Edsall is 5-20 in part two of his UConn career.
The defense held the Seahawks to under 200 yards and was amazing on third downs, but it was still a three point win over a mediocre FCS team. It was a nice start and a good tune-up, but with Illinois, at Indiana, at UCF, USF, and Houston up next, that might be it for then until late October.
2. Charlie Strong, USF
For most head coaches, getting stomped on by Wisconsin isn’t that big a deal. The Badgers are a top 20 team, and maybe even top 15 – but to open up the season in a showcase game at home and lose 49-0 … that’s not okay.
Making it worse is how it all looked coming off a miserable finish to last season. The Bulls started out 7-0 under Strong in 2018, lost the last six games, and now kicked off the season with this. The schedule is soon going to get a whole lot easier, but a good performance this week at Georgia Tech would be a massive help to ease the tension.
1. Will Muschamp, South Carolina
$18 million. That’s the buyout of Will Muschamp’s contract.
One more performance by his team like the one against North Carolina, and that might seem like a bargain for Gamecock fans.
South Carolina played it way, way, way too safe, and it got burned when it ran into a Tar Heel team that cranked up the momentum an energy when needed. UNC got a huge game out of its true freshman quarterback Sam Howell, and USC got two interceptions – including a miserable late one – from it’s four-year starter Jake Bentley, and now it’s uh-oh time.
Muschamp is a painful 22-18 in just over three seasons, and after Charleston Southern next week, it’s going to get really, really brutal with Alabama, at Missouri, Kentucky, at Georgia and Florida to follow. Throw in dates against Texas A&M and Clemson, too, and this loss to North Carolina all but locks down a losing season.
NEXT: 5 Coaches Who Won’t Get Fired, But Need A Win
Coaches On The Hot Seat: Won’t Get Fired, But … WIN NOW IN A BLOWOUT
5. Chip Kelly, UCLA
It was a new year coming off a building season around a slew of young players. It was a chance on a national scale to show that the Kelly system was about to rise up and rock. It was a moment to be sharper, more explosive, and stronger. Instead, the Bruins were brutally ugly against a Bearcat team that was steadily solid on the way to a surprisingly easy win.
Cincinnati is good, but 218 yards of total offense? Nine penalties? Four turnovers. This was a total disaster, and now the 3-10 start under Kelly might get a whole lot worse in a hurry with San Diego State, Oklahoma, at Washington State, and at Arizona to follow.
4. Kalani Sitake, BYU
And now what is BYU supposed to do? The schedule looks rough on paper, but Tennessee is certainly beatable. USC is certainly beatable. Toledo, USF and San Diego State hardly set the world on fire in Week 1. But there’s also Washington, Boise State, and a trip to Utah State, too – BYU isn’t going to run the table.
There’s no College Football Playoff dream to shoot for. There’s no conference title to play for – obviously – and the program is locked into the Hawaii Bowl if it gets to six wins. So the entire season came down to whether or not it could finally beat Utah at home in the rivalry game, and … pfffffffft.
30-12. The season isn’t over, but … this was a hit.
Of course, going 9-3ish would be more than fine at this point, but 6-6 that started out with a loss to the arch-rival leaves no margin for mediocrity.
3. Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech
It was all going so well. He had four straight seasons with nine wins or more between Memphis and Virginia Tech, and he started out 2-0 last season with a dominant win over Florida State. And then the Hokies lost seven of their last 11 games including the Military Bowl against Cincinnati. It was a rebuilding year, though. This season, everything needed to go back to normal.
It still might. Before closing out at Virginia, the Hokies have about as easy a schedule outside of road games at Miami and Notre Dame. The 35-28 loss at Boston College, though, was a bad look with too many turnovers, no running game, and yet another loss.
2. Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee
It’s not like the bar is set all that high. No one is expecting national championships quite yet. No one is even expecting a push for the SEC East. All that’s being asked of Jeremy Pruitt in Year Two as the head coach is an improvement, hope for a turnaround in the near future, a bowl game, and to not be a national embarrassment.
Losing to a Georgia State team that went 2-10 last season was that last part.
There were a whole slew of positives. QB Jarrett Guarantano had a nice performance, and the pass defense was solid, but the running game was non-existent and giving up 17 points in the fourth quarter was a disaster.
There’s still time to go bowling. BYU, UT Chattanooga, UAB, Vanderbilt – all are winnable. Come up with a few stunners, and it’s possible to get to six wins.
At least the expectations now couldn’t be much lower.
1. Willie Taggart, Florida State
What hurts the most is that Florida State looked SO good for a half.
All of a sudden, this was the Seminole team everyone was waiting for under Taggart. The playmakers were flying around, the offense was humming, and there was even a little bit of swagger.
And then a true freshman ripped all of that to shreds.
Boise State and QB Hank Bachmeier went off for 621 total yards, outscored FSU 17-0 in the second half, and in the end, handed Taggart and FSU a defeat that was every bit as painful as the entire 2018 season.
However, with ULM, Louisville, Wake Forest and Alabama State still on the schedule, there’s a chance to get to six wins and go bowling again, but that’s hardly where Florida State football is supposed to be. For Taggart, that first half FSU team needs to show up for a full 60 minutes over the next 11 games.
