There’s always that subtle balance between what the students, alumni and general fan base of a college football team expect in terms of perceived success and what actually takes place on the field. When the distance between the former and latter becomes too pronounced in a not so good way, the proverbial pitchforks come out and fans clamor for heads to roll. As a head coach, a string of disappointing seasons is more often than not the death knell of your tenure especially if you’re at a high profile program.
More than ever, quick fixes are expected when it comes to turning around floundering football programs. It’s a “what have you done for me lately?” kind of world nowadays, and the window with which to demonstrate that concrete progress is being made seems to be as small as it’s ever been. Coaches are generally given a five-year contract but if the fans get impatient and the alumni and boosters can string together the cash for a buyout, the athletic director may be forced to prematurely hand out a pink slip.
A few programs have already made changes at some point during the current season. SMU was the first school up after head coach June Jones abruptly resigned two weeks into the season. Charlie Weis of Kansas was the first to have been officially fired after the Jayhawks 23-0 loss to Texas in week five. It’s a pretty shocking fall from grace for a man who once headed up Notre Dame and led them to appearances in two BCS bowl games. Buffalo’s Jeff Quinn was let go in week seven after the Bulls lost 37-27 to Eastern Michigan, dropping them to 3-4 and killing any momentum they had from last year’s bowl season. Troy head coach Larry Blakeney announced that after a successful stint at the head of the Trojan program starting in 1991 that he will be retiring at season’s end, necessitating another coaching search.
I’ve decided not to make this a rankings kind of article where I list each coach by how hot I believe his seat to be. Instead, I’ll start with the more high-profile programs and move down from there.
College Football Hot Seat Chronicles
Brady Hoke – Michigan Wolverines
This was a make or break year for Hoke and so far the latter has mostly occurred. Yes, the Wolverines have rebounded of late and gotten back to 5-5 needing one more win for bowl eligibility. However, their last two wins have come to reeling Indiana and a Northwestern team that would’ve won the game if they converted a late game two-point conversion. It’s a good thing the Wildcats missed out, because losing 11-10 in college football is not exactly the best way to make the case for remaining at the helm of a given program, let alone Michigan’s.
Athletic director Dave Brandon has already stepped down, making Hoke’s situation that much more precarious. I think the only way he saves himself is ruining Ohio State’s CFP hopes in the regular season finale. Even then, I’m not so certain. Back-to-back 7-5 seasons at college football’s winningest program when you’re biggest rival has yet to lose a Big Ten regular season game under Urban Meyer is unacceptable.
LAST WORD ON HOKE: GONE
Will Muschamp – Florida Gators
Like Hoke, Muschamp is another embattled coach at a high profile Power Five program used to competing for championships. What also makes them similar is the problem both men have had at developing a featured quarterback during their tenure. Both Devin Gardner in Hoke’s case and Jeff Driskel in case of Muschamp have not progressed as planned and in fact it could be argued they’ve regressed. Though Driskel was injured for most of last season, back in 2012 he threw for 12 touchdowns and five interceptions. So far in 2014, he has six touchdowns along side ten picks and has essentially been benched in favor of Treon Harris.
Saturday’s 23-20 overtime loss to South Carolina did not help his cause. The special teams blunders in the fourth quarter which allowed the Gamecocks to tie the game and force and extra period were as comical as they were disastrous. The “Fire Muschamp” chants were raining down loud and clear from the stands of the Swamp, and UF athletic director Jeremy Foley might have no other choice at this point than to pull the trigger.
LAST WORD ON MUSCHAMP: CANNED
Mike London – Virginia Cavaliers
Five years into London’s tenure, the Cavaliers are one loss away from a fourth season without a bowl including three in a row. His most successful year came in 2011 when Virginia finished the regular season 8-4 which was good enough for a second place tie in the ACC and concluded with an appearance in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. Since then, they’re a combined 10-24 including a 4-6 mark this year.
This current season began with promise when UVA started with four wins over their first six, but they’ve dropped four straight since then. Their final two games include hosting Miami and traveling to Blacksburg for the season finale with in-state rival Virginia Tech. Unless they run the table, an unlikely prospect given their remaining opponents, it’s possible a coaching search will be commencing at season’s end in Charlottesville.
LAST WORD ON LONDON: BYE BYE
Mike Leach – Washington State Cougars
There are a few coaches on this list whose respective quarterback quandary could ultimately be their saving grace. Leach qualifies in that respect. Senior Connor Halliday led the nation in virtually all major statistical passing categories until his season prematurely came to an end when he broke his ankle in the Cougars 44-17 loss to USC. With or without Halliday, Wazzu is 3-7 on the year and ineligible for a bowl with two games remaining. In total, Leach is 12-23 in his three years in Pullman.
Leach took Washington State bowling last season after a 6-6 campaign, but lost 48-45 to Colorado State in the New Mexico Bowl in the most inexplicable manner possible. The Cougars fumbled the ball twice in the final two minutes of the game which allowed an eight-point CSU deficit to morph into a last-second three-point win. They’ve clearly regressed this season, have one of FBS’ worst defenses, and Leach wouldn’t be the first coach let go the year his senior quarterback was graduating.
LAST WORD ON LEACH: The last two coaches have had four years to prove themselves, so Leach gets the same chance. He’ll have one more year to turn things around.
Tim Beckman – Illinois Fighting Illini
I hate to say it, but this is probably the biggest slam dunk on the list. Beckman has been seemingly unable to generate any momentum in Champaign. Since he took over three years ago, he’s won two out of a possible 19 Big Ten games. The Illini program isn’t exactly a Big Ten power, but they are seven years removed from a Rose Bowl appearance and have won a total of 15 conference championships though only three of those have come since 1983.
It was hoped that sophomore quarterback Wes Lunt, who transferred from Oklahoma State, would provide that spark necessary to get this team over the bowl eligibility hump. However, Lunt suffered a broken fibula against Purdue on October 4th and didn’t return until Saturday’s 30-14 loss to Iowa where he clearly wasn’t his former self. The Illinois defense under Beckman has consistently ranked among the worst in the Big Ten. The Illini need to win their final two over Penn State and Northwestern to get to six wins which is the only plausible scenario in which U of I doesn’t go another direction from a coaching standpoint.
LAST WORD ON BECKMAN: TOAST
Paul Rhoads – Iowa State Cyclones
The 2014 season opener saw the Cyclones get thoroughly dominated by three time defending FCS champion North Dakota State 34-14. They’ve only won twice since then by a total of ten points, and most recently took on hapless Kansas. The Jayhawks hammered Iowa State and looked like a three time defending FCS champion themselves in the 34-14 win.
Rhoads is in his sixth season in Ames, has only one winning season in that time and has never posted a record in-conference of .500 or better. Though he has led the Cyclones to three bowl games, they lost two of them and ended up going 6-7 in both those years. Since 2013, Iowa State is a paltry 5-16 which to many observers would indicate an unfavorable trajectory in the direction of this program.
LAST WORD ON RHOADS: FINISHED
Kevin Wilson – Indiana Hoosiers
Hmm, the curious case of Indiana. Wilson’s fourth season at the helm was expected to be the one that resulted in the Hoosiers ending their current seven year bowl drought. Saturday’s 45-23 defeat at the hands of Rutgers, which dropped IU to 3-7, put an end to any hope of that streak coming to an end this year.
Ultimately, Wilson’s future might be directly tied to the non-throwing shoulder of quarterback Nate Sudfeld, who suffered a season-ending injury in the loss to Iowa which required surgery. He certainly can be given a pass based on this circumstance and the fact that he came away with a road victory against a team who may very well win the SEC East. Athletic director Fred Glass also signed him to a seven-year deal when he was named head coach in 2011, so if he decided to go in another direction it would most likely entail a buyout in the vicinity of $4 million given Wilson’s current yearly salary.
LAST WORD ON WILSON: Sudfeld’s injury, the signature win over Missouri, coupled with the favorable development of some key young personnel gives Wilson another year to right the ship, though a slow start in 2015 might precipitate a midseason change.
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