College Football Rankings: 10 Hot-Seat Coaches Who Need a Week 7 Win
In just about every conference, there is a college football coach who will have to be treated for third-degree burns if his seat gets any hotter.
Some coaches have done well in treating the burn, but others find themselves in desperate need of some medical attention.
Remember, even in victory, a coach's seat can exceed scalding-hot temperatures. But a victory is certainly better than a loss.
Here are the top-10 college football coaches who could use a cold front in Week 7, though I'm sure they'd settle for even a slight decrease in temperature.
10. Dabo Swinney, Clemson
1 of 10
Week 7 Opponent: Maryland
Why His Seat is Warm: The Tigers scored 93 points in their first two games, both victories, but have since lost three straight games on their way to a 2-3 record overall and 0-2 conference record.
How He Can Cool it Off: Wins in Weeks 7 and 8.
Clemson hosts a 4-1 Maryland team that has played nothing but powder puffs all season before another home game against Georgia Tech. If Swinney can get back above .500, his seat will cool considerably.
9. Les Miles, LSU
2 of 10
Week 7 Opponent: McNeese State
Why His Seat is Warm: The Tigers are undefeated and coming off a win at Florida, but LSU has been more lucky than good the last two weeks against the Gators and the Tennessee Volunteers.
And Miles continues to play Jordan Jefferson at quarterback.
How He Can Cool it Off: Start Jarrett Lee and beat Auburn, Alabama, or both.
Lee should play the entire game this week to get comfortable as the full-time starter. I can guarantee that Miles will be forgiven for his past mistakes if he leads LSU past Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide.
8. Randy Shannon, Miami
3 of 10
Week 7 Opponent: Duke
Why His Seat is Warm: The Hurricanes have been one of the most up-and-down teams all season, and were on the wrong end of two blowouts against Ohio State in Week 2 and Florida State last week.
How He Can Cool it Off: Win three or four consecutive ACC games.
Miami should crush Duke this week by 30 points or more, but that isn’t going to mean much if the Hurricanes can’t win the majority of their remaining conferences games in a weak ACC.
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7. Mike Sherman, Texas A&M
4 of 10
Week 7 Opponent: Missouri
Why His Seat is Warm: Sherman’s Aggies have had opportunities to pull off huge wins in each of the last two weeks, but Texas A&M fell short both times.
The team’s schedule has been weak, otherwise.
How He Can Cool it Off: A win over a ranked opponent.
The Aggies play No. 21 Missouri this week, and Sherman has to get that signature win against the Tigers before games later in the season against Oklahoma and Nebraska.
6. Bronco Mendenhall, BYU
5 of 10
Week 7 Opponent: at TCU.
Why His Seat is Warm: Any time you’re a coach at non-BCS qualifying school, you want to take advantage by winning your big games.
Mendenhall has done just the opposite, losing four of five games against quality opponents.
How He Can Cool it Off: Upset TCU.
Mendenhall has the biggest opportunity of any coach on this list. A win over fourth-ranked TCU would erase much of the Cougars’ early-season woes.
5. Frank Spaziani, Boston College
6 of 10
Week 7 Opponent: at Florida State
Why His Seat is Warm: The 2-0 start has been completely forgotten after the Golden Eagles have been destroyed in the team’s last three games, scoring a combined 30 points in three blowout losses.
How He Can Cool it Off: Upset No. 16 Florida State.
Boston College plays the Seminoles on the road, and a huge upset on the road in a conference game would do wonders for Spaziani.
4. Dave Wannstedt, Pittsburgh
7 of 10
Week 7 Opponent: at Syracuse
Why His Seat is Warm: Pittsburgh started the season as a top-20 team, but is just 2-3 through five games.
The lone two wins for the Panthers came against New Hampshire and Florida International, while the team has lost all of its tough games. Pitt was slaughtered at home by Miami, and lost close ones to Utah and Notre Dame.
How He Can Cool it Off: Get the offense back on track and start conference play with a victory over a 4-1 Syracuse team.
Despite having talented players like Deion Lewis and Jonathan Baldwin, Wannstedt’s offense has been terrible, ranking No. 56 or below in all major statistical categories.
3. Tim Brewster, Minnesota
8 of 10
Week 7 Opponent: at Purdue
Why His Seat is Warm: The Golden Gophers' defense has been shredded the last five games, giving up at least 29 points in the five losses, including an embarrassing Week 2 defeat at the hands of South Dakota.
How He Can Cool it Off: Win a game!
Minnesota will be the underdog in every game from here on out, so a win against any opponent can only help Brewster. But another bad loss could spell disaster.
2. Paul Wulff, Washington State
9 of 10
Week 7 Opponent: Arizona
Why His Seat is Warm: Washington State is the laughingstock of the Pac-10.
Wulff is in his third season with the Cougars, but hasn’t even reached his fifth win at the school, and his offense can’t score with the other schools in a pretty good Pac-10 conference.
How He Can Cool it Off: Don’t go winless the rest of the year.
Washington State has a very good chance of going winless, but Wulff needs at least one or two more wins if he doesn’t want to get the axe.
1. Mike Locksley, New Mexico
10 of 10
Week 7 Opponent: at San Diego State
Why His Seat is Warm: Locksley is 1-15 as head coach of New Mexico, his team just lost to lowly New Mexico State, and the Lobos give up 46.5 points per game.
That’s good enough to be the worst defensive team in the country.
How He Can Cool it Off: Stop someone. No one is expecting New Mexico to go to a BCS bowl game, but the Lobos have to, at least, look like they’re trying on defense, or Locksley is as good as gone.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
