There's two forms of the coach's hot seat. First, there's the hot seat for the coach that is truly in danger of losing his job because of poor performance. But there is also the coach that has lots of job security through a long tenure or recent contract extension and won't be going anywhere anytime soon.
So essentially this is a list of coaches who deserve to be and/or already are on the hot seat.
1. Bill Carmody, Northwestern
Raise your hand if you remember the last time Northwestern was relevant in the Big 10. If you raised your hand, then you know the Wildcats haven't been a factor during Bill Carmody's tenure.
After elevating an Ivy League team (Princeton) into a top ten team, Carmody left the Tigers to coach another school with high academic standards. The last eight years in Evanston haven't been full of wins to say the least.
Combine Carmody's inability to recruit top players to NU, the Princeton's offense's ineffectiveness in the Big 10, and a lack of size, and Carmody has produced one winning season, but no winning seasons in the conference.
Carmody has adopted a 1-3-1 zone on defense to try to make up for his team's lack of size, but for the most part his Big 10 opponents haven't had any trouble figuring it out.
Carmody finally brings in size and girth around the basket; four players 6'8'' or taller will be eligible to grace the court for Carmody.
If Northwestern doesn't significantly improve from its 3-33 record in conference the past two seasons, Carmody could be looking for a job next March.
2. Oliver Purnell, Clemson
(editor's note: I misunderstood Clemson's situtation. I made a mistake in taking only a snapshot of the past two year's of Clemson basketball. While I still think the Tigers should have performed better in the NCAA Tournament, I was wrong in putting the blame on Purnell. He's built the Tigers' program to compete with the powers of the ACC and has established an ability to recruit quality players. For those reasons, I apologize to those many Tiger fans I have offended and upset and Oliver Purnell is officially off my hot seat.)
To put it simply: Oliver Purnell isn't going to be losing his job anytime soon. The Tigers' coach just signed a contract extension through 2014, so it appears as if Purnell won't be leaving the state of South Carolina anytime soon.
But that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve to be on the hot seat.
The last two seasons are two of the most disappointing for Tigers' fans because of how much Clemson underperformed. After slowly turning the Clemson basketball team into a bunch of winners, Purnell took two steps back the past two seasons for his failures in ACC play and the NCAA Tournament.
Two years ago, Clemson opened the season 17-0. The school was flying towards the top of the rankings and had big aspirations for the rest of the season. Things derailed quickly and Purnell's team didn't even reach the NCAA Tournament.
Last year, Purnell had a team that had the talent to make the Final Four, but instead Villanova, a 12 seed, bounced Clemson in the first round.
This season, Purnell loses a few key components to last year's team, but returns three double-digit scores. If Purnell doesn't win at least one NCAA Tournament game this year, this South Carolina school will be a disappointment once again.
3. Jeff Lebo, Auburn
The numbers say it all for Jeff Lebo. His team has one winning season in four years and a pathetic 19-45 record in the SEC. Auburn has been in the SEC-West cellar in three of his four seasons.
Lebo wasn't able to produce a winning bunch despite having a fairly deep, talented group of players last year.
This year should be different for Auburn. The Tigers once again return a pretty talented core of players, but also welcome in two sharpshooting guards who finally give Lebo an outside threat.
If the Tigers don't reach the NIT, which is a very attainable goal for Lebo in his fifth season, he won't be around next year.
4. Bobby Gonzalez, Seton Hall
The fiery personality of Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez has cost him one game on the sidelines in 2009, but has also put his job in jeopardy. After blowing up on officials following a loss to Rutgers, the Big East suspended Gonzalez for the first conference game in 2009.
Gonzalez also sits on the hot seat for his team's poor performance.
Expected to compete for an NCAA Tournament bid last year, the Pirates sunk into Davy Jones' Locker in the second half of the Big East schedule. Seton Hall lacked depth and finished the year 2-9.
The Pirates will look toward several newcomers for depth and won't be an improved team in 2009. Big East coaches on media day picked Seton Hall to finish 13th this year.
5. Dennis Felton, Georgia
Dennis Felton should thank whoever came up with the idea to give the winners of each conference tournament an NCAA Tournament bid because without the automatic bid, Felton probably wouldn't have a job.
The Georgia coach's tenure has been a disaster during his five years in Athens. Just two NIT bids and one NCAA Tournament bid that Georgia clinched by somehow winning four games in three days after winning just four conference games during the regular season.
If Felton can't build off of his miraculous run and turn the Bulldogs into winners, he could and should be out of a job at the end of the season.
The Bulldogs don't return a lot of talent and the incoming class isn't that impressive so a winning season in the SEC is once again unlikely.
23 comments Last one added 8 months ago — Leave a Comment
Johnny Da Bone 8 months ago
Great article! This should create some nice debates.
I agree with most of the top 10, exceptions being Purnell and Gonzalez.
Clemson fans are thrilled by the fact that they competed night in and night out in the ACC last year. They had some electric nights at Littlejohn Coliseum. For a school that does not expect much from its hoops programs, last year was a huge success. Also, the Clemson athletic department is never quick to pull the trigger on a coach. Don’t let the Bowden midseason firing fool you. He had more chances as head football coach than almost anyone anywhere.
Clemson lost to a battle tested Villanova team from a superior conference. There was no shame in that loss.
Most importantly, Purnell has some great recruits coming in.
Bobby Gonzalez is no where near the hot seat, and he can thank a couple of transfers… Keon Lawrence and Herb Pope. There is no way the Athletic Department is going to let this guy go with those two players arriving (likely next season).
Gonzalez is an embarrassment on the sidelines. It must be agonizing for Pirates fans to watch. However, he is showing sings that he will a strong team in the near future. Recruiting saves.
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Jameson Fleming 8 months ago
There's been chatter from what I've read across the intertubes about Gonzalez needing to get this team together to win soon in order to keep his job.
Purnell I agree with to a point. While his job is completely safe and just signed that extension so he won't be going anywhere, he still has underperformed and should in a normal circumstance be on the hot seat.
Clemson's situation dictates he won't be fired for a long time, but if his team continues to under perform during his tenure he deserves to go. The last two years were pathetic the way they fell.
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Johnny Da Bone 8 months ago
Good Points !
How about Gary Williams ?
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Brett Lissenden 8 months ago
I really think that Ed Dechellis is very slowly bringing Penn State basketball back to a respectable level. They got a really bad break last year when Claxton got injured, but they have some talented young players. I don't think hes a coach that can lead them to any tournament success, but they can be fairly competitive in the Big Ten with him. As a PSU fan, I want someone that can get us tournament success, but I'm not sure the PSU athletic department feels the same way.
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Jameson Fleming 8 months ago
Yeah you got a raw deal with Claxton going down. Either way I don't PSU has really taken any noticeable steps forward.
I just don't think they are ever going to be winners unless they get a great coach. It's impossible to recruit in Big East country if you're PSU.
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Andrew Perkins 8 months ago
Here's something to chew on... if Coach K continues producing nothing better than a sweet 16 team will he start to feel the heat?
They've made it past the sweet 16 one time in the last seven seasons... is that good enough for the Dookies?
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Jameson Fleming 8 months ago
He may feel the heat but he'll never be put on the hot seat unless he goes Bobby Knight on the program and does some questionable things. Those fans love him too much. They have a freaking camping site for students named after the guy.
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J.C. Hagan 8 months ago
I know you're not going to believe this, but the middle of last season I suggested to an NU fan that Carmody be let go after the season and they should find someone else and he got incredibly mad with me and said it was indefensible statement - and he even said Carmody has done more for the NU basketball program than anyone in a long time. He implied that most NU fans agree with that assessment, and he would know what their feelings were more than I would (although NU is probably my 3rd team and I absolutely think Carmody should be let go tomorrow).
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Jameson Fleming 8 months ago
I don't know what exactly Carmody has done with the program other than lose so in terms of wins and losses and prestige level it certainly hasn't gotten any better while he's been there.
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Alan Smith 8 months ago
Oliver Purnell on the hot seat? You have got to be kidding me! Apparently, you have no idea how bad Clemson was in basketball before he showed up. Perhaps you failed to realize that Clemson finished 3rd in the ACC last season, made it to the ACC championship game for the first time since 1962, and made the NCAA tournament for the first time in ten years. Yeah he should really be on the hot seat. Sure, Clemson lost in the first round, but you can't judge on one game. Upsets happen with regularity in the tournament, and Villanova was better than a 12 seed.
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Jameson Fleming 8 months ago
He deserves to have pressure on him to perform when it matters. Two straight years his team failed miserably down the stretch or in the postseason.
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dan danny 8 months ago
You have absolutely got to be kidding me. Putting Oliver Purnell on the list of a hot seat list shows your lack of any semblance of a sports I.Q.
There's a reason you chumps aren't working for a paper. You aren't real writers.
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Jameson Fleming 8 months ago
Yes that's why I write for CBS, Fox, Toronto Sports Magazine, and ESPN the Magazine. He's not on the hot seat per say but he's got to get his team to perform when it counts or all the Clemson fans are going to get used to winning and not performing when it counts.
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Rev Dodd 8 months ago
I'll respect any informed opinion, even if I might disagree.
That said, your singling out of Oliver Purnell as a "hot seat" coach is certainly not informed, and the opinion it seems to be based on seems flawed.
For openers, how is a coach "on the hot seat" if by your own explanation he is in no danger of being fired? In't that a tad like saying a politician is in danger of losing his seat in Congress when he's running unopposed? What, specifically, is a hot seat if not a threat of termination?
I can grasp that you aren't a Clemson basketball fan of long standing. I know because there are so few of us, we can generally recognize each other by sight. So when you speak of the last two years as "the most disappointing for Tiger fans" I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry. The fact that the past two years have been the most successful back-to-back years in Clemson basektball history may be an indictment of our teams in the past, but it certainly doesn't speak to "underperforming" in recent years.
You do know, of course, that the main reason Clemson skidded after that 17-0 start two years ago was the loss of James Mays...or does losing an All-ACC performer not count in your evaluation of talent.
Final Four quality talent? This past year, Mays played much of the year with an oven mitt on his shooting hand to protect a broken bone. Cliff Hammonds played in the NCAA tourney with a broken wrist. And despite the injuries, these guys came within an eyelash of winning the ACC tournament. And we lost to 'Nova...but it was the first NCAA game for the Tigers in 10 years. Scarcely a collapse of expectations.
Underperformed? They beat Duke in the tournament! That qualifies OP for sainthood in this neck of the woods.
The rise of Clemson basketball from derisive doormat to respect in the ACC rides on the shoulders of Oliver Purnell. He has done nothing but improve the product every year. The fact that you are even able to weakly suggest Clemson basketball fans have expectations at all speaks to his skill and motivation.
I'm sorry that making the finals of the ACC tourney and the NCAA tournament don't meet whatever lofty expectations you might have of a team that featured no McDonald's All-Americans nor Super Prep All-Stars. But I can assure you, as one of the few long-time Clemson basketball fans, that we have waited a lifetime for a man like Oliver Purnell.
We're lucky, and dang glad, to have him.
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Jameson Fleming 8 months ago
I stood by my statements until your comment. It's sometimes hard to grasp what's going on with every team in the country at my position. I can watch all I can, read all the preview magazines I can get my hands on but I can't always get the fan perspective.
So thank you for that perspective. I guess I would not consider him on the hot seat, but I would be slightly frustrated that the team did have disappointing ends to the season because expectations were higher.
Thanks for your well informed comment.
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Rev Dodd 8 months ago
OK...if he's not "on the hot seat per say (and I'm guessing you mean 'per se') what the heck is OP doing in your list?
I generally respect informed opinion, even when I disagree.
That said, your assigning Oliver Purnell a "hot seat" seems to be seriously flawed.
"Failed miserably down the stretch?" You don't know much about Clemson basketball history, do you? ANY postseason play is traditionally a good season for the Tigers. Making the NCAA has been a dream devoutly wished.
OP has pulled Clemson basketball from the depths of derision to a place of grudging respect in the ACC. No small feat in itself.
Next, who are these Clemson basketball fans who are disappointed by the team the past two years? As a long-time Tiger hoops fan (and I can promise there are few enough of us around who can remember the last time Clemson was in the ACC tourney finals) I feel confident in stating no one in Clemson feels the Tigers underachieved.
Two years ago, we lost James Mays, who was having an all-ACC season. Last year, James was playing with an oven mitt on his shooting hand to protect a broken bone, Cliff Hammonds was playing with a broken wrist and we still reached the ACC tourney finals for the first time in 45 years. Then we made the NCAA tourney for the first time in a decade.
Underperforming? Beating Duke in the ACC tournament qualifies OP for sainthood, not scorn, in Clemson. The number of wins has increased every year under OP. Did I mention that not only have the teams gotten better each year, but graduation rates have improved?
The fact that you can even think about Clemson as a possible power in the ACC is testament to Oliver Purnell.
Finally, you seem to be trying to waffle on the "hot seat" designation, saying at the outset that his job isn't in danger. What then, sepcifically, do you mean by "hot seat" if not job jeopardy?
If you're looking for hot seats in the ACC, take a look at Gary Williams. But you certainly won't find one, no matter what your specious definition may be, around Oliver Purnell.
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Rev Dodd 8 months ago
My apologies for the double post.
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Steve Prefontaine 8 months ago
http://www.block-c.com/2008/10/29/bleacher-report-writer-needs-to-find-a-new-beat/
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Jameson Fleming 8 months ago
In seven months on B/R this is the first time I've been flat out wrong on something.
Sorry Steve, I made one mistake, any other writer in this community would back me on this.
That's an ignorant post and unappreciated.
Thank you for reading the article and caring,
Jameson
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Dr B 8 months ago
This attack on Purnell has to be the most irresponsible acts of journalism I've ever seen. You did absolutely no research for this article. Oliver Purnell's teams have improved steadily year after year in W's and/or statistically. If you had actually looked up what he inherited from Larry Shyatt you would never put him on this list. He inherited nothing. I was courtside for 4 years of Shyatt, and it was some of the worst basketball I've ever seen. Purnell's teams have faltered in the conference, yes (particularly against superior competition), but Clemson has improved every year and they will get to a level where they can win 10-11 conference games per year. He's recruited very well for Clemson and has really built up this program to a level where we can at least challenge for the ACC Tournament, if not yet the regular season championship.
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Joe Spetrini 8 months ago
Actually, I've admired what Purnell has done at Clemson. I'm a Big East fan, but have watched begrudgingly as Clemson emerged again in recent years. Would that those of us in the Washington, DC area have the same feeling about the University of Maryland during the past two years where Gary Williams has achieved less but with more talent. I wish Maryland luck, but am tired of watching Williams berate his players even when they do things well.
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Joseph Durst 8 months ago
I appreciate your retration on Oliver Purnell and would like to add my voice as one of the few Clemson basketball fans on this earth. At a school where football gets 99.9% of the attention and basketball is something to pass the time between bowl season and recruiting season, Purnell has done, in my opinion, an amazing job of saving the Clemson basketball program. If anything, Purnell is probably one of the fan favorite coaches at Clemson. After improving the team's win/lose percentage every year during his tenure at Clemson, it would be wise of the University to try to hang on to Purnell as long as possible. We sure haven't had much success with any other b-ball coaches in recent history.
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Jameson Fleming 8 months ago
Yeah it was a dumb mistake on my part and I understand now what kind of great job Purnell has done. I greatly appreciate your level headed comment after others calling for my head.
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