Top 12 Coaches on the Hot Seat After Week 6 of College Football
Welcome to college football's slaughterhouse, where there's been a revolving door of coaches on the chopping block so far this season.
Nebraska's Scott Frost, Arizona State's Herm Edwards, Colorado's Karl Dorrell, Georgia Tech's Geoff Collins and Wisconsin's Paul Chryst have already gotten the ax so far this season from the Power 5, running out of chances to rectify the shaky situations at their respective programs.
While some may not see much benefit in firing coaches during the season—especially if you're zeroing in on a candidate currently employed elsewhere—it seems to be the hot new trend.
Athletic directors work back channels with agents (and, likely, coaches themselves) to gauge interest, discuss parameters and financial figures and attempt to have things lined up to make quick hires that benefit the escalated timeline of the recruiting cycle and December's early signing season.
For that reason, we'll continue to see coaches get fired more quickly than usual. So, who are some of the ones we should watch? Everybody on this list is at a program that has recently experienced success or is in the Power 5, so even though a guy like Texas State's Jake Spavital may get canned, he doesn't show up here.
Whose jobs are the most perilous or tenuous? Let's take a look at those on the hottest of hot seats after nearly half the 2022 season.
Andy Avalos, Boise State Broncos
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This is just the second year for Andy Avalos in Boise, but things are souring quickly.
While it takes time to build a program the way you want, it's not like former coach Bryan Harsin left the cupboard bare with the Broncos before bolting to Auburn. His replacement hasn't found sledding so easy on the blue turf.
The 40-year-old seemed like an ideal fit when he took over. He's a former player at the school who was also an assistant coach (and the defensive coordinator) before heading to Oregon, where he experienced major success as an assistant before getting called back.
Unfortunately, he's not been able to replicate the three Mountain West Conference championships the Broncos previously experienced with him on staff. In less than two years on the job, the Broncos are just 11-7, far below the lofty expectations set for what used to be the Group of Five standard.
Following a 7-5 campaign a year ago, Boise State is 4-2 and is atrocious on offense. Hank Bachmeier transferred, vacating the quarterback position for freshman Taylen Green, who is sparking some optimism. And after beating a Jake Haener-less Fresno State 40-20 a week ago, the temperature on Avalos' seat has cooled for now.
Avalos needs Green to help him turn things around and keep the Broncos from pulling a quick trigger. His seat is probably the coolest on the list, but he has plenty left to prove.
Neal Brown, West Virginia Mountaineers
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When Dana Holgorsen left Morgantown for Houston and an AAC job with the Cougars in 2019, it was more than puzzling. But you had to figure West Virginia would be able to make a great hire.
They zeroed in on Troy coach Neal Brown, who was lauded for being a strong Xs and Os guy, but it hasn't materialized in the Big 12.
The Mountaineers haven't recruited well, and they've lost waves of talent to the transfer portal the past two seasons. While there have been some glimmers of positivity, they simply aren't as consistently competitive as they need to be.
With transfer quarterback JT Daniels under center to play for his former offensive coordinator at USC, Graham Harrell, Brown hoped to turn things around. But he's just 2-3 this season and 19-21 overall in his fourth year.
While the Kansas loss at home is aging better than originally expected, getting beat by Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl won't settle well, and the Mountaineers weren't really competitive against Texas, either.
“I know a lot of people that are very high on him, but when your trajectory is bad, you end up getting fired," ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum told colleague Matt Barrie. "That’s just the nature of the game. And he’s not gonna—he’s probably not going to be the exception."
Things had better turn around quickly, and it doesn't look like they will in a competitive Big 12.
Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri Tigers
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Eli Drinkwitz has been a brash, outspoken quote machine since leaving Appalachian State after one season to take over the Missouri Tigers.
Unfortunately, words are hollow when you can't back them up.
While Mizzou is far from an SEC East powerhouse, the Tigers did enjoy some good years under Gary Pinkel after moving to the conference, but following the forgettable tenure of Barry Odom, Drinkwitz hasn't fared much better.
Perhaps the biggest indictment for Drinkwitz so far this season was an inexplicable overtime loss to Auburn in which he got conservative and played for a field goal in regulation despite having the ball inside the opponent's 10-yard line with less than a minute to play. The 26-yarder missed, and Mizzou lost in OT.
"To lose that way, really twice, just devastating for our locker room and our coaches. Just stinks," Drinkwitz told Columbia Daily Tribune's Chris Kwiecinski. "Hard to take."
Since that 17-14 loss to Auburn, the Tigers have continued to ride their defense to hard-luck losses against No. 1 Georgia and Florida, but even while they were impressive in defeat, Drinkwitz's coaching chops have every reason to be questioned.
He had the Bulldogs on the ropes and let them come all the way back from two scores down in the fourth quarter to steal a 26-22 win. With Anthony Richardson playing terribly again, Mizzou couldn't take advantage and lost to the Gators 24-17.
Is that progress, or are these squandered opportunities? Drinkwitz's team is 2-4 with remaining tough games against Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina and Arkansas. With a 13-16 record in three years and questions abounding, the rest of the season is a proving ground.
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Kirk Ferentz, Iowa Hawkeyes
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The dean of Football Bowl Subdivision coaches maybe should be allowed to ride off into the sunset at Iowa.
After all, coach Kirk Ferentz has enjoyed a lot of success with the Hawkeyes in Iowa City, winning 181 games in 24 years.
But the days of getting a free pass are over. Ferentz is going to have to make significant changes, adapt to a new-age way of rethinking his offense and realize this quickly, or the program will have to move on.
Yes, his team won 10 games last year, but the offense looks like the pre-forward pass days, and things have regressed despite the team fielding a championship-caliber defense.
The rub here, though, is Ferentz's son is offensive coordinator, Brian, so no changes have been made.
Even worse, the elder Ferentz is getting chippy with reporters, chirping back this past week following a 9-6 loss to Illinois: "We won 10 games last year. I don't know if you're aware of that."
That's not a good look, and if the nepotism issues continue, the powers that be at Iowa are going to have to take a long, hard look at things, especially with potential candidates like Matt Rhule (fired by the Carolina Panthers on Monday) and alum Mark Stoops (who has built a sturdy program at Kentucky) potentially in the mix.
Maybe Ferentz isn't on the hot seat, but he should be. He has to fire his son, at least, or tough decisions should be made. This program has too many resources not to field a better offensive product.
Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M Aggies
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Texas A&M gave Jimbo Fisher a ridiculous, fully guaranteed mega contract extension in 2021 that will pay him $95 million through 2031, but the deep pockets in College Station probably won't deal with this level of "meh" football for much longer.
Giving Fisher that much money in the first place was silly, and it's why the Aggies will have a major dilemma.
Fisher is coming off an upset of Alabama last year and signed the top-ranked recruiting class rife with blue-chip recruits. But he also should have beaten the mistake-riddled Tide last weekend in Tuscaloosa, as A&M fell to 3-3 and 1-2 in the league.
Factor in the Aggies were just 8-4 a season ago, and that's far too much money to pay for mediocrity.
According to CBS Sports' Shehan Jeyarajah, if Texas A&M fires Fisher after this year, it'll have to muster $86 million. The fact that's even being discussed is mind-blowing, but there are major issues with consistency and getting the talent to translate on the field.
Fisher had one play from the 2-yard line in the closing seconds to topple the Tide again, but his play call had the ball thrown short of the end zone. That's just a microcosm of the ineptitude the supposed offensive guru's teams have shown with the Aggies.
Instead, the new innovations around the sport seem to have passed him by.
Few teams nationally have as much talent as the Aggies, so Fisher has the players to get things turned around. But it needs to happen soon. You know A&M isn't happy about shelling out that much money for this product.
Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern Wildcats
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The nice run Pat Fitzgerald had at his alma mater from 2015 to 2017 with 27 victories is far in the rearview, and the inconsistency Northwestern has experienced since then has transformed into ineptitude.
This being an even year hasn't helped, either.
Before this season, the Wildcats fared well in 2018 (9-5) and 2020 (7-2 in the COVID-shortened year) despite spiraling to three-win seasons in '19 and '21 to follow things up. After opening 2022 with a win over Nebraska in Ireland, they hoped that was indication of an impending turnaround.
Instead, the 'Cats are 1-5, and they've endured inexplicable losses to FCS opponent Southern Illinois (31-24) and the MAC's Miami RedHawks (17-14). Competitive setbacks to Duke and Penn State weren't awful, but Wisconsin blew out Fitzgerald's team this past weekend, and the Badgers are facing their own issues.
Where does that leave Fitzgerald?
“I mean, that’s my job is to motivate the team and do everything I can to push the right buttons to help the guys be consistent,” Fitzgerald told Chicago Sun-Times' Steve Greenberg earlier this year. “And, obviously, I haven’t done that well enough for us to win games. That’s incredibly motivating for me personally.”
It's not easy to win at Northwestern in the rugged Big Ten and with more academic restrictions than some other teams face, but it's been done, even by Fitzgerald. Has he lost his mojo? It's going to be interesting to see if the program turns away from its favorite son if things don't change in a hurry.
Bryan Harsin, Auburn Tigers
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You see that smoldering glow in the direction of east central Alabama? That's the blazing seat on which Auburn Tigers coach Bryan Harsin is currently sitting.
Amazingly, even after an offseason riddled with rumors and a sputtering start to the season, he's still got his job. But that's probably because AU doesn't have a permanent athletic director after it parted ways with Allen Greene.
The Tigers are 3-3 and fortunate to have that record after they should have lost to Missouri. Another uninspired offensive effort against Georgia this past weekend in a game that was far from competitive has things getting ugly on the Plains. Even the Opelika-Auburn News is piling on.
Yikes. If you think that's rough, don't read the Auburn message boards, whose posters already have visions of Lane Kiffin, Hugh Freeze and others dancing in their heads.
It's obvious Harsin is in over his head, and, in retrospect, he was a puzzling hire anyway. Greene plucked him from Boise State when he had no experience recruiting in the meat market of the Southeast. He had no ties to the region, no SEC experience and basically cobbled together a makeshift staff that hadn't coached together before.
It was a recipe for disaster from the start, and it's clear there's little Harsin can do to save his job. Right now, it appears to be only a matter of "when" it's going to happen and not "if."
Unfortunately for loyal Auburn fans, the athletic department is a mess right now, too. Thank goodness for Bruce Pearl's basketball Tigers, at least, right?
Ken Niumatalolo, Navy Midshipmen
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It's hard to believe with the run of quality seasons Ken Niumatalolo had at Navy that he would be on the hot seat, but the proud service academy needs to see some positivity in the win column soon.
The Midshipmen have had just one winning season in the past four years (a terrific 11-2 campaign in 2019) and are 2-3 this year with losses to FCS foe Delaware, as well as Memphis and Air Force.
A big 53-21 win over Tulsa this past weekend hopefully will signal a turnaround, but a grueling remaining schedule includes SMU, Houston, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, UCF and, of course, Army at the end of the season.
Niumatalolo's team has won two of the past three meetings in the rugged battle that everybody watches, and that is a major feather in his visor when it comes to keeping his job.
He's 11-4 in that game, and, without question, that is the most important game of the season. Still, the others count, too. The Capital-Gazette's Bill Wagner wrote at the start of the year this was a critical campaign for Niumatalolo's tenure.
So, how much goodwill has he built over the years? Is it enough to withstand another eight- or nine-loss season? Maybe the Tulsa domination is a sign of things to come, but Navy may need to prove it consistently to save its coach's job.
Scott Satterfield, Louisville Cardinals
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If Bryan Harsin has any company at the top of the thermometer, it may just be Louisville coach Scott Satterfield.
In the new NIL era of recruiting, the Cardinals are proving they're major players for prospects, currently holding the nation's 19th-ranked recruiting class bolstered by 5-star running back Rueben Owens and several other talented 4-star prospects.
But the on-field product is sorely lacking, despite having a dynamic talent at quarterback in Malik Cunningham. It's clear Satterfield doesn't really know how to use him, and the Cardinals defense hasn't done him any favors, either, during his four years.
Following a surprising 2019 season in which Louisville went 8-5 with talent left over from the Bobby Petrino regime, the Cardinals have failed to capture a winning season. Beating Virginia a week ago evens Satterfield's record at 3-3 this year, but how much of that is fool's gold?
Satterfield is 21-22 overall, and with games this year against Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, Clemson, North Carolina State and Kentucky left on the schedule, things could get ugly. That tilt with former FCS powerhouse James Madison on November 5 may not be easy, either.
This is a schedule rife with pitfalls, and Satterfield's name is already circulating as somebody on one of the hottest seats in college football. ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg wrote before the game against the Hoos that change would've been "expected" if Louisville lost to Virginia.
His job is safe for another week, but on ice that thin, you have to think there are just not enough win opportunities left on the schedule to keep the inevitable from eventually happening.
Jeff Scott, South Florida Bulls
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For all of Willie Taggart's troubles at Florida State and Florida Atlantic the past few years, South Florida fans probably long for the days where he had the Bulls rolling in 2015-16.
Charlie Strong won with Taggart's talent again in 2017, but since then it's been a brutal stretch for the former American Athletic Conference powerhouse.
Jeff Scott is certainly not inspiring much confidence, either.
This past weekend, the Bulls took No. 24 Cincinnati to the brink before losing 28-24. That was the most inspired effort of the year and sparks at least a little hope, but there shouldn't be any moral victories in Year 3 of what has so far been a failed experiment.
Scott, the former Clemson offensive coordinator, took over before the COVID-shortened 2020 season and went 1-8. A season ago, the Bulls were equally awful, limping to a 2-10 ledger, and after this past weekend's loss to the Bearcats, they're now 1-5 in 2022.
The Tampa Bay Times' Matt Baker opined two weeks ago that it's time to start asking the tough questions about Scott. As Baker noted at the time, Scott's winning percentage (now .148) was better than only UMass (then .095) and Florida International (then .143) since Scott took over at South Florida in 2019.
Tulane, Houston, SMU and UCF look like certain losses remaining on the schedule, too, so Scott's difficult challenge isn't going to get any easier.
Don't be surprised if South Florida is in the churn of the coaching carousel following this year.
David Shaw, Stanford Cardinal
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David Shaw has become an institution at Stanford in his 12 years as head coach. He's a brilliant mind who is regularly featured as a guest analyst at the NFL draft and in other forums, a wonderful spokesperson for a prestigious institution and he has enjoyed some huge seasons.
But college football is ultimately a business, and at some point you have to win football games.
Shaw hasn't done enough of that in recent years.
Following this past Saturday's shocking collapse against an Oregon State team that was without its starting quarterback, the questions are louder and clearer than ever. The Cardinal are 1-4 again with little hope for a turnaround.
Throw in a 3-9 season in 2021 and a 4-8 '19 sandwiched around a promising 4-2 short season in 2020, and things haven't been good on the field in a long time.
Point to the rigid academic standards all you want, and they're very real. But Shaw won at least 10 games in five of his first six seasons at Stanford from 2011 to 2016 and followed that up with two nine-win years.
Stanford has a long, storied football history, and both Shaw and Jim Harbaugh before him proved you can have consistent winners there. It just hasn't happened recently, which calls into question whether or not Shaw ultimately will be a victim of his own success.
DraftKings has Shaw's as one of the hottest seats in college football, pointing to his reluctance to change a system that is being surpassed. At this point, despite his past success and the fact that he's an exemplary, well-respected coach, it's hard to argue.
Brent Venables, Oklahoma Sooners
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Oh, we're here? Already?
You better believe it.
After the past three weeks, it's worth asking whether Oklahoma is one of the worst two or three teams in the Big 12 with Brent Venables at the helm.
Is this a knee-jerk reaction? After all, the Sooners are 3-3 and did play last weekend without starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel. It doesn't feel like it, though.
Oklahoma lost 49-0 last weekend to Texas in its biggest ever loss in the Red River Rivalry. Defeats like that don't settle well with a proud fan base, especially a week after giving up 55 points to TCU following yet another loss to Kansas State.
The defense is in shambles, and Jeff Lebby's offense doesn't look much better. The only wins were against UTEP, Kent State and Nebraska, which isn't saying much.
Look, if this team shows any signs of life at all, Venables is going to keep his job for more than year. OU would need to have a slam-dunk contingency plan in place to part ways this early in his tenure. But watching Lincoln Riley light it up to an undefeated start at USC can't be sitting well.
With upstart Kansas on the docket this week, there's a chance for Venables to rekindle some of the early-season good vibes. But games at Iowa State, home against Baylor and at West Virginia follow.
A bowl game is in serious question, and if the Sooners are sitting at home this postseason, Venables may be on notice. There haven't been any reports of dissension in the ranks, so as long as that doesn't happen, Venables will get a chance to turn things around.
But there are warning signs.
All stats courtesy of CFBStats and Sports Reference. Player rankings courtesy of 247Sports.
Follow Brad Shepard on Twitter, @Brad_Shepard.
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