College Football 2012: 5 Coaches That Need a Good Season to Right Their Ship

After hearing about Mark Richt getting the contract extension on the heels of his 10-4 season, our eyes turned around the nation to look for other head men who sit in the same position that Richt was in just a year ago. No, they are not all on the proverbial "hot seat," and most certainly these coaches won't all get to 10 wins a la Richt, but each of these five guys definitely needs a solid season for their respective situations to ensure that their boat is not capsized.

Kirk Ferentz

The Iowa head coach is entering his fourteenth year in Iowa City and things are a bit restless for him. No, he's not in the "win 10 or you're out" hot seat, but folks do want to see their offense improve and they want to get their money's worth out of Ferentz, a man paid like one of college football's elite head coaches. For Ferentz, that means battling his way towards the top of the Legends division of the Big Ten.

Losing Marcus Coker to transfer following some less than favorable events, and losing Marvin McNutt to the NFL, will not make new offensive coordinator Greg Davis's job any easier. The Legends division has an improving Michigan, a Michigan State team that continues to get better under Mark Dantonio, and a Nebraska squad that won their first B1G meeting 20-7. Ferentz is not in an easy spot and with that Top 10 price tag he carries, the production absolutely needs to follow.

Tom O'Brien

Last year was rocky for Tom O'Brien, but he did what he has been able to do for each of his five years at NC State: beat UNC. Couple the beating of UNC with a late surge—including a win over Clemson and beating Louisville in a bowl—and the waters are a bit more calm in March for TOB than they were entering November. Another 3-5 start and the folks in red will be ready to start looking at who is available yet again.

Clemson and Florida State are staring down from the top of the Atlantic Division and NC State is not Georgia, so expectations do not fall directly in line with a division title necessary to feel comfortable. If TOB can push the Wolfpack to a comfortable eight or nine wins, he should be firmly entrenched in Raleigh as the man to lead that program.

Mike Riley

Riley has long been tabbed as one of those hidden and underrated coaching gems in the college football landscape. The Beavers of Oregon State were going to bowl games, contending in the Pac-10 and were good to win a big game or two every year. Enter 2012, where the Beavers are riding a two-year bowl drought, a combined 8-16 record and a finish just one win better than cellar-dweller Washington State.

Things are not exactly looking up for the Beavers either.  As the rest of their division improves and returns some dynamic playmakers, the Beavers are trying to pick up the pieces and get back to competing on a week in and week out basis. With cross-state rival Oregon looking to get to their fourth straight BCS bowl appearance, the pressure to get back to a bowl is on Mike Riley.

Washington State's gone out and grabbed Mike Leach so there is excitement in Pullman; Riley needs a year with a solid bowl to stop the heat in Corvallis.

Derek Dooley

If there's a coach in the SEC in a position most akin to Richt's from a year ago, it is Derek Dooley. Only entering his third year, the people in Knoxville are not happy as a whole. Their once-proud program has missed a bowl game this year and lost to Kentucky in a game that Tennessee never loses.  Like ever. Dooley does return Tyler Bray and Justin Hunter, who can give this offense the boost that it needs, but competing in the newly-expanded SEC is going to be a problem for a Tennessee team that doesn't have the UGA or South Carolina talent on their own division's side.

Long story short, Dooley better find a way to get to seven or eight wins or he can find himself with plenty of time to hang out with his dad in 2013.

Frank Spaziani

Personally, I'm surprised that Spaz is back in Chestnut Hill following the 2011 disaster of a season for Boston College. The Eagles finished last in points for, next to last in their division and ultimately just looked hapless on so many levels during the season. But, Spaz is back, and while he loses his best player in Luke Kuechly, he at least has the opportunity to regain his footing with BC.

It won't be easy, and honestly, odds are that 2012 will see Frank Spaziani coach his last game for Boston College. Outside of Maine and possibly Army, there are no "sure things" for BC, and with Northwestern and Notre Dame rounding out the non-conference slate, the Eagles will be scrapping within the ACC just to get to bowl eligibility.