10 Recruits That Could Save College Football Coaches on the Hot Seat's Job

The so called "Hot Seat". It isn't a term that you want to hear as a coach because when there is a hot seat, that usually is the start of your demise.

Only few coaches have sat on it and successfully completely gotten off it, Tom Coughlin is the best example for that.

Most of the time, when you're on it then at some point you probably will be fired. In college football, the hot seat is even more dreaded by coaches because it has a severe impact in recruiting.

Recruits do not want to go to a school where the coach may not be around for the duration of their careers.

However, there are some recruits that have they hype and talent to help make a case for why a coach should be allowed back.

They have immediate impact and program changing potential.

The following 10 recruits are committed to or considering programs that have hot seat situations and could help change that.

If Robert Foster and Dorian Johnson Go to Pitt

Paul Chryst's job isn't in jeopardy so relax Panther fans. It's just that Pitt has a 4-6 record this year and you all know there will be a few grumbles about seeing more wins in 2013.

Chryst is a good coach and if he can land WR Robert Foster and OT Dorian Johnson, he can quiet those few naysayers.

Foster can easily come in next year and play a key role due to his speed and Johnson will be a early career starter and future cornerstone on the OL.

Danny Etling, QB (Purdue)

Danny Hope is 20-27 and 11-19 as the head coach at Purdue in four seasons.

The Boilermakers are 4-6 this year and fifth in the Leaders Division of the Big Ten.

That's not too impressive and there will be more and more griping about Hope's job in the near future. He's going to need QB Danny Etling to come in and develop into a star sooner than later.

I'm not asking for Etling to come in and be Johnny Manziel right off the bat, but the 6'3", 212 pound signal caller from Indiana could help soon. 

Rashard Fant, ATH (Indiana)

Remember earlier last decade, Indiana had a special player that was very athletic and did a little bit of everything for them? His name was Antwaan Randle El.

Well, Kevin Wilson and his 5-17 record of two seasons as head coach of Indiana, could be getting the second coming of Randle El in Rashard Fant.

A 5'10", 170 pound speedster, Fant can play some wildcat QB, WR, RB, and return kicks and punts.

He should dazzle the Hoosier brass quickly and could help turn Wilson's program around, thus saving his job.

Asiantii Woulard, QB (South Florida)

Skip Holtz has gone 3-6 this year and this is not the ideal season the Bulls had in mind this year. Holtz insn't on the hot seat this year, but another season like this next year and he will feel some warmth.

Well, the player to cool off that warmth is QB Asiantii Woulard. Woulard won the MVP at the Elite 11 QB Finals this past summer and really has a high ceiling.

He stadns 6'3", 205 pounds and has fantastic physical tools.

The Florida native also has improved his field vision and ability to decode coverages, too. 

Christian Hackenberg, QB (Penn State)

This isn't a case where the coach is on the hot seat, but rather the school is on the hot seat from the coach.

Bill O'Brien could have left with no public penalty when the sanctions came down on Penn State this summer.

Even if he decides to leave after this season, not many would really fault him. I don't think he will leave, however, as O'Brien strikes me as a guy that wants to stick with it in Happy Valley.

The player that could be one of the main reasons why he stays around is five-star QB prospect Christian Hackenberg.

The chance to work with and develop the 6'3", 215 pound QB is a coach's dream that O'Brien will start living next year.

If Vonn Bell Commits to Tennessee in the Near Future

There's a good chance that Derek Dooley will be out as the head coach of Tennessee.

He hasn't lived up to the expectations that the people in Rocky Top have for their beloved Vols and if they got rid of Phillip Fulmer then anyone is fair game.

If Dooley can somehow pull off the feat of getting five-star DB Vonn Bell to commit to Tennessee within these next few weeks, then Dolley has a chance.

Bell is a very, very good prospect and it would give the Vols some momentum. 

Reuben Foster, LB, Carl Lawson, DE and Dee Liner, DT (Auburn)

Gene Chizik is on the hot seat at Auburn and that is an insane thought because the Tigers are just a few seasons removed from a national title.

Yet, that's how college football works, especially in the SEC. Chizik does have a chance to stay though, and one of the cases he can make is this year' recruiting class.

It's a group that is ranked in the top 10 by me and others that is led by studs Reuben Foster, Carl Lawson and Dee Liner. Foster is perhaps the best LB prospect ever, Lawson is a 5-star DE that could be special and Liner is an awesome DT prospect.

Chizik would be wise to point to these three recruits as one of his reasons why he should be allowed to stay on The Plains.

Edwin Weathersby is the College Football Recruiting Analyst for Bleacher Report. He has worked in scouting/player personnel departments for three professional football teams, including the New York Giants, Cleveland Browns and the Las Vegas Gladiators of the Arena League. He spent a year evaluating prep prospects and writing specific recruiting and scouting content articles for Student Sports Football (formerly ESPN Rise-HS). A syndicated scout and writer, he's also contributed to WeAreSC.com, GatorBait.net and Diamonds in the Rough Inc., a College Football and NFL Draft magazine.