10 College Basketball Coaches Currently on the Hot Seat

If you follow college sports, you already know that coaching jobs are one of the least stable professions for an individual to take.

As seen in the cases of Billy Donovan, John Calipari, Tom Izzo, Mike Krzyzewski, Rick Pitino and Bill Self, coaches at the helm of some of the nation’s biggest programs can put together consistent winning seasons and be locks to reach the NCAA tournament every season.

But it’s not as easy for the rest of the coaching population, as they must scratch and claw for the nation’s top recruits, deliver winning seasons and maintain a standard of winning and excellence just to keep their jobs.

Here are the top 10 coaches who are on the hot seat and who might be out the door at the end of this season unless they turn in an NCAA tournament-quality year.

10. Anthony Grant (Alabama)

Ed Zurga/Associated Press

Record at Alabama: 103-72
Overall Coaching Record: 179-97

While Grant had great success at the helm of the Virginia Commonwealth University program from 2006-09, going 76-25 overall, his time at Alabama hasn’t been nearly as impressive.

Coming off of a 13-19 season, Alabama has reached the NCAA tournament just once in five seasons and hasn't come up with any big wins against upper-echelon SEC opponents.

Posting three consecutive seasons of 20-plus wins prior to last season, Grant will be under pressure to reach the NCAA tournament this season.

Football is and will always be first in Tuscaloosa, but in a program that has brought in highly touted recruits, the basketball team arguably should have had more success under this head coach. 

9. Kevin Willard (Seton Hall)

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

Record at Seton Hall: 70-66
Overall Coaching Record: 115-115

Willard earned the head coaching job at Seton Hall following a 21-10 year at Iona College in the 2009-10 season. Despite a 45-49 losing record in three seasons at the MAAC school, Seton Hall welcomed its new coach and began what has been a very underwhelming four full seasons.

In his career, Willard has not won a conference championship or led his team to an NCAA tournament berth. In a weakened Big East Conference, this is the year the Pirates must make a splash—or else their coach may be out the door.

8. Andy Kennedy (Ole Miss)

Chuck Burton/Associated Press

Record at Ole Miss: 174-102
Overall Coaching Record: 195-115

Kennedy is Ole Miss’ all-time winningest coach with 174 victories. However, despite putting together some talented squads, he has only won one NCAA tournament game in his eight-year career at the helm of the program.

Considered an above-average coach in the SEC, Kennedy might be gone after this season if the Rebels don’t make the NCAA tournament.

It doesn’t look particularly bright for this year’s team, as it dropped its season opener to Charleston Southern and just got by Northern Arizona in its last contest.

7. Dave Rice (UNLV)

John Locher/Associated Press

Record at UNLV: 74-33
Overall Coaching Record: 74-33

Rice’s name has floated around in hot-seat discussions for the past few seasons.

Despite recruiting at a very high level, UNLV has not won an NCAA tournament game since 2008. Despite reaching the NCAA tournament in two of his three seasons in charge of the program, the team is 0-2 in its appearances.

Rice may be under some pressure to not only dominate the Mountain West but also win a game or two in this year’s NCAA tournament.

6. Brian Gregory (Georgia Tech)

David Goldman/Associated Press

Record at Georgia Tech: 46-52
Overall Coaching Record: 218-146

At Dayton, Gregory found massive success, going 172-94 overall.

However, he has struggled as the head coach at Georgia Tech, as he has failed to post a single impressive season in three full years, going 11-20, 16-15, and 16-17, respectively. He has gone 16-26 in ACC play, but it’s time for his squad to see some improvements in both overall record and in conference play.

5. Billy Kennedy (Texas A&M)

Ricardo Arduengo/Associated Press

Record at Texas A&M: 53-50
Overall Coaching Record: 264-229

Prior to Kennedy landing the job at Texas A&M, the school had made it to six straight NCAA tournaments under Billy Gillispie and Mark Turgeon.

In three seasons, Kennedy has failed to lead his team to the tournament even once. He hasn’t won 20 games in a season and has gone 19-31 in conference play.

He will likely be gone if this year’s team does not make a splash at the end of the season and reach a coveted spot in the NCAA tournament.

4. Matt Painter (Purdue)

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

Record at Purdue: 195-113
Overall Coaching Record: 220-118

Painter has had decent success in the NCAA tournament, playing in 15 games and winning eight of them. Between 2007 and 2011, Painter’s Purdue squads were consistently ranked in the AP Top 25, reaching as high as No. 3 in the nation in the 2009-10 season.

However, his teams over the past three seasons have failed to compare to those years, as he has gone 22-13, 16-18, and 15-17, respectively, without a single NCAA tournament berth.

If Painter doesn’t get things together soon, he can be forced out as the Boilermakers head coach at the end of the season. 

3. Mark Turgeon (Maryland)

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

Record at Maryland: 64-43
Overall Coaching Record: 314-202

It is likely NCAA tournament or bust this season for Mark Turgeon, who's posted a 23-29 record in the ACC during his tenure.

If Maryland misses the NCAA tournament this year, it will be five straight seasons that the Terrapins have missed it, which is not acceptable in a program as established as Maryland’s.

Under his watch, assistant coaches, signees and scholarship players have all left, seemingly losing faith in the coach’s ability to lead the program to the promised land.

Maryland is off to a 5-0 start, so it should be interesting to see if the Terps can put together a strong season. If not, their coach will likely be kicked to the curb.

2. Oliver Purnell (DePaul)

Al Behrman/Associated Press

Record at DePaul: 44-85
Overall Coaching Record: 438-364

Purnell saw decent success before arriving at DePaul, earning six NCAA tournament appearances from his time coaching Radford, Old Dominion, Dayton and Clemson. He went 0-6 in those opportunities, however.

While at DePaul, he has amassed a terrible record, as indicated above. The Blue Demons have not won more than 12 games in a single season in Purnell’s tenure and have generally been the laughingstock of the Big East Conference, going 9-57 under him.

However, what is perhaps most disconcerting is that he has not attracted any top recruiting classes despite being located in a geographic area seemingly suitable of producing one: Chicago's inner city.

1. Tom Crean (Indiana Hoosiers)

Darron Cummings/Associated Press

Record at Indiana: 105-98
Overall Coaching Record: 295-194

When coaching perhaps the most storied program in college basketball history, pressure comes with the territory.

Indiana’s Tom Crean has not yet lived up to this pressure, as he has posted an embarrassing 40-68 record in the Big Ten during his tenure as coach of the Hoosiers.

Posting awful 6-25, 10-21 and 12-20 seasons to begin his stint at the school, Crean got things together, posting 27-9 and 29-7 seasons in 2011-12 and 2012-13, respectively.

But he never advanced the team past the Sweet 16, despite putting elite talent on the floor. After going 17-15 last season, Crean will need to put together a NCAA tournament bid this season, or he will almost certainly be fired.

Indiana lost to Eastern Washington at home in its last game, so this is why Crean tops the list and is the most likely to be on the hot seat—which is likely scalding at this point.