10 College Football Coaches Who Could Face a Fan Backlash This Season

The phrase “patience is a virtue” is nice in theory. However, it’s not one that many college football fans take to heart.

Especially when it comes to dealing with head coaches.

Fans desire success, and they value winning over pretty much anything. Their tolerance for losing is almost nonexistent.

A coach is allowed a freebie rebuilding or down season every once in a blue moon, but if the losses start piling up on a yearly basis, the fans will grow more and more frustrated.

Here’s a look at 10 head coaches that need to start off the 2010 season hot, because, if they don’t, then the fans will get ornery, and the grumbling will commence.

Rich Rodriguez: Michigan Wolverines

Coach Rod’s name has been in the media quite a lot lately, but not for the reasons he wants it to be. Rodriguez has been cited by the NCAA for his failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance at not just Michigan, but back at West Virginia as well.

That’s not good.

After two lackluster bowlless seasons in Ann Arbor, the heat was already on the coach to get things done in 2010, and his recent troubles only turn up the temperature that much more.

The Wolverines started off hot, going 4-0 to begin the 2009 season. They’ll need a similar early run this season, but this time they have to sustain it all the way through, or else it could spell the end for Rodriguez.

With Connecticut and Notre Dame on tap in the first two weeks of the season, before a tough Big Ten slate kicks off that includes games against Michigan State, Iowa, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State, success certainly won’t come easy for Coach Rod and his boys.

Les Miles: LSU Tigers

After winning a national championship in just his third year on the job back in 2007, Les Miles has put together two less than stellar campaigns as a follow up.

Last year, Miles was heavily criticized and his coaching moves were constantly second guessed throughout the season. The most notable occurrence came in the debacle at Ole Miss when Les threw quarterback Jordan Jefferson under the bus even though it was obvious he was one of the central figures to blame in the confusion-laced loss.

Once praised for his no-fear type attitude, Miles now seems to be testing the patience of LSU fans with every game.

Les needs his Tigers to come up big in their two early season non-conference showdowns against North Carolina and West Virginia to help ease some of the tension.

Rick Neuheisel: UCLA Bruins

He came in promising major success and even a takeover of a city, but up to this point, Rick Neuheisel has yet to live up to all of his self-created hype.

The Bruins are just 11-14 in the two years under Neuheisel’s watch, which is a far cry from the Pac-10 dominance that the coach implied upon getting the job.

UCLA only had one convincing win last season—a 43-7 trouncing over a one-win Washington State team. It needs more of those type of victories, only this season it needs to do it against higher quality opponents.

The September stretch is far from an easy one with home games against Stanford and Houston, and visits to Big 12 foes Kansas State and Texas.

UCLA has the defensive talent with guys like Akeem Ayers and Rahim Moore to compete in every one of those games. But If the Bruins come up short in a few of those contests, the chatter will start.

This is the year Rick has to back up all the big talk.

Dan Hawkins: Colorado Buffaloes

“10 wins and no excuses.” That was what coach Dan Hawkins set up as the motto for his 2009 version of the Colorado football team.

His team, however, happened to come up just a little bit short of that goal, winning only three games all year. The Buffaloes even failed to beat non-BCS opponents Colorado State and Toledo in consecutive weeks to start the season.

After coming down from Boise State with a lot of fanfare, Hawkins definitely hasn’t had an easy go of it during his four years in Boulder. His loss to FCS Montana State in his first game at the school could have been an omen of the struggles to come.

The team has never had a winning season under the coach, and his 16-33 total record isn’t very pleasing.

The fans already started to turn their backs on Hawkins during the latter part of the 2009 season, and it will be up to the coach to put together an awesome season to help get them back on his side.

It starts early with the first game against Colorado State. Two straight losses against the in-state rival won’t be tolerated by Buffalo fans.

Ron Zook: Illinois Fighting Illini

The Rose Bowl Game of two years ago seems like a distant memory for the Illinois football program. In the two seasons since, the Illini have rapidly declined into one of the worst teams in the Big Ten conference.

Head coach Ron Zook has watched his offense flounder, and his defense dissolve without any reasonable explanation.

The team’s struggles over the last two seasons make this a make or break year for Zook and his staff.

The defense should be solid with the return of linebacker Martez Wilson as well as the development of some key younger players, and the offense should be able to move the ball with running back Mikel Leshoure.

Zook’s last few recruiting classes haven’t been as stellar as they once were, and the presence of former offensive coordinator Mike Locksley, who brought in top talent like Arrelious Benn, has surely been missed.

Zook has to show he can bounce back and make Illinois somewhat of a factor in the Big Ten conference. He’s running out of time to get things back on track.

Bill Stewart: West Virginia Mountaineers

Bill Stewart inherited a beautiful mess of sorts when he was named the school’s new head coach a day after leading the team to a Fiesta Bowl victory. Back in 2008, the coach took over a program that Rich Rodriguez built into a Big East powerhouse, but Stewart also had to pick up the pieces and smooth things over after Rodriguez’s ugly departure.

Two nine-win seasons have been good, but the fans are expecting more. Mountaineer fans want Big East Champions and BCS bowls again, which are two things Stewart has failed to reach as head coach.

His questionable coaching decisions often enrage fans, and there are some that feel he is just too nice of a guy to ever instill a cutthroat attitude in his team.

Stewart doesn’t have to topple LSU in Baton Rouge, but what he does have to do is put together a run in conference play. A Big East Championship would go a long way towards getting the fanbase on his side. If he falls short again, people will start to moan.

The coach and his staff have recruited well, and the team certainly has the talent to get the job done this season. Now it’s up to Stewart to navigate it to a conference title and an elusive BCS berth.

Paul Wulff: Washington State Cougars

It hasn’t been smooth sailing in Pullman over the last two years, and Paul Wulff knows that better than anybody. Since coming over from Eastern Washington, the coach is a pitiful 3-22 during his two seasons at Washington State.

Now it’s true that the team lacks the talent to compete with the big boys of the Pac-10, but scoring just 12 points a game for two seasons is on a level of just being purely uncompetitive.

Cougar fans need more from Wulff this season. They want to see a competitive spark from their team.

A Pac-10 upset somewhere along the way would help things a lot, seeing as the team has only beaten one conference opponent—a winless Washington team—during Wulff’s time as coach.

Mike Sherman: Texas A&M Aggies

Mike Sherman’s Aggies have been one of the most wildly inconsistent teams in the nation during the coach’s two-year tenure. In 2009, it seemed as if A&M was either blowing out somebody or getting blown out by somebody. The Aggies scored 50 points twice, but they also let up 60 points twice as well.

It’s that type of inconsistency that has led to Sherman’s 10-15 record in his two years at the school.

With quarterback Jerrod Johnson under center, the team should have been much better than that.

With 16 starters back, including the return of his outstanding double-threat QB, the pressure is now on Sherman to put together a solid campaign.

After a breezy early part of the season, things will get considerably tougher once Big 12 play starts. The road game at Oklahoma State on September 30th could be the catalyst for the rest of the season. The Aggies have lost two straight to OSU, and if they were to lose once again this year, Sherman’s status might start to get shaky.

Ralph Friedgen: Maryland Terrapins

Ralph Friedgen started off his career remarkably well, winning at least 10 games in his first three seasons at Maryland. But things have tailed off since, and the Terps finally hit a low point last season, finishing just 2-10.

The output of the offense has been dismal over the last few seasons, while the defense, usually the team’s strong point, fell apart last year and allowed over 30 points a game.

Offensive coordinator James Franklin has the title of “Head Coach in Waiting” right now, but if Friedgen can’t get the offense moving, Franklin may not have to wait very long.

Mark Richt: Georgia Bulldogs

Georgia is a program in a bit of turmoil right now. Between the resignation of AD Damon Evans and the dismissal of players like quarterback Zach Mettenberger, some are starting to wonder if Mark Richt is losing his grip on the Bulldogs.

Questions about Richt started popping up in 2008 when Georgia entered the season No. 1 in the polls with arguably the most talent-laden team in the nation, only to ultimately end up with a 10-3 record and no BCS bowl to show for it.

Last year, things didn't get any better. After losing at Oklahoma State to start the season off, Georgia would go on to finish with an 8-5 record, the worst Richt has ever posted in his nine years at the school.

Georgia fans are eager to go to Sugar Bowls, not Independence Bowls. They are also starting to get fed up with the blowout losses to Florida. The Gators have put up a combined 90 points in the last two tailgates down in Jacksonville. And that is far from acceptable.

It's hard to go against a man that has averaged ten wins a season since 2001, but if Florida rocks the Bulldogs once again this season, the fans might start jumping off the Richt ship.