College Football 2011: 5 Coaches Who Must Win in Week 5

With the firing of New Mexico coach Mike Locksley, the coaching carousel has officially started for the 2011 season.

Certain coaches have a hotter seat than others and play pivotal games in Week 5 that could go a long way in determining the length of their tenures.

Here are five coaches who are absolutely in must-win situations.

Mark Richt

*Game in progress.

The longest tenured coach in the SEC has long worn out his welcome with fans...if he continues to lose, that is.

Richt lost to Boise State to open the season and suffered a gut-wrenching loss to South Carolina at home the following week.

Mississippi State is a good football team but it looks as though they have given up on their season after losing to LSU and Auburn, and nearly to Louisiana Tech. If Richt doesn't get a win at home this week his job is almost surely done.

Houston Nutt

Speaking of the SEC, Houston Nutt has taken Ole Miss a step backwards every year he’s been coach and this year is absolutely atrocious.

The Rebels play 2-2 Fresno State, who lost tough ones to California and Nebraska. This team is no a complete pushover. If Nutt loses to another non-automatic qualifying school, he can say goodbye to his team.

Mike Stoops

The Arizona coach has just looked helpless in recent weeks against a brutal schedule. It gets slightly easier this week when they play USC but they have to go on the road to do it.

Maybe Stoops will get some extra time simply because his team was so inexperienced this year, particularly on the offensive line. But with conference realignment looming and the Pac-12 starting this year, patience is likely running thin at Arizona.

Luke Fickell

Ohio State is 3-1 but you would never guess it based on the way they have played so far this season, nearly losing to Toledo at home.

Fickell is considered by some a temporary hire to replace Jim Tressel. If he wants to stick around as head honcho in Columbus for long, he will need to beat Michigan State at home.

Holding home field advantage is pivotal to the fans’ admiration, but Michigan State is no slouch. Unless he really turns things around when the suspended players return after this week, this could be the beginning of the end of the Luke Fickell experiment.

Brian Kelly

The Irish take on Purdue this week and the Boilermakers are just not good at football.

Notre Dame has taken a liking to making games closer than they should be with turnovers and poor punting. That's still no excuse to you lose to Purdue.

Charlie Weis was doomed by some signature losses and this would certainly be Kelly’s.