College Football Coaching Hot Seat: 10 Fire 'Em or Keep 'Em Decisions

Head coaches on the hot seat are beginning to drop like flies now that the regular season has come to an end (for most conferences).

As the ax falls at places like UCLA, Washington State, Illinois and others, there are still some coaches that seem to be poised under the proverbial Sword of Damocles in their respective jobs. Athletic directors are faced with that yearly question: Should a change be made?

Here are 10 coaches who have their bosses losing sleep over the decision on whether to fire 'em or keep 'em.

Mark Richt, Georgia

After last season's 6-7 finish, there were more than a few people calling for the ouster of Georgia head coach Mark Richt.

Never mind the fact that Richt was 96-34 at Georgia, and 53-27 in the rough-and-tumble SEC. People still thought he should go.

Well, thirteen weeks later, Richt has improved those numbers to 106-36 and 60-28. The Bulldogs have captured the SEC East title this season and will face LSU in the SEC Championship Game this weekend.

If ever there was an easy decision, this one has to be it. A 10-2 (7-1) performance will do that. In reality, Richt probably shouldn't have been on the hot seat to begin with.

Decision: Keep 'em

Dan Enos, Central Michigan

Mount Pleasant, Mich., may not be the center of the football world. In fact, it's not really the center of anything, other than Michgian's Lower Peninsula.

But that doesn't mean there aren't some grumblings around campus about the performance—or lack thereof—from Central Michigan's football team.

The Chippewas have completed their season with a 3-9 (2-6) mark—identical to 2010's finish. Head coach Dan Enos has presided over CMU's return to the basement of the MAC, but worse, he's led the team to some epic losses to traditional rivals, including a 44-14 drubbing at the hands of Western Michigan.

CMU's sixth-place finish in the six-team MAC West will lead many to wonder if Enos is the right man to follow such coaches as Butch Jones (2007-2009), who was 27-13 (20-3) at CMU with two MAC Championships, and Brian Kelly (2004-2006), who was 19-16 (15-9) at CMU with one MAC title.

Granted, Enos hasn't had but two seasons to recruit his players, but if Jones and Kelly could win at Central, Enos should be able to as well, right?

Decision: Fire 'em

Mike Riley, Oregon State

Mike Riley is in his second stint as the head coach at Oregon State (1997-1998, 2003-present), and over those 11 seasons, Riley has amassed a respectable 72-63 overall record.

While there have been some decent successes for the Beavers under Riley (2006-2008, when Oregon State posted a 28-12 record and finished ranked in the final AP poll each season), the success seems to have deserted Corvallis.

Over the past two seasons, Riley is just 8-16, including a 7-11 mark in conference play. Oregon State will again miss a bowl this season, and the Beavers haven't beaten archrival Oregon since 2007.

Even if you can get past some of the recent failures of Riley's Beavers, you can't ignore one big red flag: Riley is sub-.500 in conference play during his time at Oregon State (46-47). In the increasingly competitive college football world, where making a BCS bowl is every team's ultimate goal, a coach that struggles to post a winning conference record won't last long.

Riley needs to hope that 2010 and 2011 were aberrations. Without a quick return to winning in Corvallis, his days at the helm are numbered.

Decision: Keep 'em

Greg McMackin, Hawai'i

After taking over for the wildly successful June Jones at Hawai'i, Greg McMackin was faced with the prospect of trying to keep a good thing going.

The first two seasons weren't terrible, but certainly weren't up to the standards Hawai'i fans had come to expect under Jones. After a 13-14 record over two seasons, McMackin seemed to hit his stride in his third season, posting a 10-4 (7-1) record in 2010 while capturing a share of the WAC title.

But instead of building on that success, the Warriors seem to have taken a step backward in 2011, finishing 6-6—including a 3-4 mark in the Boise-less WAC that many pundits picked Hawai'i to win this season.

McMackin will begin to feel the pressure in Hawai'i to guide the Warriors back toward that elusive BCS magic Jones captured in Manoa. One season a trend does not make, but if the losses continue to pile up, expect the pressure on McMackin to increase as well.

Decision: Keep 'em

Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech

After the monumentally stupid firing of Mike Leach (who was 84-43 in his 10 seasons in Lubbock), the Red Raiders opted to go with Tommy Tuberville, who had a record of moderate success at Auburn.

Since his arrival at Texas Tech, the Red Raiders have finished no better than fifth in the now-defunct South Division, and Texas Tech limped across the finish line with a 5-7 (2-7) record this season, good enough for ninth in the 10-team Big 12.

While transitions can be rough on any team, Tuberville should be quickly feeling the tingle of heat under his fanny very shortly. While it's probably too soon to call for his ouster, without vast improvements next season, Tuberville may again find himself providing commentary for ESPN.

Decision: Keep 'em (for now)

Steve Fairchild, Colorado State

If there's been one team that has exemplified futility in the Mountain West over the past few seasons, it has to be Steve Fairchild's Colorado State Rams.

Other than his first season, 2008 (7-6), the Rams under Fairchild have failed to win more than three games in any single season. Even with the 7-6 2008 season, which included a New Mexico Bowl win, Fairchild is just 16-31 in Fort Collins. The Rams are also a laughable 7-22 in the MWC under Fairchild. Clearly, things aren't improving, and if Colorado State ever wants to be considered even close to the same level as big brother Colorado in football, a change needs to be made.

Decision: Fire 'em

Randy Edsall, Maryland

When Randy Edsall was hired away from Connecticut after leading the Huskies to a BCS bowl last season, we're pretty sure Maryland wasn't envisioning a 2-10 (1-7) finish to the 2011 season.

The only thing worse than Maryland's play on the field this season was their eye-offending uniform decisions.

While it's way too early to make a decision to fire Edsall at Maryland, there has to be some unease setting in. The Terrapins may be headed down the RichRod road: Rodriguez was never able to shake the specter of a horrific start at Michigan and was fired after three seasons even after showing improvements each year.

Will Edsall fall into the same trap?

Decision: Keep 'em

Ken Niumatalolo, U.S. Naval Academy

For most people, the name Ken Niumatalolo brings to mind the successful coach at Navy who has been able to guide the Midshipmen to improbable win after improbable win, including two out of three against Notre Dame.

But beyond the headline-generating successes, Niumatalolo has been fairly average as a head coach. The 2011 season, however, wasn't quite average. In fact, even by Navy standards, it was downright lousy.

Navy has hobbled through the 2011 season posting a 4-7 mark headed into their annual showdown with Army.

For comparison, the last time Navy missed a bowl game was 2002, when the Midshipmen were 2-10.

But even then, the season seemed to be salvaged with the all-important win over Army. While 4-7 isn't exactly the type of season Navy was hoping for 13 weeks ago, a win over the Black Knights can save a coach's job like no other single win anywhere in the country.

Niumatalolo, for all of his success, is just 31-21 at Navy's helm, and 1-3 in bowl games.

It's also worth mentioning that Navy has failed to capture the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy for the second-straight season after winning it seven years in a row between 2003 and 2009. At Navy, wins against the other military academies are as good as bowl wins, but losing tends to hurt a bit more.

A loss to Army will only exacerbate this season's lackluster performance, and unless Navy returns to a bowl game next season, Niumatalolo may be out of a job—for good cause.

Decision: Keep 'em (for now)

Frank Spaziani, Boston College

The 2011 season was a huge leap backward for the Boston College Eagles. After an 8-5 mark in 2009 and a 7-6 record in 2010, the 2011 Eagles managed just four wins to eight losses.

Head coach Frank Spaziani certainly is going to be under some pressure to win football games, and to do so quickly. There are some legit excuses for this year's debacle, however. Boston College lost its offensive coordinator just before the season because of illness, and rather than searching for a quality replacement on short notice, the Eagles opted to muddle through the season trying to maintain the status quo with staff already in place.

The result was a team that was absolutely hapless with the football.

The silver lining is that the Eagles were pretty decent on defense, and a new offensive coordinator should be in place by next season. While this season's failures will certainly turn up the thermostat on Spaziani's seat, he should (and likely will) be given another season or two to turn things around before the prospect of a pink slip is staring him in the face.

Decision: Keep 'em

Mike Sherman, Texas A&M

Several weeks ago, we asked if Mike Sherman was the right man for the job at A&M. We even suggested some possible replacements—and we won't be shy about noting that a few guys on our list have already been snapped up by other big-time programs.

Over his four seasons at Texas A&M, Mike Sherman has posted an anemic 25-25 overall record. His Big 12 mark is even worse, at 15-18. Sherman has led A&M to two bowl games, both losses.

If the Aggies ever hope to challenge the supremacy of the Longhorns in the Lone Star State, it will likely need to be done under a new head coach.

Decision: Fire 'em