After Auburn fired Bryan Harsin, now who are the ten coaches on the hot seat after Week 9 of the college football season?
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In one of the least surprising moves of the college football season, Auburn fired head coach Bryan Harsin after going 9-12 in two seasons with a 3-5 record this year.
He was front-and-center on the coaching hot seat list, but this can all change in a hiccup.
Louisville’s Scott Satterfield was right there in the mix – and could go right back up top if the team loses to James Madison this weekend to start a rough four game finishing kick – but rolling by Wake Forest to make it a three-game winning streak changed all of that.
Being on a hot seat might not necessarily mean the coach is about to be fired. Just like every top coach is a three-game losing streak away from being in trouble, at this time of year he’s a three-game winning streak away from a contract extension.
Who are the five that desperately need that good run of wins, and who are five that won’t be canned but could use something positive? As always, we start with …
Five college football coaches who won’t get fired and aren’t on any hot seat, but could use a big win
5. Mel Tucker, Michigan State
Up Next: at Illinois
He’s handling the controversy at the end of the Michigan loss well, but on the field he’s on his way to a losing season.
He was 2-0 against Jim Harbaugh since taking over, but dropping the date on Saturday 29-7 was big. That’s the one game the base lives on, and it wasn’t all that close. Now the pressure is on to win at Illinois or else that might be it for a bowl shot with a trip to Penn State still to deal with.
On the plus side, beat the Illini, and with Rutgers and Indiana to follow this can all change fast. At this point, getting to six wins and a bowl would be huge. Lose twice, and it’ll be Tucker’s third losing season in four years as a head coach.
4. Brent Pry, Virginia Tech
Up Next: Georgia Tech
This is a redo, and everyone acknowledges that. It’s going to take a little while for the defensive-minded first year man to get everything in place, but it would be nice to come up with a win or three over the last month.
At 2-6 a bowl game is off the table, but the team remains competitive and the D has been fine – for the most part – over the last few weeks. Georgia Tech, at Duke, at Liberty, Virginia – it would do wonders for the offseason if he could pull off two wins against that, especially against the Cavaliers.
3. Brady Hoke, San Diego State
Up Next: UNLV
Almost any coach who’s on a real hot seat probably isn’t allowed on the plane back to San Diego after the brutal collapse in Saturday night’s 32-28 loss to Fresno State. The Aztecs had it in hand, but two touchdowns – helped by a perfect onside kick – in 13 seconds turned it into one of the most shocking late losses of the year.
At 4-4 there’s still time to win two games and go bowling with three of the last four at home and a road trip at New Mexico. It’s been a rough season on and off the field, and after a great 2021 everyone knows what he can do with this program. After Fresno State, though, this is where the coaching side kicks in to get that team up for UNLV.
2. Kalani Sitake, BYU
Up Next: at Boise State
It’s one of the most stunning disappointments of the season. Before the year started, BYU seemed like it was far more likely to be in the College Football Playoff mix than it was to be fighting for a bowl game.
After losing at home to East Carolina as part of a four-game losing streak, now the Cougars have to win two of the last three just to get to a bowl. They’ll beat Dixie State, but the have to go to Boise State and close out at Stanford.
1. Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M
Up Next: Florida
Welcome to life in the SEC West, Son.
This is when Texas A&M was supposed to be what Tennessee has become. Fisher was supposed to make the sleeping-superpower program into a College Football Playoff contender, and it really, really, really isn’t happening … yet.
Here’s the crazy thing – stick A&M in the ACC, or Pac-12, or Big Ten West and all might be fine. Four of the five losses were by six points or fewer, the team is still fighting, and …
Texas A&M has to win three of the last four against Florida, at Auburn, UMass, and LSU to get to a bowl.
Texas A&M under Jimbo Fisher shouldn’t be sweating a bowl invite.
– 5 college football coaches who had better win now, or else