Now that Geoff Collins is reportedly out at Georgia Tech, who are ten other coaches on the hot seat after Week 4 of the college football season?
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College Football Coaches Hot Seat Top 10: Week 4
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Herm Edwards was done after last week and Scott Frost was whacked after his team was pasted by Georgia Southern. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Georgia Tech’s Geoff Collins appears to be next …
He got the rare break of time. Everyone knew Georgia Tech needed a few years to undergo a giant pivot into the modern age of college football offenses – although, I’ll be the first to profess true and undying love for the triple option and its place in the world – but it never got going with a 10-28 run in just over three years.
So who’s next? Who are the coaches who desperately need a win?
We do College Football Coach Hot Seat a bit differently. First, there are the five who almost certainly won’t get fired, but could desperately use a big win soon. And then there are the five who are in big, big trouble if something doesn’t turn around fast.
Starting with five who could use something positive …
– 5 college football coaches who had better win now, or else
Five College Football Coaches Who Won’t Get Fired, But … WIN
5. Steve Sarkisian, Texas
Up Next: West Virginia
One wild 37-34 OT loss to Texas Tech shouldn’t mean the world – that’s a good Red Raider team and it was on the road – but there can’t be a slide.
And that’s the problem – everyone is expecting Texas to melt down just like it did last year after the Caleb Williams touchdown run to kickstart the Oklahoma comeback win.
There’s no easy out in the Big 12 this year, and it doesn’t get easier going forward.
West Virginia could absolutely win this weekend in Austin. No pressure, but if that happens, Oklahoma, Iowa State, at Oklahoma State, at Kansas State will seem very, very scary.
4. Mack Brown, North Carolina
Up Next: Virginia Tech
He’s been recruiting well, his teams have been interesting, and …
24-18 in just over three years. That’s not exactly setting the world on fire.
Obviously different circumstances – North Carolina isn’t under the NCAA cloud that Arizona State is – but Herm Edwards was sort of a similar outside-the-box older hire, and he went 25-17 in his first 42 games before going 1-3 to finish out his era.
The Tar Heels just suffered their first loss of the season in a 45-32 shootout with Notre Dame. They should’ve lost at Appalachian State, and they got pushed by Georgia State.
After a home game against Virginia Tech, UNC play four games in five on the road and still has to deal with NC State to close out the regular season.
Everything should be fine – there’s no Clemson to deal with – but losing to the Hokies this week would be a problem.
3. Mike MacIntyre, FIU
Up Next: at New Mexico State
There are no expectations in a rough situation, and there’s no concern about anything that happens in his first year of a massive turnaround.
FIU has a close-call win over Bryant from the FCS world, got rocked by Texas State, and last week lost to WKU 73-0.
However, at New Mexico State, UConn, at Charlotte are all up in the next month, and all would be seen as sure-thing wins for just about anyone else.
FIU doesn’t need to necessarily start winning – again, this is going to take time. It would be nice to get a few positives, though, considering where this season appears to be heading.
2. Michael Desormeaux, Louisiana
Up Next: South Alabama
The former star quarterback and current favorite son of the Ragin’ Cajuns had a huge task trying to keep everything going after what Billy Napier was able to put together. However, even with some big personnel losses, this was still expected to be a great team that could be in the Sun Belt title hunt.
Everything looked fine over the first two games, and then came the strange loss at Rice when everything stopped, and then came the ultimate sin – a 21-17 loss last week to ULM.
He’s just getting started, but there aren’t a slew of sure-thing wins left. It’s going to be tough to get four more and get bowl eligible.
1. Mel Tucker, Michigan State
Up Next: at Maryland
This might get ugly in a hurry.
After a fantastic 2021, the program made a massive commitment to Tucker, the needle was pointing up, and it seemed like the glitches were fixed. Everything started out well against Western Michigan and Akron, and then came two massive problems.
It’s not that Michigan State last to Washington and Minnesota, it’s that it didn’t look like it belonged on the same field with either one. A late rally made the 39-28 final score against the Huskies look better than it was, but the 34-7 loss to the Gophers wasn’t even that close.
Tucker and the Spartans had better win at Maryland with Ohio State, Wisconsin, at Michigan, and at Illinois to follow and at Penn State to close.
Six wins and a bowl game aren’t a given now.
– 5 college football coaches who had better win now, or else
NEXT: 5 College Football Hot Seat Coaches Who Need To Win Now, Or Else
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College Football Hot Seat Coaches: Win NOW, Or Else
These five coaches will likely hang on to their respective jobs with an okay final record, but they all need to put together a strong string of wins NOW.
5. Jeff Hafley, Boston College
Up Next: Louisville
Boston College fans were getting bored with seven-win seasons. They wanted more, they wanted to break through, they wanted to be a contender – all very reasonable.
Hafley went 6-5 in the COVID year – great. He went 6-6 last season – okay.
Now Boston College is on a rough 1-5 run since the end of last year, and here’s the really rough part – Boston College only has one win over a team that finished with a winning record since Hafley took over.
The Eagles got rocked by Florida State. They started with a loss to Rutgers, lost to a bad Virginia Tech squad, and got a win over Maine from the FCS.
Lose to Louisville this week, and with Clemson and at Wake Forest to follow – and with road games at NC State and Notre Dame ahead – there’s a problem.
4. Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri
Up Next: Georgia
Welcome to life in the SEC.
If Nathaniel Peat is able to hang on to the ball for just a half-step longer, Mizzou beats Auburn on the road, it’s 3-1, and with Vanderbilt and New Mexico State still to play, a bowl game would’ve seemed close to being a lock.
Peat fumbled, Missouri lost 17-14 in overtime, and up next is Georgia, then Florida on the road. then Vanderbilt and at South Carolina in a bit of a break, then Kentucky, then at Tennessee. NMSU is a breather before closing with Arkansas, but at this point, it’s going to take something special to get to six wins.
There’s a chance 12 of the 14 SEC teams are now eligible. It will be dicey if Mizzou joins Vanderbilt as the ones without an invite.
Speaking of that ending.
3. Bryan Harsin, Auburn
Up Next: LSU
Yeah, Auburn got the win, and yeah, the team is 3-1 now – you are what your record says you are. However, the offense isn’t moving, the Penn State loss was a disaster, and there’s a whole lot of pain and suffering on the horizon.
At 3-1 is seems like a bowl game is a lock, right? Find the three wins out of LSU, at Georgia, at Ole Miss, Arkansas, at Mississippi State, Texas A&M, WKU, at Alabama.
However, if Auburn is sick of him, there’s one place that might like him back …
2. Andy Avalos, Boise State
Up Next: San Diego State
Really? Losing to UTEP 27-10? Boise State?
This is the program that seemingly went decades without losing to anyone other than someone amazing, and now it’s losing to … UTEP?
Bryan Harsin went 69-19 during his seven years at Boise State. The program won three Mountain West championships, two other divisions titles, went 9-4 with a bowl win in a 2015 season when it didn’t take the division, and was 5-2 in the strange COVID year of 2020.
Former Boise State LB Andy Avalos stepped in and went 7-5 last season. Okay, but the 2-2 start to this year isn’t okay, especially after that loss to …
UTEP.
San Diego State, Fresno State, at Air Force. This is a critical three-game stretch. Win those, and all will be right with the world.
1. Karl Dorrell, Colorado
Up Next: at Arizona
The guy knows how to coach – he was the Pac-12 Coach of the Year just two seasons ago, and he won it back in 2005, too.
He was fine at UCLA. Not amazing, but the 35-27 run wasn’t bad. He was a strong assistant in the pros, he knows how to run an offense, and there’s one level of thought that this brutal 2022 is a step back to get the new parts time to potentially take a giant leap forward.
That, and the $11.4 million buyout is a bit too rich to get rid of him before the end of the season.
Colorado has’t even been close in the four losses to TCU, Air Force, Minnesota, and last week against UCLA. Making things worse is the lack of a true lightweight game the rest of the way.
Going to Arizona is close, maybe getting Cal at home is winnable, and hosting Arizona State on October 29th is a shot, but 0-12 is a real possibility with the way the team is playing after four weeks.
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College Football Week 4 Roundup
CFN 1-131 Rankings | Bowl Projections
Week 4 Scoreboard | Week 5 Early Lines
What 12-Team Playoff Would Look Like
AP Rankings | Coaches Poll
