Which coaches are on the hottest seats and under the most pressure – and who leads the Coach of the Year race – after Week 7 of the college football season?
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Which ten coaches are going to be feeling it if they don’t win … NOW.
To be positive, which five coaches lead the way in the Coach of the Year race?
The hot seat rankings are done in two ways. First, the five coaches who need a win for job security, and then the five coaches who aren’t in any real danger of being fired but could use a massive win.
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Coaches On The Hot Seat: Win, Or Else
5. David Cutcliffe, Duke
2-10. That’s what Duke is in its last ten games, and it’s 9-17 since starting out 4-0 in 2018. The offense has given it up a whopping 22 times so far with three picks in the 31-20 loss to NC State. On the plus side, the Blue Devils get three straight home games against Charlotte, North Carolina and Wake Forest. Win two of those three games, and everything starts to change.
4. Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee
Just when it seemed like things might start to bounce back for the Blue Raiders after a win over FIU, pffffffffffft – the air came out of the balloon. North Texas is bad at college football this year, but it just went into Murfreesboro and left with a 52-35 win. The program is now 3-10 in its last 11 games, and two of those wins are against FIU.
3. Dino Babers, Syracuse
Yeah, the Orange don’t have starting quarterback Tommy DeVito around anymore, but that’s partly because the offensive line hasn’t been fixed after years of issues. Losing to a bad Duke team at home by 14 was bad enough, but getting dropkicked by 17 against Liberty is a whole other level of yuck. Oh great … next up is a trip to Clemson.
2. Gus Malzahn, Auburn
You can’t have a column about hot seat coaches without Gus Malzahn after an Auburn loss, but this is different. The offense isn’t clicking like it should, the 2-2 record should be 1-3 after catching a colossal break against Arkansas, and getting whacked around by South Carolina is never going to make the base happy. Lose at Ole Miss next week and this gets really interesting.
1. Matt Viator, ULM
After starting the season 0-5 and going 2-9 in the last 11 games, Viator and the Warhawks have to get hot. Lose at South Alabama this week, and there’s a big, bit problem with no obvious winnable games the rest of the way. Be shocked if ULM isn’t a double-digit underdog in the last seven outings.
NEXT: 5 Coaches Who Won’t Get Fired, But Need A Win