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20 for 2020 College Football Topics, No. 14: the coaching hot seat rankings for all of the Power Five teams.
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Being on a hot seat shouldn’t just be about whether or not a guy needs to win a football game or five to keep his job. That’s obviously the biggest part of the staying hired equation, but it’s about pressure, too.
Sometimes, a relatively safe made man has all the pressure in the world on his shoulders to beat the arch-rival, and sometimes a college football head coach just has to win big, or else.
The rankings go from who’s on the coolest of seats in each Power Five conference to who had better come up with a big season to survive.
ACC Spring Coach Hot Seat Rankings
14. Dabo Swinney, Clemson
Yeah, the pressure is on to win the national title or the season is a disappointment, but Swinney has coached in four national championship games in five years. He’s at Clemson for life if it’ll have him.
Record With Team: 130-31
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 14
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 14
– Full Schedule Analysis
13. Bronco Mendenhall, Virginia
The guy just beat Virginia Tech and took the Cavaliers to the ACC Championship and the Orange Bowl. It’s Virginia, the pressure isn’t that intense – he can have a few rough seasons and still be more than comfortable.
Record With Team: 25-27
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 12
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 8
– Full Schedule Analysis
12. Jeff Hafley, Boston College
A total disaster of a year would cause a little grumbling, but get to six wins and everything will be okay in Year One. Even if the record is awful, it’ll be seen as a step back to possibly take a big leap forward.
Record With Team: 0-0
– Full Schedule Analysis
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11. Scott Satterfield, Louisville
Everyone likes him, the overall attitude has changed around the program, and the talent is starting to come in. There’s still a rebuilding process to be done, but he showed last season what he can do with the Cardinals.
Record With Team: 8-5
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 13
– Full Schedule Analysis
10. Dave Clawson, Wake Forest
It’s Wake freaking Forest, and Clawson has managed to take it to four straight bowl games and four straight winning seasons. There might be ebbs and flows to the record throughout the years, but he has already proven what he can do.
Record With Team: 36-40
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 8
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 10
– Full Schedule Analysis
9. Mack Brown, North Carolina
It was a positive first season to pull the Tar Heels out of the nosedive, but it has to be a beginning and not a culmination. The recruiting class was great, everything appears to be pointing up, but … win more.
Record With Team: 7-6
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 3
– Full Schedule Analysis
8. Mike Norvell, Florida State
He’ll get a very, very, very short leash. He got Memphis over the hump, and the early returns are all positive, but he has yet to win a bowl game and he’s not the A-list of A-list possible hires. Brand name doesn’t always matter – ask UCLA how the Chip Kelly era is going – but it’s Florida State. A losing season will set off panic sirens.
Record With Team: 0-0
– Full Schedule Analysis
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7. David Cutcliffe, Duke
A third losing season in five years wouldn’t be a plus, but it’s Duke, and it’s Cutcliffe, so it would take something awful for this to be over in a bad way. However, after 12 years, the “go another direction” thing could come out if the campaign is a total disaster.
Record With Team: 72-79
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 10
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 7
– Full Schedule Analysis
6. Geoff Collins, Georgia Tech
It’s still going to take a little while to completely turn this whole thing around – a brutal schedule won’t help – but grade him a bit on a curve. That’s fine, but there had better be signs that something big is coming in 2021 no matter what happens record-wise in 2020.
Record With Team: 3-9
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 11
– Full Schedule Analysis
5. Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech
Last season was stronger after a losing 2018 season, but he has lost three straight bowl games and there can’t be another loss to Virginia. At the very least, it would be a big plus if the Hokies were in the mix for the Coastal title until the end.
Record With Team: 33-20
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 4
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 13
– Full Schedule Analysis
4. Pat Narduzzi, Pitt
The pressure always seems to be on Narduzzi to do more, and then he goes out and wins 7-to-8 games. However, after five years, one total clunker – and a second losing season in three years – would be a big problem
Record With Team: 36-29
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 2
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 1
– Full Schedule Analysis
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3. Dino Babers, Syracuse
The ten-win season of two years ago seems way back in the rearview mirror. With three losing seasons in his four years, last season has to be more of the aberration than 2018.
Record With Team: 23-26
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 9
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 2
– Full Schedule Analysis
2. Dave Doeren, NC State
The opening line of last year’s blurb on Doeren: “There’s a problem if the Wolfpack come up with a 4-8 run.” State went 4-8. That was okay once, but it can’t happen again. The team wasn’t even competitive over the second half of the season.
Record With Team: 48-41
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 7
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 5
– Full Schedule Analysis
1. Manny Diaz, Miami
Miami fans are already a fickle lot as they expect greatness – and are right to do so – but losing to FIU, losing to a bad Duke team, and getting shutout by a Group of Five team in a lower-tier bowl on the way to a losing season is never going to be okay in Coral Gables.
Record With Team: 6-7
Last Season ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 6
– Full Schedule Analysis