CSD Mag Feature: The Top 8 Coaches on the Hot Seat
#1 – Paul Haynes, Kent State
Averaging three wins (two conference wins) per year in his four seasons with the Golden Flashes isn’t going to cut it, if he can’t turn it around this year, he will be out.
#2 – Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
Kelly made it to the national championship game in 2012, now he is the #2 coach on the hot seat. Notre Dame has been trending down since, ending with a 4-8 record last year. The talent on this Notre Dame team should mean they flirt with double digit wins, if Kelly is any worse than 8-4, he should be gone, like his coordinators were this past offseason.
#3 – Jim Mora, UCLA
Jim Mora has consistently recruited well at UCLA, in fact, he’s recruiting so well, he should be competing for Pac-12 titles, the problem is, he’s not. Mora is 12-13 in the past two seasons, and with an NFL quarterback on his roster, UCLA needs a big year for Mora to keep his job.
#4 – Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Sumlin is 44-21 in five seasons, that’s good, the problem is, Texas A&M’s boosters were expecting to be contending with Alabama after a crazy 2012 season. Since that season, Sumlin’s teams have finished 6th, 6th, 5th, and 4th in the SEC West.
#5 – Todd Graham, Arizona State
After going 2-7 in Pac-12 play, and capping it off with a 21-point loss to rival Arizona, Graham’s seat instantly went to hot. After back-to-back ten win seasons in 2013 and 2014, the Sun Devils fell off a cliff the past two years, it would take a bowl win for him to keep his job.
#6 – Rod Carey, Northern Illinois
Year 1: 8-0 in MAC
Year 2: 7-1 in MAC
Year 3: 6-2 in MAC
Year 4: 5-3 in MAC
That’s not exactly the trend you want to be seeing.
#7 – Rich Rodriguez, Arizona
In 2014, Rodriguez led Arizona to ten wins and a Pac-12 South championship, on 2015, Arizona went 3-6 in the Pac-12, and last year they went 1-8. Rodriguez has struggled to find the right quarterback for his system, and new AD Dave Heeke may want to install “his guy” if Rodriguez has another rough year.
#8 – David Bailiff, Rice
Bailiff probably would’ve been fired last season after winning eight games combined in the past two years if it weren’t for his long tenure with the Owls. They probably gave him one last year to turn it around, and if Rice doesn’t make a bowl game this year, Bailiff will be out.