These college football head coaches could be put onto the hot seat before the end of this year.
Just because you are not on the hot seat now does not mean you will not be in the near future.
The 2023 college football season kicks off in only a few weeks. Although only a handful of teams have any realistic expectations to win the final four-team College Football Playoff, everybody wants to see their team have a great season up to their standards. Unfortunately, not all jobs are created equally, as these five college head coaches will face great pressure they may not deserve.
Here are five college head coaches whose buns could be getting a little toasty by next year's end.
College football hot seat watch: 5 coaches who could almost might be on it now
Mario Cristobal must treat Miami like The U and not like it is Florida International
This was a slam-dunk hire an offseason ago, but Mario Cristobal had a year from hell at his alma mater back in Coral Gables. The Miami Hurricanes went from a sneaky contender to win the ACC to a team incapable of reaching a bowl game. While the thought is that he will eventually get it right, he needs to be more about the x's and o's than just the Jimmies and Joes when it comes to The U.
Look. The biggest difference between Cristobal and Oklahoma's Brent Venables being on the hot seat is Miami is not Oklahoma. The Sooners are a top-three program all time, one that continues to win 10 games annually, even in a down year. Venables may have been a first-time head coach, but what he inherited was way better than the flotsam and jetsam Cristobal had to sift through.
Overall, it would be such a bad look optically for Miami to fire Cristobal after only two seasons. He will probably get a third, no matter what happens this year, but last season was so terrible! The thought was he would take what worked for him at Oregon and transpose it onto Miami. Sadly, his return to South Florida looks to be closer to what he did when he led Florida International before.
Expectations are not sky-high for the Canes this year, but they have to go to a bowl game at least.
Marcus Freeman needs to win games and prove that he is not hard to work with
Let's keep an eye on Marcus Freeman in year two of leading the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Sure, he was a promising up-and-coming defensive coordinator under Luke Fickell at Cincinnati and then for a year under Brian Kelly in South Bend. However, his first season in the big chair was every bit up-and-down. While they dominated Clemson, they also lost to Marshall and Stanford…
Although every first-time head coach has a learning curve to overcome, this is Notre Dame! Factor in Fighting Irish alum Tommy Rees leaving his alma mater after only one season as Freeman's offensive coordinator for the Alabama gig after passing up the opportunity to follow Kelly to LSU, and something is up… Is Freeman hard to work with? Either way, he has to figure this out quickly.
While I don't think Notre Dame would part ways with him after two seasons if year two is an unmitigated disaster, there may be somewhat of a buyer's remorse by promoting him from within to succeed Kelly. The timing did not work out to bring over Freeman's former boss and fellow Ohio State alum Fickell because of the Bearcats' playoff run, but it might have been the smarter move.
Freeman still has supporters, but a second consistently inconsistent campaign could sway them.
Ryan Day must do everything in his power to not become the next John Cooper
In pretty much every other circumstance, Ryan Day would not even be on this list! But here we are… Ohio State was one bad quarter away vs. Georgia from probably winning a national title. The Buckeyes have been close but no cigar under Day's watch far too often. Too bad close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Ohio State has not beaten arch-rival Michigan since COVID hit.
Day occupies very rare air in college football. He could be leading the next national champions for all we know. Of any Power Five head coach who has never won it all before, he might be the likeliest to cross is name off the list first. Conversely, a third straight Michigan loss, combined with a clunker vs. someone of high caliber like Penn State, and Columbus could be on fire Thanksgiving.
Look. I don't want Day to be fired, and neither should you. However, Day landed arguably the best job in college football when Urban Meyer retired. He may think he hit a triple, but he was largely born on third base with this Buckeyes gig. The expectations are borderline ridiculous for Ohio State fans, but the program has a reputation to uphold. This is the best program outside of the SEC, y'all.
For any coach who is not likely to be fired, Day certainly carries the greatest amount of pressure.
Steve Sarkisian needs to bring Texas back and not hit his 8-4 glass ceiling again
Steve Sarkisian's spot on the almost hot seat is different than those currently being occupied by Mario Cristobal, Marcus Freeman and Ryan Day. Texas isn't his alma mater like it is Cristobal's at Miami. He was not promoted from within like Freeman or Day. Heck, he doesn't have to be as successful as Day has been at Ohio State to keep his job; but he does have to get better in a hurry.
Texas is the presumptive favorite to win the Big 12 in its final season in the league before departing to the SEC alongside arch-rival Oklahoma in 2024. Making the College Football Playoff as a Big 12 champion would mean that Texas is so very much back. That is the bar Sarkisian must get to. The only problem is he seems to have a glass ceiling as a head coach of around 8-4 or so.
Frankly, anything short of a 10-win season that sees Texas get to Arlington and playing for the right to go to the playoff should be viewed as a disappointment. Odds are, Chris Del Conte will give Sarkisian at least a year or so to show everyone what he has got as an SEC head coach at Texas. However, if Texas cannot win the Big 12 this year, Sarkisian may never win his new league either…
Texas has the talent to be a top-10 team in college football, so Sarkisian's team better play like it.
A dead anchor-weight son will probably cost Kirk Ferentz his job at some point
The elephant in the room has a contract, alright. For Brian Ferentz to keep his job working for his dad Kirk Ferentz's Iowa program, the Hawkeyes offense must average 25 points per game and the team must go at least 8-4 in 2023. Otherwise, our dear friend Brian will be out of a job. You're doing great, Sweetie! Too bad this isn't Arrested Development or Succession; this is the Big Ten.
Kirk Ferentz may be the longest-tenured head coach in the FBS, but the writing is on the wall for him at Iowa. As soon as the Big Ten West dissolves, he can no longer hide behind meaningless divisional banners and enable his offensive coordinator son to continue to do a less-than-stellar job on the reg. Iowa has an elite defense and special teams, but the offense is an abomination.
I hate to say it, but the Ferentzes aren't going to sail off into retirement easily. With the Big Ten changing considerably in the coming years, now would be the time to get out. However, few dictators have the power as do the Ferentzes in Iowa City. Thankfully, absolute power corrupts absolutely. We are about to be in for a total barn burner that will surely taste like burnt popcorn.
This has become the same, old crotchety name-your-own-successor nonsense of college hoops.
