While it is always exciting to see new coaches in new locales, that usually means that, somewhere, someone was fired. And so the carousel begins.
The coaches’ hot seat is always contextual — for instance, Ryan Day’s job status was one of the most talked-about stories in sports last December after Ohio State lost to Michigan yet again. Day’s win-loss record is ridiculously good, but his inability to beat the hated rivals up north set the fan base in a frenzy. Then Day went on to win the College Football Playoff national championship, but there are still those fans who aren’t pleased with him. That’s one kind of hot seat.
There are also hot seats where, quite frankly, the results haven’t been there. The losses are mounting and the progress isn’t showing. That could be at a Group of 5 school trying to find its traction or a lower-end Power 4 school needing to posture itself to make a move in the league. With financial implications coming when broadcast rights go up at the start of the next decade, every program wants to put themselves in the best possible light to not only be a school that gets a seat at the table, but not one that gets left out. If there is anything that can be learned from the break-up of the Pac-12, it is that. You’d rather be Washington than Washington State.
So, what coaches are feeling the heat already as we head into the 2025 college football season? Here are 20 to keep an eye on.
