Gauging the heat on these 10 college football coaches

The summer is heating up and so is college football’s hot seat for head coaches. With the 2025 season approaching, the pressure is on for several Power 4 HCs.

Here’s a look at 10 coaches on the hot seat, broken down by heat level. 

Scorching

Mike Gundy | Oklahoma State

Gundy is a program legend, having led the Cowboys for 20 seasons, but a 3-9 mark last season that included a winless Big 12 slate has his seat scorching. He fired his offensive and defensive coordinators and restructured his contract, lessening his buyout. It’s now or never for Gundy.

Gundy sounds at peace with the pressure that’s on him. “It doesn’t affect me just from a standpoint that I’m so far along in my career, I get it,” Gundy said, per CBS Sports Shehan Jeyarajah. “If someone says, ‘Hey, we need to change the coach at Oklahoma State,’ then I go coach somewhere else.”

Brent Venables | Oklahoma

From 2015-21, the Sooners never lost more than two games in a season. Under Venables, they have a pair of 6-7 seasons sandwiched around a 10-3 campaign. OU has slipped from its perch among the game’s greats, and in a challenging SEC, the way back to the top isn’t easy.

“It’s all of us together, linking arms, checking egos and having very clearly defined processes in place and then having the professionalism that it takes to work together and do things the right way,” Venables recently told CBS Sports.

Sam Pittman | Arkansas

Pittman has been living on the hot seat lately. He survived 2024, but there’s little room for optimism in 2025. The Razorbacks host Notre Dame and must travel to powerhouses Ole Miss, Tennessee, LSU and Texas. Will a .500 record be enough to get Pittman to 2026?

The Athletic’s Seth Emerson placed Pittman on the hottest seat in the SEC in February. “This is two straight years that Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek has had to confirm Pittman was getting another year,” Emerson wrote. “Three times would be a bit much.”

Hugh Freeze | Auburn

Freeze is another SEC coach who needs a quick turnaround after a pair of losing seasons. His predecessor, Bryan Harsin, was fired for a 9-12 mark. Freeze is 11-14. A strong recruiting class is cause for optimism, but will it lead to results on the field?