It's time once again to take a look at who has the hottest seats in college football for the 2015 season, but not the entire list, just the hottest in each conference heading into the 2015 season. Every conference has that one or two guys who need to win, and win now, or else worry about job status next winter. Here they are...
ACC
Al Golden, Miami: It has seriously gotten to the point where there is a generation out there that has absolutely no memory of those Miami teams that dominated the landscape and competed for national championships on a yearly basis. Those days are so far long and gone, and they may never come back. The Hurricanes have never been a factor in the ACC since they joined, season ticket sales are in the toilet, and the stadium is largely empty. Don't blame the venue change either, because the Orange Bowl was largely empty most days before the move. Golden has been highly average to poor during his tenure, and the man once thought of the heir apparent at Penn State may very well be almost done.
Big 10
Tim Beckman, Illinois: There is officially a number attached to Beckman's tenure, and that's eight wins. Illinois has been horrible during his tenure, and they flailed into a Heart of Dallas Bowl birth last season, where they promptly dropped an egg against Louisiana Tech, which I'm sure is the result that every Big Ten fan dreams of. Beckman has weathered heavy losing, and even abuse allegations at this point, so falling short of the win total will mean a sudden stop to this crazy train that has been his tenure.
Kevin Wilson, Indiana: I could not stop at Beckman, because Wilson enters a season in which expectations are bowl game or bust. Hell, with so many bowl games on tap, it's almost become like youth sports where every team gets to go to the playoffs, no matter how bad you are, and not even the Hoosiers have been able to find a birth. How bad do you have to be these days to not go bowling? Pretty bad, and IU has been just that. If Wilson doesn't get over the hump this season, it's likely the end in Bloomington for him.
Big 12
Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech: Has everyone gotten over Kingsbury's GQ standing, and really get to brass tax on his ability to coach, and that assessment, in my book, is that he cannot coach well. Even Tommy Tuberville, an average coach at best, won in Lubbock. Tech has sunk like a stone since his semi-successful first season (the one that started with a bang, ended with a resounding thud) and the locals are getting grumbly about this fact. Looking back, was it such a great idea to fire Mike Leach after all?
Paul Rhoades, Iowa State: Rhoades has a very prohibitive contract, but word around the college football world is that another horrifyingly bad season in 2015, and the administration starts selling their best baseball cards and holding car washes to find the money to dump him, and baseball cards don't sell for much these days. Rhoades has largely been horrible at ISU, and has seen just one bowl bid. Since then, the program has been in a free fall, and the bottom hasn't hit yet.
Conference USA
Ron Turner, FIU: Turner hasn't coached a winning team since 2001. He has won just five games at FIU, and four came last season. It would seem that the needle is pointing up for the Panthers, but if the floor fell out this season, Turner would certainly not survive it. Many FIU fans regretted hiring Turner almost instantly, and there was a heavy push for him to get canned after just one season. It almost happened. Anything less than an improvement on four wins this fall would have Turner heading out the door in all likelihood.
MAC
Paul Haynes, Kent State: The Golden Flash was competing for a MAC title just a few short seasons ago, and then Darrell Hazell bolted for Purdue as soon as he got an offer. Once Haynes took over, the program sunk right back into the depths of the MAC, where they had been for decades before. Haynes doesn't seem to have a grip on how to get back to the top of the conference. It's likely that the Flash sits near the bottom once again, and that will likely earn Haynes his walking papers from his alma mater.
Mountain West
Bob Davie, New Mexico: Davie is a guy who gets a ton of sympathy because of what he had to deal with as head coach of Notre Dame following Lou Holtz's success, and then his ultimate failure as left yet another program on sanctions upon his departure. Davie had to deal with that mess, did it with dignity, and now inherited a largely unbalanced New Mexico program in a school that has never gone all in with football. Davie has largely struggled to get the needle to move up, and he did inherit a disaster after the miserable Mike Locksley era. That being said, he has had enough time to put his stamp on his program, and he can only blame Locksley for so long (same said for the fan base). Davie has to win this season, or he could be gone.
PAC-12
Steve Sarkisian, USC: This wasn't the case until last weekend, when Sarkisian got blasted drunk, made a complete ass of himself in front of a large group of big time donors, and had to be forcefully removed from the stage by his boss and others. Here's the kicker...it's not the first time in his coaching career that this kind of thing has happened. Pat Haden is understandably furious with him, and so Sarkisian has to make up for it in a hurry. The last thing that Haden needs at USC is another loose cannon (see Lane Kiffin, Pete Carroll).
SEC
Derek Mason, Vanderbilt: There are Vandy fans that are already regretting the Derek Mason hire. It sounded great at the time...a guy from a scholastic centric program (Stanford) that knew how to win under strict academic pressure was a perfect marriage. That being said, Mason had never been a head coach, and doesn't have the relationship in the south and in SEC country to really have a grip on what to do in that environment. Mason's tenure started alarmingly awful in a thumping at home by Temple. That was not supposed to happen. Mason has a little more leash left, but not much, especially after the James Franklin era where Vandy proved they didn't have to be terrible.
Sun Belt
Trent Miles, Georgia State: Trent Miles has a record of 1-23 entering his third season. How much more do we need to hear? Obviously, he has enormous heat on him at this point, as every other program that made the jump up from FCS football has found some success in the Sun Belt and overall. Of course, this is still a program in their infancy, but one win in two seasons is beyond unacceptable by any means.
College Football starts in just nine days!!!
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