As we get ready to close out the 2015 season, and the Coaching Carousel mostly closes with it, it's time to look forward to 2016 a little bit and take a closer look at those coaches that we see as being in trouble if they don't move the needle in the right direction next fall. Here's our list of coaches entering next season with warm, or blazing white hot seats...
Tommy Tuberville, Cincinnati
Never what we could call a great coach, Tuberville bailed on a power 5 job to land at UC, and his tenure has been basically about as vanilla as he is. The Bearcats were a dominant favorite to win the AAC this season, but finished just 4-4 in league play, and 7-6 overall, as the season ended with a drubbing by San Diego State. This is not what the faithful wanted to see. All in all, Cincinnati had a pretty terrible 2015 season, and Tuberville needs to turn a corner.
Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Petrino's second run at Louisville has been nowhere near his first run, and in an unlikely turn of events, he cannot seem to find a QB that has been stable. Petrino is starting to see his team sink to the middle of the ACC, and that's a bad place to be in a weak conference.
Dave Clawson, Wake Forest
Clawson is another coach who we have never been overly fond of, and he has not turned a corner at Wake Forest at this point. The administration could be heard grumbling this season, and expectations will be higher in 2016 after a 3-9 season. I am not sure Clawson is up to the challenge.
Steve Addazio, Boston College
This season was nothing short of a dumpster fire at the Heights, and something has got to give. The offense was so slow it moved backwards most of the time. The defensive unit was incredible most days, but defense is only one part of the game. BC is largely a mess, and needs a complete overhaul on offense.
Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech
I am not quite certain why Johnson and his outdated triple option scheme are even still in Atlanta, but that's an issue with those people who call the shots there. Tech has been an unstable, up and down mess during Johnson's tenure, and it has never seen anything resembling stability from one season to another. This team was a top 15 club in August, and finished 3-9. There are no excuses.
Kevin Wilson, Indiana
The Hoosiers made the Pinstripe Bowl, and lost to Duke. Big whoop. Indiana still finished 6-7, and Wilson still doesn't have a winning season in 5 years in Bloomington. Any kind of fall off, and he is likely done.
Mike Riley, Nebraska
It's not like Riley was the first choice of Husker Nation. The close freakish losses are all noted in 2015, but the Huskers don't normally lose that kind of game. Riley was on his way out at Oregon State when he was scooped up here, so the leash is short, as it should be.
Bill Cubit, Illinois
Notice the exceptionally short contract they signed him to after naming him the full time head coach? That's because the Illini didn't have the infrastructure in place to make a change now. They will next season, and Cubit is on another short leash.
Darrell Hazell, Purdue
Hazell would have been gone this season if the competition to find a coach wasn't so thick, and his buyout wasn't a little large. I don't see any way that Purdue wins enough for him to keep his job without a massive talent infusion.
Dana Holgorson, West Virginia
He was almost fired a couple of weeks ago, but the administration felt it was prudent to give him one more year. I don't see that it matters as at best, the Mountaineers are the 6th best team in the Big 12.
Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech
The season started off strong, again, and finished with a dull thud, again. This program is definitely not better than it was before he got there, and is nowhere near the quality of when Mike Leach was fired.
Charlie Strong, Texas
I applaud Texas for giving him more time. The program was a mess when he took over, but he needs to start seeing results. This is Texas, and patience can only afford to last so long.
Ron Turner, FIU
Turner made some strides this fall, but the Panthers are still not where they need to be. I would expect Turner to need to get to a bowl (there's 40 of them for the love of God) to keep his job beyond 2016.
Charlie Partridge, FAU
Partridge has largely failed to generate any energy behind the FAU program. That's hardly surprising. He is in the red zone now as far as where you would expect to see progress, and it's not where it needs to be.
David Bailiff, Rice
The Owls fell short this fall, so maybe they will get to a bowl next season. The inconsistency under Bailiff in a highly winnable league is something that cannot be overlooked.
Larry Coker, UTSA
The unreasonable grumbling of the fan base was loud and clear weeks ago. OC Kevin Brown became the fall guy. Coker now needs to prove to the same fans that this program can work. This is the CUSA West, not the SEC West.
Jeff Monken, Army
Monken has not pushed the needle any further than any of his predecessors had, and that puts him in a bad spot in 2016. Expectations will be for Army to push towards .500. If he fails once again, it could be time for another change.
Tim DeRuyter, Fresno State
It's a long way to fall. DeRuyter was the big dog of the Group of 5 two years ago, and now he can't get the Bulldogs out of their own way. He gets one more season to fix it, or he could be heading out.
Paul Haynes, Kent State
How is he still there? The Not So Golden Flashes were just 3-9 this fall, and somehow he retained his job. That won't happen again.
Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan
I never liked this hire for EMU, and so there's that. The Eagles went 1-11 once again, and so nothing is changing. This is quite possibly THE worst job in the nation.
Mark Stoops, Kentucky
The Stoops family tree has not exactly set the world on fire outside of Bob. Stoops has admitted himself that anything short of a bowl in 2016 will likely be a bad thing for him, so at least he knows what could be coming.
Derek Mason, Vanderbilt
I am a little surprised that he made it out of 2015. He needs to find an offense, a QB that can run that offense, and an offense that can actually score points. If those things happen, he can survive. If not, well...
Gus Malzahn, Auburn
7-6 is not going to cut it. Despite the bowl win over Memphis, this season was a disaster for the Tigers. They were picked to win the SC West, and possibly compete for a final four spot. Jeremy Johnson was a Heisman favorite. Johnson was benched early, and the Tigers finished 2-6 in SEC play. You do the math.
Todd Graham, Arizona State
Every year, the Sun Devils have lofty expectations. Most of those years, they fall flat like they did this season. It's a thing at ASU. Graham has just extended the sick cycle.
Rich Rodriguez, Arizona
Rich Rod is up to his old Rich Rod things. He held UA hostage for a contract extension as he flirted with South Carolins, and quite frankly, after the mess that was 2015, he didn't deserve the extension or the South Carolina love. This was supposed to be one of the best Arizona teams ever on paper. That ended up being paper thin.
Mike MacIntyre, Colorado
The administration gave him one more season of life to get the program moving. There were flashes of what could be throughout the year, so that's not unreasonable. Anything short of a bowl in 2016, and he's all done.
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