With the 2017 college football season now just nine days away, it's time to examine which coaches are sitting firmly on the hot seat as the season rapidly approaches. For those of you who are new to out "Hot Seat" and "Dead Pool" pieces, the "Hot Seat" works as follows: coaches who are starting to feel pressure to win now or be at jeopardy with their job status by years end, up to and including being fired. Our "Dead Pool" piece is written in regard to coaches who we see being lame ducks, and are going to be fired as per sources and information that we have received, and by data processing.
Here is your first volume of Coaches on the Hot Seat for the 2017 season!
Scottie Montgomery, East Carolina
I know that Montgomery is only entering year two with the Pirates, but one has to understand how proud a program this is, and losing is not widely accepted here. An opening game against reigning FCS champ James Madison is much tougher than it looks, and there is a real chance that ECU could lose this game. If that occurs, grumbling will commence that he is in way over his head here.
Chad Morris, SMU
I project that the Mustangs should go to a bowl this season, and that Morris will be sitting on a much cooler seat at year end, but if that does not happen, and a bowl game is missed, the luster that was on his shining star when he took this job will be wearing off in a hurry. That was evident on SMU fan site message boards when his name was being bandied about for the Baylor job, and a large collection of fans took the approach of "let him leave". That's not good.
Steve Addazio, Boston College
If BC goes to a bowl game this season, and that's all they would have to do, Addazio survives. If they do not get the offense on track, and if they finish below .500 in ACC play again, and if they whiff on a bowl bid, Addazio is likely going to be transitioning to the Dead Pool, even in a town where college football gets very little support.
Dave Clawson, Wake Forest
Clawson is in a similar position to Addazio in that he does not have to do much to stay on as head coach. He just has to get to a bowl and stay around .500 in ACC play. The Deacons were a surprise of sorts last season, but it this program back tracks in 2017, and that very well could happen, Clawson rumblings will begin anew.
Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech
It's simple. Win this season or be gone. If he loses the opener to FCS power Eastern Washington, which could happen, he may be gone sooner than anyone thinks. His cat lives are about spent, and he may have one of the hottest seats on this list.
David Bailiff, Rice
I am guessing that he will end up in the Dead Pool...again. How he survived last season is completely beyond me, as every source, and every indication pointed glaringly that he would be let go at the end of the season. The team is virtually no better this season on paper, so here we go again.
Sean Kugler, UTEP
I just do not see how it has worked out well in El Paso. He has to go bowling this season, or else he is out, and that has to happen without his best weapon on offense in Aaron Jones.
Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
A lot of folks seem to believe that he would be what we call a Dead Pooler. The assumption has been made that the expectations for the Irish are so high that he could not possibly retain his job. Truth be told, he will need at least 9 wins this season, or else he is done.
Rod Carey, Northern Illinois
There were many Husky fans that wanted his head on a platter last season, but cooler heads prevailed, as they should have. Last season was the first major slip during Carey's tenure, but it was enough to enrage the masses. If he has a similar season this fall, he could be in mortal danger.
Matt Wells, Utah State
He was such a rising star a couple of short years ago, but was that based more on the talent he had inherited from Gary Anderson, or has he forgotten the formula of his own success? Injuries have plagued the Aggies under Wells, but that is an excuse that has a shelf life, and that is about up.
Jim Mora, UCLA
Everyone keeps talking about his buyout, and that certainly saved him after last season. Dan Guerrero, UCLA's wine chugging, socialite AD, is retiring in June, so don't expect him to fire Mora only to turn a new coach over to an AD who has not hired the new coach. That said, if Mora falls on his face again, he may have no choice.
Mark Stoops, Kentucky
Stoops knew last season that if he failed to get the Wildcats into a bowl, he was all done, and that was true. It took a late run to make that happen, and he saved himself. The same holds true in 2017.
Butch Jones, Tennessee
Jones is a great recruiter. He's a not so great coach. He has had several top tier recruiting classes, but yet rival coaches in the league see the Vols' upperclassmen as being weak and soft. It would seem that great recruiting classes all on their own, without cultivation once they reach campus, maybe good enough for championship of life pronouncements and Music City Bowl rings, but they are not good for much else.
Derek Mason, Vanderbilt
Mason has been on a backwards slide since arriving in Nashville when it has come to recruiting, as according to rankings, his have slid in the wrong direction each year that he has been coach. If Middle Tennessee pulls off a win in the opener, things could start getting testy.
Bret Bielema, Arkansas
It's the elephant in the room that nobody is talking about, but Bielema has not exactly been blowing the doors off the building since taking the Arkansas job. Arkansas is actually a bit worse now in some ways since he took over. Patience is boiling away rapidly.
Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Sumlin has gone bowling regularly since taking over the Aggies, but that is not getting it done. The Aggies were ranked as high as 4th nationally last season, and completely collapsed after that. 8 win seasons are not acceptable anymore, and that is now public record.
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