Two weeks are now down in the college football 2017 season, and seats are beginning to heat up across the nation, and some candidates are sliding ever closer to the dreaded Dead Pool of college football head coaches. Here are our hot seat candidates as we head into week three:
Scottie Montgomery, East Carolina
As I have said repeatedly, I was never a fan of this hire in the first place. MOntgomery is in way over his head here, as his Pirates got blasted from the field yet again in a 56-20 loss to West Virginia. He also lost in week one against James Madison by 20. HIs overall record is now 3-11 in season two, and the Pirates are getting worse.
Steve Addazio, Boston College
The Eagles got back to the business of being awful in ACC play last weekend in a 34-10 drubbing by Wake Forest. This loss, along with a new AD, has his tenure ambiguous at best, but some national media outlets are already acting as if he will be replaced.
Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech
Nobody thinks that the Yellow Jackets can make a run at a national title, but Johnson has been highly inconsistent at Tech, and the team played horribly for a half against FCS member Jacksonville State after a one point loss to Tennessee the week before. If things slide any further, a change could be in the works.
Larry Fedora, North Carolina
Fedora has never lived up to his billing at UNC, and last season was already a true disappointment before their 0-2 start this season. Fedora has always been a bit of a fraud in my eyes, and he is proving my case more and more by trying to make us think that Brandon Harris was truly the answer at QB. By the way...Harris has already lost the job.
Mike Riley, Nebraska
He may be signed through 2020 (big mistake), but after giving him a one year extension in April, Eichorst, the AD, tried to get him another one year extension in August, which the school president put on the back burner. What's the hurry? Tanner Lee has largely not panned out at QB, there is no depth in the run game, and the defense is abysmal. The failed attempt at the second one year extension, which was tabled until January, is not a good sign.
Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
He's probably not going anywhere, but how many more slow starts do the Wildcats have to endure before they realize that Fitz is just not a big time coach? Losing to Duke by 24 is just terrible for a Big 10 team that was supposed to be a surprise contender in the Big 10 West.
Mark Whipple, U Mass
Whipple is a U Mass guy through and through, but something tells me that U Mass, instead of agreeing that FBS football is a mistake for them, will lay the blame at his feet, and can him thinking someone else can do better. Here is the reality...they can't.
Mike Jinks, Bowling Green
Yet another highly questionable hire of 2016, Jinks has been a disaster at Bowling Green. The Falcons just lost to South Dakota, if that tells you anything. This situation will continue to unravel, and it may take until after 2018 for them to get rid of him, but his long term future looks to be in doubt.
Lance Leipold, Buffalo
Leipold was an interesting experiment, moving from a highly successful run at D3 to a D1, FBS program. The thing is, it isn't working. Leipold seemingly has the defense working fine, but now he has no offense. I don't see this experiment lasting much longer.
Rod Carey, Northern Illinois
The Huskies will likely lose to Nebraska this week, dropping them to 1-2, and that will have the fire Carey phone calls and tweets rolling like thunder. Carey is a good football coach, but even I can see how he is struggling to get out of the mud these last couple of seasons.
Bob Davie, New Mexico
Not that there was a ton of buzz about the Lobos going into the 2017 season, but Davie has done the one thing that always gets coaches fired. He has gone all in on the JC route with transfers making up a chunk of his roster. This philosophy always ends in disaster. Just ask all of the former coaches of the school that just beat Davie for two consecutive years...New Mexico State.
Tony Sanchez, UNLV
UNLV rebounded from an abysmal loss to Howard to pound Idaho on the road last weekend, and that is keeping Sanchez out of the Dead Pool right now. The Rebels still have a long way to go, and have a huge road pounding coming from Ohio State on the schedule. That will not bear any decisions on my part, because we know they will lose, but it will be about how they do it that counts.
Gary Anderson, Oregon State
I'm beginning to wonder of Oregon State has any more wins in them this season. Minnesota crushed the Beavers at home last weekend, after OSU was a favorite at the Vegas books. I am not sure why they were favored, but someone had misplaced faith in them. In year three, nothing is turning around.
Todd Graham, Arizona State
If the Sun Devils fall hard at Texas Tech, I will drop him firmly into the Dead Pool. I probably already should have after the loss to San Diego State last week.
Rich Rodriguez, Arizona
The Wildcats, like ASU, lost to a G5 team last weekend in Houston at home. If Rich Rod wants to stick around, this cannot happen. Having Brandon Dawkins playing QB ensures a long season to come.
Jim McElwain, Florida
Three years, no QB, and no perceived improvements. The Gators are a mess right now, and are inexplicably favored over Tennessee this week. I havn't seen anything from Florida to make me believe that McElwain has improved the program to any great degree. He's just not Muschamp is not a good enough answer.
Gus Malzahn, Auburn
Malzahn really needed a big year from a revamped offense, and Jarrett Stidham has been a real letdown, including not even reaching 100 yards passing in the loss to Clemson. This situation could completely unravel faster than you know.
Bret Bielema, Arkansas
A 4th quarter collapse happened to Arkansas, as it has many other teams, and TCU ran away with the win, which basically cements Arkansas into mediocrity once again. That is not going to fly much longer, and there is grumbling already happening.
Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Sumlin barely got by Nicholls State last week, and he inches closer to the Pool. Like Todd Graham, I am not certain what I am waiting for.
Mark Hudspeth, UL-Lafayette
Hudspeth's time at ULL went from amazing to scandal ridden, to just pure mush in no time flat. I am not really certain why he is still there, but he may not be much longer.
Joey Jones, South Alabama
Jones brought the program along from infancy, but he is running out of time to make the Jags relevant in their own conference, not to mention nationally. They have been thoroughly outgunned in an 0-2 start, and it may be time for some new blood in the program.
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