Steve Addazio, Boston College
After an encouraging start at Northern Illinois, the Eagles are heading in the wrong direction once again after blowout losses to both Wake Forest and Notre Dame. They play Clemson this week on the road, and their next two conference games come against Virginia Tech and Louisville, with a non con against Central Michigan sprinkled in. Making matters worse, the Eagles can't win at home (0-2).
Larry Fedora, North Carolina
In my opinion, there are fewer coaches in the nation who get more fraudulent attention that Fedora. He simply has not won anything at North Carolina, and skipped out on Southern Miss before the roof caved in. If UNC loses to Duke this week, they are off to a 1-3 start after seriously underachieving a year ago. At some point someone has to ask whether this guy is as good as advertised, because I don't believe that he is.
Mike Riley, Nebraska
I took a bashing all off-season about my takes on Riley, and I am still holding my ground. It seems that many of those bashing me are coming around...finally. His overall record at Nebraska is worse than Bo Pelini...by far...and is in line with the reviled Bill Callahan, yet this guy has the Husker legion wrapped around his finger. After the Northern Illinois loss, and an ill-timed extension, it would seem that the locals are finally realizing they have been taken, and Eichorst, the AD, looks to be tied to the same rails as Riley is after going to rogue to hire him in the first place. The extension was a joke, and completely unnecessary, as not one school in the nation is looking to poach him. Then came the home loss to Northern Illinois, which is one of the biggest cardinal sins in coaching at Nebraska. Stay tuned, because this is about to get ugly.
Brad Lambert, Charlotte
Lambert has gotten the 49ers program off of the ground and operating, but it is absolutely clear after a home loss to North Carolina A&T that the program is not ready to compete on any level, and maybe Lambert is not the right guy to move the needle in the right direction moving forward. All props to him, as just getting the thing off of the ground was a task in mountain moving, but now they need a direction, and currently, the program doesn't have one.
Kalani Sitake, BYU
It was obvious when the season started with a lackluster win over Portland State that this team was not going to be OK. The offense is a complete disaster, and even with Tanner Mangum at QB, the same guy who worked miracles back in 2015, the unit has no direction, limited talent, no run attack, and no life. The defense even fell apart against Wisconsin at home, and empty seats are appearing in Provo. If this continues, it won't be long before Sitake is forced to fall on his sword, because losing is not tolerated at BYU.
Mark Whipple, U Mass
I am not certain as to how anyone ever thought that U Mass as an FBS program would work. New England is a horrible college football area, and support in both fan base energy and media coverage is sorely lacking. Whipple did a tremendous job during his first stint as head coach in Amherst, but that was when the Minutemen were a 1-AA program playing in the Colonial. Now, as a tam that was kicked to the curb by the MAC and is trying to survive as an independent, there is no luster. Whipple will end up paying the price because of an administration that is too damned proud to admit an error and go back to where they came from to live in comfort. That will be a shame.
Terry Bowden, Akron
We all know what he pulled off at Auburn. Not many know what he did for North Alabama. All of that aside, it is now painfully obvious that he will not be performing any miracles at Akron. The Zips are abysmal this season, and it is hard to see too many opportunities for win moving forward. It was a bold and risky hire, but it has not paid off. It's getting to be time to admit it.
Lance Leipold, Buffalo
Speaking of an experiment that has not paid off. Leipold, a major winner at Wisconsin-Whitewater, has not been able to replicate his success on the FBS level. It's a huge jump from D3 to FBS, and it has become clear in many ways that the move has not paid off for either side. The defense is finally coming around, and a win over Colgate last week was big for the Bulls, but if he cannot sustain that, he could be headed back to D3 coaching.
Matt Wells, Utah State
With a game coming up this week with San Jose State, a win is an absolute must. Somehow, the Aggies find themselves favored this week, but I am going the other way. USU has been blasted by an average of 42.5 points in their two games against FBS opponents this season. San Jose State is not great, but they have been slightly more competitive, Texas game aside. If the Aggies lose here, they could likely be underdogs in every game played from this point forward in 2017.
Gary Anderson, Oregon State
The Anderson situation is yet another in a long line of hires that made little sense and have not paid off. Anderson was a square peg trying to fit in a round hole at Wisconsin, and his abilities have not flashed apparent at Oregon State. The Beavers are getting pasted weekly, and even almost lost to Portland State. They figure to be huge dogs in their next five games after a bye week this week.
Jim McElwain, Florida
It's been three years, and still no real answer at QB for the Gators, and the offense is still dragging. Feleipe Franks had the big throw to beat Tennessee, but now it's time to see if he can do that for an entire game rather than a play here or there. There are several winnable games left this fall, but will another eight win season suffice? I think not.
Bret Bielema, Arkansas
Grading out the rest of the schedule, we project Arkansas to finish at just 6-6 with a + or - 2 in either direction. Will that be enough to keep people happy? Probably not. He has a huge buyout for this season, and my friend Jake Wimberly at ESPN 105.9 in Jackson, MS thinks he gets another season because of it. He may get just that, but not many people will be happy about it.
Ed Orgeron, LSU
It's early, and yeah, LSU is 2-1, but that 37-7 loss to Mississippi State was a total and complete exposure of the program's weakness, and let's face it, Orgeron had most of last season and this season to start to address areas of concern on offense, and he has failed to do it. He is a defensive minded guy who has limited understanding of offenses. That is painfully obvious, as it was at Ole Miss. At least he had Clay Helton to cover for that at USC. Matt Canada is highly overrated as an OC, and to be fair, he does not have much in the way of talent to work with, and his brightest star, Derrius Guice, is now injured. People were already calling for Orgeron and AD Joe Alleva to be fired after the Mississippi State loss, and it gets no easier from here.
Gus Malzahn, Auburn
What happened to the offensive guru? Sean White has been kicked out of school for drunken beahvior that led to his arrest after the Mercer "win" last weekend. Jeremy Johnson, touted as a Heisman favorite two years ago, fell completely off of the grid. Jarrett Stidham, one of the most prized transfers in the nation, has fallen on his face at QB. Malzahn is getting exposed weekly as a pretender. I see no way out now but to move on from him, and the next few weeks will likely lead down that road.
Butch Jones, Tennessee
There is no championship trophy for losing to Florida, but it seems that Butch Jones enjoys doing so, as he has beaten the Gators just once, in 2016, during his tenure as football coach at Tennessee. Now the Vols are behind the eight ball in trying to come back to win the SEC East, and with that, his seat has become white hot. Anything short of nine or ten wins this season, and he is toast.
Mark Hudspeth, Louisiana
The Cajuns are still looking for that big win in the program under Hudspeth, and they failed after controlling the action against Texas A&M for a half last Saturday once again. It's hard to see where this program is going other than underachieving mediocrity, and that has to be something that the administration is starting to see.
Joey Jones, South Alabama
Jones, like Lambert at Charlotte, got the USA program running, but now it is starting to look like it may be time to hand it off to someone with new vision. The Jags have not been in eithe rof their first two games, and that is a disturbing trend. Simply limping into bowl consideration at 5-7 should not be enough at this juncture, as this program has already shown that they are capable of doing more.
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