While Week 1 always brings surprising performances, Week 2 is when we get a feel for what teams are really made of. There are some teams who really struggled Saturday, much to the ire of their fans.
After two weeks, there are already some coaches who could be on the hot seat. Here, we break down five coaches whose seats are feeling quite warm.
5 College Football Coaches on the Hot Seat
For our purposes here, I’m only listing coaches with a realistic chance of being fired at or before the conclusion of the 2024 season.
While performance on the field is the main factor in a coach’s firing, buyouts, and off-field relationships can play a key role in which coaches are ultimately let go.
Here are five guys I think could be gone at the end of the year if things go downhill over the course of the season.
Billy Napier, Florida
Billy Napier is the most obvious name here. While he had success at Louisiana, he’s really struggled since getting to Gainesville. The schedule hasn’t helped him much, but Napier has to win more games, or this will go downhill quickly.
A few reporters who are very connected to that program get the sense that Napier will be safe if he can get the Gators to 6-6.
But with the start to the season — a blowout home loss to Miami and an ugly win over FCS Samford — and a brutal schedule, finding six wins might be a nearly impossible task for Napier and the Gators.
Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame
Notre Dame went from a coach who could seemingly never win a big game but would always win the easy games to a coach with no loss off-limits.
Marcus Freeman was on the highest of highs last week after a dominant road win over Texas A&M, but a loss to yet another Group of Five team — a below-average one at that, in Week 2 — has his seat feeling warm.
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The problem is that there aren’t many opportunities left on the Irish’s schedule to impress the College Football Playoff Committee.
As an independent, Notre Dame cannot earn an automatic bid. Even if they win out, will it be impressive enough to earn a playoff bid in an expanded playoff?
I don’t think Notre Dame will part ways with Freeman, but if he continues to lose more of these games, the seat will be scorching.
Trent Dilfer, UAB
Trent Dilfer was a weird hire to begin with, as the players all clamored for interim Bryant Vincent, only for the administration to pivot and hire Dilfer, whose only experience was as head coach of Lipscomb Academy on the Nashville private school scene.
After losing to Vincent’s UL-Monroe team in Year 1 of the Warhawks’ massive rebuild, Dilfer’s seat is warming by the minute.
It’s early, but there have been reports of Dilfer being difficult to work with, which is never a good thing to hear about a coach who went 4-8 the year before.
The pressure is on Dilfer to perform because, if not, UAB will need to move before it gets toxic.
Butch Jones, Arkansas State
This was supposed to be Arkansas State’s year. Jaylen Raynor was supposed to be a dark horse for the best Group of Five quarterback.
Instead, Butch Jones and the Red Wolves won a Week 1 game over Central Arkansas on a touchdown the conference later admitted was incorrect and barely beat a Tulsa team with a preseason win projection of just 4.5 in Week 2.
This offense was supposed to be one of the best in the Sun Belt, but it’s borderline unwatchable.
If things continue to trend in this direction, Jones’ time in Jonesboro may come to a premature end.
Brian Kelly, LSU
Look, this is LSU we’re talking about. The Tigers have fired better coaches for less.
I think we’re starting to see how much Jayden Daniels, Brian Thomas Jr., and Malik Nabers bailed out the Tigers last season. Garrett Nussmeier has been very good this year, yet the Tigers are 1-1 after losing to USC and coming away with an ugly win over Nicholls.
LSU boosters have some deep pockets and high expectations. If the Tigers lose a few conference games over the next few weeks, don’t be surprised if Kelly’s name starts circulating as a potential candidate to be fired at the end of the year.
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