10 College Football Coaches On The Hot Seat After Week 11

Billy Napier officially escaped the hot seat he’s been sitting on for most of the season when Florida announced he’ll be returning as head coach next year, so while he may be able to breathe a sigh of relief, the same can’t be said for other guys in a similarly precarious situation.

At this point, college football coaches who’ve ended up on the hot seat thanks to how their team has looked this season are about as close as they can be to running out of time to escape it.

There’s no telling what the future holds for the guys on this list, but it’s hard to imagine they’re feeling too good about their job security as things currently stand.

Hugh Freeze—Auburn

Auburn got a much-needed week off ahead of what should be an easy win over Louisiana-Monroe, but it’s difficult to imagine a timeline where they end up making a bowl when you consider the 3-6 Tigers will close out the season against Texas A&M and Alabama.

At this point, it seems like securing both of those wildly unlikely victories is the only way Hugh Freeze would be able to get a smattering of votes of confidence from a fanbase that doesn’t have the patience for the kind of results he’s produced since going 6-7 last season.

Auburn would be on the hook for a $20 million buyout, and while Freeze will probably get the chance to turn things around with a highly-touted recruiting class incoming, his firing isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

Lincoln Riley—USC

USC was also able to take advantage of a bye following the loss to Washington that dropped the Trojans to 4-5, and all signs point to Lincoln Riley and Co. bouncing back when they face off against Nebraska.

It seems likely USC will make a bowl when everything is said and done, but things have been trending in the wrong direction since Riley kicked off his tenure with a promising 11-3 start in 2022.

It was easy to argue last year’s 8-5 showing was a fluke, but he simply doesn’t look like the coach who never lost more than two games in a single season during his five years at Oklahoma.

Brent Venables—Oklahoma

Speaking of Oklahoma…

Brent Venables got the chance to helm a football program for the first time in the wake of Riley’s departure, and while the Sooners got off to an underwhelming 6-7 start during his first year, they seemed to be heading in the right direction after going 10-3 last season.

Sadly, that did not turn out to be the case, as Oklahoma dropped to 5-5 (and 1-5 in SEC play) with a loss to Missouri that featured a wild fourth quarter capped off by the disastrous Jackson Arnold fumble that essentially handed the Tigers the win.

Venables will likely get another season thanks in no small part to his $44 million buyout, but 2025 could be make-or-break based on what’s transpired so far.

Neal Brown—West Virginia

Neal Brown has managed to reduce the warmth of the hot seat he ended up on after West Virginia fell to 3-4 with back-to-back wins over Arizona and Cincinnati.

The Mountaineers have some solid momentum heading into the final three games of the season, but the fact that all of them are shaping up to be a coin flip on paper means this will be a very interesting situation to keep an eye on for a man who’s been about the textbook definition of average toward the end of his sixth season at WVU when you consider he currently has a 35–33 record.

Dave Aranda—Baylor

It’s hard not to draw some parallels between Brown and Dave Aranda, who has also been about as average as you can get with the 28-29 record he’s put up with three games left in his fifth season.

Their two teams are actually playing each other this weekend in a fairly pivotal matchup for both sides (the Bears are listed as 2.5-point favorites), and while Aranda’s crew should have an even bigger edge on paper against Houston, their regular season finale with Kansas is also going to be a coin flip.

Aranda’s hot seat is much cooler than it was a month ago as Baylor is in the midst of a three-game winning streak, but he’ll need a strong finish to discourage conversations about a potential changing of the guard.

Mike Locksley—Maryland

I’m going to stick with a similar theme here, as Mike Locksley has gone 32-33 during what will soon be a six-year run at Maryland.

The 4-5 Terrapins have made it to a bowl three years in a row, but they’ll need to upset Iowa or Penn State to keep that streak alive (which assumes they’ll be able to dispatch Rutgers this weekend).

Locksley was able to get a signature victory with a win over USC earlier this season, and while Maryland seemingly doesn’t have any aspirations of being serious Big Ten contenders, they may want to at least start exploring their options in the offseason.

Ryan Walters—Purdue

Ryan Walters had never been the head coach of a college football team before linking up with Purdue, and it’s kind of hard to imagine other schools are going to be scrambling to sign him when he (presumably) hits the market in the not-so-distant future.

Walters went 4-8 last year, but the Boilermakers are in the middle of an eight-game losing streak that seems destined to be extended to 11 when you consider they close out the season with games against Penn State, Michigan State, and Indiana.

Purdue would have to fork over a buyout worth around $9 million by firing Walters, but there doesn’t seem to be much upside to delaying the inevitable.

Trent Dilfer—UAB

Speaking of guys who had never been the head coach of a college football team and went 4-8 in their first season before things got even worse…

UAB was able to snap a six-game losing streak with a win over Tulsa to kick off November, but they fell to 2-7 after giving up 21 unanswered points to a UConn team that was down by 17 at halftime before the Huskies walked away with the 31-23 win.

The Blazers aren’t going to suddenly transform into national championship contenders if they replace Dilfer with someone else, but at this point, it’s obvious he’s Not It.

Sam Pittman—Arkansas

Sam Pittman is probably very relieved Ole Miss followed up its 63-31 thrashing of the Razorbacks with a 28-10 win over Georgia, as their upset over the Bulldogs makes their victory over his squad a bit more palatable.

Arkansas is on track to make it to a bowl, but all signs point to the team finishing the regular season at 6-6 barring an upset of Missouri or Texas.

Pittman already has a stunner under his belt this year thanks to the win over Tennessee, and while his team has outperformed expectations, they also haven’t exactly dazzled during the fifth year of a tenure defined by mediocrity.

The head coach currently has two years left on his contract, and while I think he’ll be invited back for at least one more season, it’s far from a sure thing.

Mike Norvell—Florida State

Florida State predictably dropped to 1-9 with a 52-3 beatdown at the hands of Notre Dame, and Mike Norvell did what he probably should have done a lot sooner by firing his offensive and defensive coordinators as well as the team’s wide receivers coach in the wake of the loss.

At this point, all signs point to FSU giving Norvell a chance to prove this wildly forgettable season was a massive fluke by starting with a clean slate next year.

However, if he fails to do so, it’s difficult to imagine any scenario where he’s still at the helm in Tallahassee in 2026.