OT - Which P5 Coach Gets Canned First This Season?
Quite a few coaches are coming into this season on the hot seat and in dire need of big seasons in order to save their jobs. Who all do you think get canned first?
My guess is Sumlin. He pretty much caught lightning in a bottle with Manziel, and his teams have proceeded to fall apart in the second half of just about every season ever since he left.
I think Kelly is safe for another season minus a drastic implosion both on and off the field, because he's one year into a big extension and ND doesn't want to go the route again of firing a guy and paying him for years NOT to coach them.
Who you all got?
August 4th, 2017 at 12:56 PM ^
Doubt it's Kelly, though I looked at their schedule and there seem to be a lot of toss up games early. Temple was a decent team under Rhule, MSU may have a solid first string early in the season before many injuries, and Georgia has a ton of talent and a highly rated QB going into his second season. If those teams play well, it's possible ND starts the season 1-3 and in that case I wonder if ND fires Kelly to get a leg up on finding a coach quickly in December.
Dantonio is safe during the season, though Sam Webb has mentioned that this may be his last year. If they don't make a bowl and recruiting is looking down, I can see him being asked to retire after the season.
More likely could be Addazio at BC, who open at Northern Illinois (could be a strong MAC team), then Wake Forest, ND and Clemson. If there is more defensive fall off from another year post Brown, they are likely going to be 0-4. Then they need to win against CMU because after that they play VT and Louisville. According to S&P+ they are only favored in 3 games all season and 1 of those is Northern Illinois where they are giving a 53% winning percentage. The schedule does them no favors, and it could get ugly fast.
Another possibility would be Graham at ASU, who starts PAC12 play with Oregon, Stanford, Washington, USC, Utah, then Colorado. If Taggert gets Oregon playing with confidence then ASU is likely 0-6 in conference before they see UCLA, OSU, or Arizona.
It's rare for teams to fire coaches mid season though becoming more common now as leashes seem to be getting shorter and teams want to get in early on new candidates before everyone else. Outside of some crazy event like at Baylor, the best bet for an early coach firing would come from a terrible early season, so look at teams with tough schedules who are likely to be well below .500 in into October.
Our old friend Rich Rod looks to be a goner to me. Program heading down fast and could easily start the season by winning game one and then losing the next 8. If that happens I could see him getting let go after the USC game - especially if they get embarrassed.
Oh well RR....we'll always have Demer Dorsey.
Please not Kelly. I want Harbaugh to run up the score on him when we play them in South Bend. Then you can fire him.
We owe him for 2014. What a miserable road trip that was.
I made the mistake of trying to find a sports bar in southwestern Michingan after the game and there was nothing open.
If we're going with the top of the hot seat list, I have to think that names like Brian Kelly, Kevin Sumlin and Jim Mora might be on it. I don't know if UCLA would really do much with Mora right now, but Kelly and Sumlin seem like they are near enough to the cliff that a shitty start could be enough to get them over the edge. That's not a comprehensive list, of course, but those names definitely stick out to me.
Little surprised Mora's name hasn't come up more often.
No one has mentioned it so I'll throw it out there: Paul Johnson at Georgia Tech. There were rumblings before last year due to the 3-9 2015 year. He had a decent bounce back year last year but if they tank this year I could see the fanbase (and administration) get inpaient awfully quickly.
Nobody mentioned BERT ?
The Razorback fans I know are getting testy...
Butch will get canned mid season n mora after they lose to USC
think Saban may be on the hot seat.
I think Saban's seat is as cold as a white walker's ass.
Steve Addazio at BC or Jim Mora at UCLA. If Pitt stumbles and it becomes clear that Matt Canada was what won them games (likely considering how poor their defense has been) then Narduzzi could go on the hot seat.
He will be fired in the parking lot of Jerry Dome minutes after losting 63-3.
O.k., that probably won't happen. So I'll say Kevin Sumlin, in part b/c Texas A&M is the sort of program that will fire a guy mid-season. Most schools will wait until the season ends.
lose their 2 September home games against TCU and Texas A&M --- then go 0-2 on the South Carolina and Alabama road trip.
That would put Arkansas at 2-4 and there would be grumbling. A home loss to Auburn could then be the coup de grace.
2nd Brian Kelly
All this and not one mention of Lane Kiffin? Not that it is likely, but with him, you never know.
in the eastern division of C-USA. That 5 would be Marshall, ODU, MTSU, Western Kentucky and Charlotte.
Of those, Doc Holliday (Marshall) is most likely to get fired first. They expect better than 3-9 in Huntingdon.
On Sunday 10/8. The day after he has his ass handed to him in The Big House. Coupled with all the off field crap that game will finish him off. Although, I'd like him to hang around for a few more beatings at the hands of Michigan.
Bielema, Sumlin and Addazio.
Coaches that need their teams not to suck to keep their job; RR, Graham. Butch Jones and Kelly.
UT and ND probably won't suck, so I think their seats are less warm than the others.
Sumlin or Kingsbury. A&M and Tech are in slumps right now, and with Texas hiring Herman, I think there's an arms race in TX coming soon.
I hung out last week with a group of Texas Aggie fans. They certainly think Sumlin is on a very hot seat. (I also learned that they really don't enjoy Johnny Manziel jokes...)
I hung out last week with a group of Texas Aggie fans. They certainly think Sumlin is on a very hot seat. (I also learned that they really don't enjoy Johnny Manziel jokes...)
Jim Mora (UCLA): 9/1
Todd Graham (Arizona State): 15/1
Rich Rodriguez (Arizona): 15/1
Bret Bielema (Arkansas): 16/1
Gus Malzahn (Auburn): 17/1
Kevin Sumlin (Texas A&M): 18/1
Kliff Kingsbury (Texas Tech): 18/1
Lane Kiffin (FAU): 25/1
Butch Jones (Tennessee): 30/1
Brian Kelly (Notre Dame): 30/1
Steve Addazio (Boston College): 30/1
Mark Dantonio (Michigan State): 30/1
Dave Doeren (N.C. State): 35/1
Lovie Smith (Illinois): 35/1
Willie Taggart (Oregon): 35/1
Why is Taggart even on that list? He hasn't even coached a game at Oregon yet.
In mid January, three Oregon players were hospitalized following a conditioning workout leading to a month long suspension for the S&C coach. Willie Taggart took responsibility for the health of his players.
Once people take off the blinders and recognize he's a crappy recruiter compared to Alabama and OSU and he's never won a big game and he had 2.5 years to do something with O'Korn and Speight and still recruits all these nobody three stars.
GO BLUE! And Jim for President!