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Athlon Sports
College Football's Coaches on the Hot Seat for 2024
By Steven Lassan,
4 hours ago
Even though college football's coaching carousel had 31 changes for 2024, don't expect the movement to slow down once the season starts in late August. As always, several coaches begin the year on the hot seat and a handful will move their way into that territory as the season progresses.
Arkansas' Sam Pittman and Baylor's Dave Aranda take the top two spots in Athlon's hot seat watch for '24, but Florida's Billy Napier isn't far behind. The Gators face a crucial September stretch that includes home games against Miami and Texas A&M before a brutal second-half slate. In the Group of 5 ranks, Ball State's Mike Neu, Louisiana Tech's Sonny Cumbie, and Temple's Stan Drayton are among the top coaches sitting on the hottest seats this fall.
Who are the coaches sitting on the hot seat as the 2024 season approaches? Athlon examines the coaches sitting on the hottest seat for the upcoming year:
College Football's Coaches on the Hot Seat for 2024
Pittman is one of the most likable coaches in college football, but his job security in Fayetteville is on thin ice after last year's 4-8 mark. The Razorbacks won only one game in SEC play and suffered blowout losses to Auburn (48-10) and Missouri (48-14) in November. Last year's record dropped Pittman's overall mark to 23-25 overall and 11-23 in conference action. The Razorbacks went 9-4 and finished No. 21 in the final Associated Press poll in '21 but were unable to build on that momentum with an 11-14 record over the last two seasons. The return of Bobby Petrino as offensive coordinator could help save Pittman's job.
Last year's 3-9 record dropped Aranda's overall mark in Waco to 23-25 and prompted major changes on both sides of the ball. In addition to a new offensive coordinator, Aranda is set to handle the defensive play-calling after this unit finished last in the Big 12 in points allowed (33.3 a game) last year. The Bears won the Big 12 title and finished 12-2 in Aranda's second season (2021), but his record outside of that year is only 11-23.
Napier deserved some patience after he replaced Dan Mullen and needed to restock the roster prior to the 2022 season. However, after back-to-back losing seasons and a 6-10 mark in SEC play, Napier's seat has started to warm. Overall as a program, the Gators have had three consecutive losing records and have not posted double-digit wins since '19. For a program that won national titles in the BCS era and has the resources to win at a high level every year, another losing record could spell the end of Napier's tenure. A brutal schedule this fall won't make things any easier for Napier. However, the '24 roster is arguably in the best shape since his arrival.
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Neu has just one winning record during his eight years in charge in Muncie. The former Ball State quarterback guided the Cardinals to a MAC title in 2020 with a 7-1 mark and a No. 23 finish in the final Associated Press poll. However, the program has struggled outside of that one-year splash. Under Neu's direction, Ball State is 37-56 overall and 23-39 in MAC play. Getting to a bowl game for the third time at his alma mater should be enough for Neu to save his job for '25.
With extensive roots in the state of Texas and a background on offense, Cumbie made a ton of sense as Louisiana Tech's hire prior to the 2022 season. However, the former Texas Tech quarterback has struggled in two years in charge. The Bulldogs are only 6-18 overall and 4-12 in Conference USA action under Cumbie's watch. Also, with Cumbie's roots in the Air Raid offense, averaging only 24.4 points in CUSA games was a major disappointment last year.
With no previous coordinator or head-coaching experience prior to his arrival at Temple, plenty of skepticism surrounded Drayton's hire in Philadelphia. So far, the third-year coach has done nothing to ease those concerns, as he's 6-18 overall since 2022 and just 2-14 in AAC games. Two of Drayton's six career wins came against FCS opponents, while the '23 defense allowed 40.1 points in conference play.
As a native of Mississippi, along with successful stops as a coordinator at Tulane and as a head coach at the lower levels with West Georgia and West Alabama, Hall seemed like the perfect fit at Southern Miss. After a 3-9 record in his debut, the Golden Eagles rebounded to 7-6 and made the program's first bowl trek since '19 in Hall's second year. However, the program went backwards in '23. Hall's offense averaged only 23.2 points a contest, and the defense slumped to one of the worst groups in the Sun Belt in a season where the Golden Eagles finished 3-9 and won just two games in Sun Belt play.
Building a winner at Vanderbilt - especially in the NIL and transfer portal era - is challenging. But as a former Commodore and Nashville native, Lea seemed like the perfect coach to get this program on track when he was hired in 2021. However, Vanderbilt is only 9-27 over the last three years and posted two winless SEC seasons (2021 and '23) under Lea's direction. The Commodores are only 2-22 in SEC play under Lea and were drastically outscored in conference action (317 to 135) last year. A revamped coaching staff and a handful of portal additions should help, but another 0-8 record in SEC play might be too much for Lea to survive.
Houston has been successful at every stop during his career, so odds favor the 52-year-old coach turning things around in 2024 after East Carolina finished 2-10 last season. The two-win campaign was the worst mark for the Pirates under Houston, which dropped his overall record to 24-34 since '19. East Carolina won 15 games from 2021-22 and seemed to be on the rise in the AAC going into the '23 season. However, a struggling offense prevented Houston from building off that two-year run and sets up a critical '24 campaign to potentially save his job in Greenville.
Huff doesn't have a deal at Marshall beyond 2024 but indicated at Sun Belt Media Days " there’s no pressure to win a certain number of games to get a new contract ." An announcement prior to the '24 season would certainly answer any questions about Huff's future. But until then, the pressure on the fourth-year coach is on the rise. After going 7-6 in his debut, Marshall went 9-4 with a victory in the Myrtle Beach Bowl in '22. However, the Thundering Herd needed a late rally in November just to get to a bowl last year and finished 6-7. Through three seasons, Huff has a winning record at 22-17 overall. However, expectations at Marshall are higher than just contending for a .500 record and a bowl trip every season.
Getting Warm
Mike Bloomgren, Rice The Owls have yet to earn a winning record in any of Bloomgren's six seasons in charge. The '24 squad should be his best team at Rice, which will raise expectations on the former Stanford assistant.
Tony Elliott, Virginia The win total (three) was the same from 2022 to '23, but the Cavaliers were more competitive last fall. Can Elliott guide this team to improvement in the victory column in '24?
Jim McElwain, Central Michigan Since going 9-4 in 2021, the Chippewas are only 9-15 over the last two seasons.
Joe Moorhead, Akron Akron is one of the nation's toughest jobs, but Moorhead is only 4-20 through two years in charge.
Pat Narduzzi, Pitt Last year's 3-9 mark was Pitt's worst record under Narduzzi. Can the Panthers turn things around in '24?
Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati Satterfield inherited some major roster turnover for his debut last season, but patience will be wearing thin if Cincinnati goes 3-9 again.
Kalani Sitake, BYU Sitake is 61-41 overall at BYU and posted two double-digit win seasons (2020-21). However, this job is tougher in the Big 12 and a 5-7 mark in the Cougars' power conference debut raises plenty of questions about the overall direction going into '24.
Justin Wilcox, California California isn't an easy place to win and the going will get a little tougher with the program joining the ACC. Wilcox is 36-43 overall but hasn't had a winning record since '19.
Retirement Watch After the 2024 Season
Mack Brown, North Carolina At 72-years-old, Brown isn't showing any signs of slowing down. However, retirement rumors will persist every offseason.
Kirk Ferentz, Iowa Ferentz is the longest-tenured FBS coach (hired in 1999) and will turn 70 before the '25 season.
Mark Stoops, Kentucky In Athlon's anonymous SEC coach scouting for the 2024 season, opposing coaches around the conference believe Stoops will step away from the game similar to how his brother Bob did at Oklahoma.
Kyle Whittingham, Utah Whittingham's successor was already selected with Morgan Scalley named head coach in waiting this offseason.
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