CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd put together his 2024 college football hot seat rankings for all 134 FBS coaches .
That’s quite the annual task that Dodd undertakes.
Dodd assigns the following ratings to head coaches in order to determine just how hot their seat is heading into the new college football season:
- 5 – “Win or be fired”
- 4 – “Start improving now”
- 3 – “Pressure is mounting”
- 2 – “All good … for now”
- 1 – “Safe and secure”
- 0 – “Untouchable”
In all, one coach received the 5 rating of “win or be fired,” eight coaches received the 4 rating of “start improving now,” 19 coaches received the 3 rating of “pressure is mounting,” 49 coaches received the 2 rating of “all good … for now,” 44 coaches received the 1 rating of “safe and secure” and 13 coaches received the 0 rating of “untouchable.”
Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz once again was assigned the 2 rating of “all good … for now.” That’s precisely where Ferentz was in Dodd’s 2023 college football head coach hot seat rankings .
A 2 rating might still be too high for Ferentz. There doesn’t seem to be any legitimate danger of Ferentz losing his job based upon on-the-field performance.
If Ferentz’s career closes after this season, it will be of Ferentz’s own accord. And that’s probably the case for the remainder of Ferentz’s contract which runs at $7 million annually through the 2029 college football season.
Even though the offense has endured its well-documented struggles, Ferentz and Iowa won the Big Ten West last season and finished with a 10-4 record. The Hawkeyes have captured 25 Big Ten victories over the past four seasons, matching the program’s most conference wins in any four-season stretch (1982-85 and 2002-05).
In 25 seasons at the helm of the program, Ferentz has become Iowa’s all-time winningest head coach and ranks third all-time in Big Ten wins and among Big Ten coaches in overall wins. Ferentz boasts a 196-119 (122-85 Big Ten) record with the Hawkeyes.
Iowa won Big Ten championships under Ferentz’s watch in 2002 and 2004.
While Ferentz is upon safe shores, that’s not the case for nine coaches nationally. As Dodd points out in his story, his annual hot seat rankings have historically been a solid indicator of who might lose their job in a given college football season.
The Hot Seat Rankings have long been an accurate predictor in terms of job security, however. Over the last six years, 34 of the 50 coaches rated 4 or hotter in the preseason eventually lost their jobs that season (68%). – Dodd, CBS Sports .
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman is the lone coach with a 5 rating. Florida ‘s Billy Napier, Baylor’s Dave Aranda, Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea, BYU’s Kalani Sitake, Louisiana Tech’s Sonny Cumbie, Temple’s Stan Drayton, Ball State’s Mike Neu and Southern Mississippi’s Will Hall all have 4 ratings.
In the Big Ten, Ohio State ‘s Ryan Day also has a 3 rating.
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