The leaves have turned, the weather is getting cooler and the college football season is about halfway through. Each week is filled with jaw-dropping upsets, standout players and heart-stopping plays. This is also the point of the season where you give a report card grade on your teams. Some programs are passing with flying colors while others are in desperate need of help. For those that are not doing so well, the scapegoat typically becomes the head coach. This article will take a dive into the coaches currently on the hot seat and predict whether they will last the season.
Billy Napier
The Florida head coach came into the season on the hot seat, and after the first five games, his seat remains sizzling. The Gators are 3-2 but have yet to fare well against top competition. In week one, they were blown out by in rival Miami, 41-17. Two weeks later, they lost to Texas A&M, 33-20, in their SEC opener. Their wins have come against Samford, Mississippi State and UCF. While Napier has a winning record, Florida has yet to play the toughest part of their schedule with Texas, Georgia, LSU and Ole Miss waiting in the distance. If the Gators can survive that stretch and win the games they should, Napier should survive. If not, the Gators will be looking for another coach in the offseason.
Prediction: Napier gets fired after Florida goes 5-7 and fails to make a bowl game.
Trent Dilfer
The former Super Bowl champion quarterback and ESPN mogul is facing a tougher time than expected with the Blazers. Through his first 17 games, Trent Dilfer has compiled a 5-12 record and seems to be making more noise off the field rather than on it. Last week, after a blowout loss to Navy, Dilfer made a comment in his press conference that mocked Alabama and UAB. These comments made local and national news, sparking some outlets to call for his job. While he is only five games into his second season and a firing may seem abrupt, UAB has been much worse than expected. They are not only losing games, but getting throttled, losing their last two games by 84 points combined. UAB has winnable games remaining but also has playoff candidate Army and a much-improved UConn on their schedule. With a 1-4 start, it seems evident that a bowl game is out of reach. However, with it only being year two, if Dilfer shows progress down the stretch and keeps away from controversy, he should keep his job.
Prediction: Dilfer gets a chance to prove himself with a third year in the program.
Sam Pittman
The Razorback head coach may have saved his job on Saturday with a shocking win against Tennessee. Sam Pittman is in his fifth year at Arkansas and holds a 27-27 record at the school. In the offseason, the program hired the controversial Bobby Petrino as their offensive coordinator to save his own job. Pittman has his team off to a 4-2 start, and after their biggest win in years against Tennessee, the program is progressing to better days. However, Arkansas has a brutal schedule ahead and it will be difficult for them to manage the success of the first half of the season. On top of this, Arkansas has a history of putting their coaches on a short leash, and Pittman may have outstretched his time already.
Prediction: Arkansas cannot keep up their hot start and Pittman loses his job after year five.
Mike Norvell
This time a year ago, it would have been a shock to see Mike Norvell on this list. However, Florida State is off to their worst start in program history. After going undefeated and being left off the playoffs, the FSU program has fallen into a steady demise. They lost the Orange Bowl to Georgia (63-3) after more than 20 players opted out and lost many to the draft. However, after success in the transfer portal and a good recruiting class, they were ranked No. 10 to start the year. Florida State is off to a 1-5 start and has losses to notoriously mediocre teams: Georgia Tech, Boston College and Memphis. Transfer quarterback DJ Uiagalelei has been terrible for the Seminoles and backup Brock Glenn did not fare much better against Clemson. Another thing to remember is that, prior to last season, Norvell was on the hot seat.
Prediction: Norvell barely survives this season as the Seminoles’ coach, but his seat will be on fire at the beginning of the season next year.