Every college football season brings with it an assortment of coaches who have to perform at a reasonably decent level, or else will be fired. The crop of hot seat coaches this season isn’t as large as it was last year, but one can still find five candidates without working too hard. The SEC does not have a ton of hot seat coaches, since Tennessee, Florida, Texas A&M, Arkansas, and Mississippi State all changed coaches, but as you will see below, there are still two SEC coaches who are sweating bullets heading into the new season.
Derek Mason, Vanderbilt
The uncomfortable truth for Vanderbilt is that competitors in the SEC East are getting better. Georgia went to the national title game last season. Missouri overcame a terrible start to make a bowl game and improve the stock of coach Barry Odom. Will Muschamp has done better than many expected at South Carolina. Kentucky keeps making bowl games. Florida is still a high-resource program which can get it going very soon. With all of these challenges in the same division, Mason has to be able to give Vanderbilt fans a sense that this program can do more than what it has done. Mason has been to a bowl game, but last season was a step back from 2016. This year, Mason has to move the team forward; otherwise, it is likely that he will be gone by December.
Ed Orgeron, LSU
The rollercoaster nature of the 2017 season was something LSU and Orgeron managed to survive, but they know they can’t have another season like that and expect to be on good terms with the LSU fan base. LSU lost at home to Troy, a member of the Sun Belt Conference. LSU also got ripped by Alabama and Mississippi State. The game which saved Orgeron from further embarrassment and ridicule was a 20-point comeback win over Auburn. That was the biggest win of the season and a game which restored a lot of faith in the program… but the head coach still doesn’t inspire a lot of faith. Orgeron has rubbed high school coaches in Louisiana the wrong way. If recruiting goes south, the team could spiral downward. Orgeron has to keep this ship afloat in 2018. If not, people won’t be afraid to fire him and eat a buyout amount.
LSU is currently at +3000 to win the 2019 National Championship, according to BetDSI.
Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh
The Panthers are in deep trouble. They play a very tough schedule in 2018 and have not yet shown that they can play excellent pass defense. Pittsburgh’s secondary has been very poor in recent seasons. The Panthers have not gotten better on defense, which is where Narduzzi is supposed to excel. The Panthers are adrift, and unless Narduzzi begins to show that he can stabilize this program and shore up its weaknesses, he might be in big trouble in November.
David Beaty, Kansas
The Kansas Jayhawks simply can’t let this pattern continue to unfold without end. Kansas was 1-11 in 2017 after being 2-10 in 2016 and 0-12 in 2015. Kansas needs to at least get to three wins this year for Beaty to think he has a chance of staying on. A 2-10 season is not what he was paid to do in his fourth season on the job. The Jayhawks have to improve this year.
Scottie Montgomery, East Carolina
The Pirates have no one to blame but themselves on this one. They fired popular head coach Ruffin McNeill a few years ago and thought Montgomery would inject younger, newer blood and a lot of enthusiasm into the program. It has not happened. East Carolina did not make a bowl in each of the past two seasons, going 3-9 both times. ECU needs a 5-7 season at least, possibly 6-6 and a bowl game, for Montgomery to feel he might avoid getting fired this fall.
