The college football season started with a series of remarkable events, and several of those events have put coaches in more jeopardy than they encountered at the start of the season. These coaches aren’t doomed, but if they don’t engineer a turnaround very quickly, their holds on their teams, their seasons, and ultimately their jobs could indeed be lost.
Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M Aggies
The obvious leader of the hot seat crowd is Sumlin, who not only lost a game his team really needed to win, but who lost that game after his team led by 34 points late in the third quarter. Texas A&M led UCLA 44-10 with just over two minutes left in the third quarter. The Aggies had absolutely nothing to worry about, having rushed for over 300 yards and totally controlled the line of scrimmage. UCLA was a mess, having been pushed around for nearly three full quarters. The outcome had been sealed.
Or so it seemed. Texas A&M didn’t take time between plays. The Aggies also threw a large number of passes, which prevented them from taking more time off the clock. Then UCLA started getting into a rhythm against an Aggie defense which had started to relax. The Bruins scored three touchdowns to pull within 44-24 midway through the fourth quarter, and then A&M dropped an interception, turning a play into a UCLA touchdown to make the score 44-31. A&M missed a field goal, UCLA quickly scored, and there was still enough time for the Bruins to get the ball back. A&M went three and out, UCLA got its chance, and the Bruins scored with 43 seconds left. The Aggies had one last possession but did nothing with their passing game. The collapse was complete. Sumlin failed to manage the game in ways which helped his team. He lost a lot of credibility and had little to begin this season. He is in massive trouble.
Dave Doeren, North Carolina State Wolfpack
The biggest thing to understand about Doeren is that his predecessor was fired despite above .500 records in most seasons. North Carolina State wanted something more than a modestly good record. This is a program hungry for success at the next level. After losing to South Carolina, a team expected to be little more than average at best, North Carolina State will have a hard time reaching a strong record (9-3 or 10-2). In that case, Doeren will have a hard time saving his job. He has a team with a lot of juniors who went through last season and showed promise but came up short in big games. This season was supposed to take the next step, but now it is in trouble.
Todd Graham, Arizona State Sun Devils
The other coaches on hot seats won in Week 1, so the foremost examples on this list are the ones with the least impressive victories, the ones which can make fans grumble. Arizona State barely beat New Mexico State at home. New Mexico State has been one of the worst and weakest programs in college football for a long time. The Aggies should be crushed, but Arizona State won narrowly. That will put more heat on Graham, who knows he has to show substantial progress this season. The Sun Devils better not blow it this week at home to San Diego State or Graham will really feel the heat.
Tony Sanchez, UNLV Rebels
You can’t really be shocked to see this man on the list. The coach of a team which loses as a 45-point home favorite will feel heat if he has not won games previously in his career. In case you missed it, UNLV lost at home to Howard last week in what was the biggest underdog to ever win outright in college football history. Those types of records get you on the hot seat.
That description applies to Sanchez, who tried to revive a moribund program but has had absolutely no success to this point in time. If he can’t do something to change perceptions fairly quickly, Sanchez’s career could sink to the point of no return.
Click here to bet on the college football season right now. DSI has a full list of spreads, totals and props for every single game on the board. Get all of the latest lines that you need to get a piece of the action!
