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HOW OUR TOP 20 COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHES LIST IS COMPILED

The Top 20 College Football Coaches List: A pressure cooker of gridiron expectations.

We’re not calling for heads to roll, but let’s be real—the heat gets turned up when your team’s floundering. This list isn’t about who’s getting fired, it’s about who’s feeling the burn.

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Week 10 – 2025 COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHES HOT SEAT rankings

#01

#02

Mike Locksley, Head Coach at University of Maryland

#03

Mike Norvell, Head Coach of Florida State Seminoles - Coaches Hot Seat

#04

Luke Fickell, Head Coach at University of Wisconsin

#05

#06

#07

Shane Beamer - College Football Coaches Hot Seat - South Carolina Gamecocks

#08

Tim Beck

Coastal Carolina

#09

#10

Mark Stoops - Kentucky Wildcats Head Coach - Coaches Hot Seat

Bubbling Under

#11

Joe Moorhead

Akron

#12

Jeff Choate

Nevada

#13

Derek Mason

Middle Tennessee

#14

Bill O’Brien

Boston College

#15

Scotty Walden

UTEP

#16

Jay Sawvel

Wyoming

#17

Sonny Cumbie

Louisiana Tech

#18

Dell McGee

Georgia State

#19

Butch Jones

Arkansas State

#20

Lance Taylor

Western Michigan

COACHES HOT SEAT RANKING

October 27, 2025 - Week 10

At Coaches Hot Seat, we rank all 136 FBS football coaches from 1 (hottest seat in America) to 136 (ice cold). Here's what makes us different: our rankings move every single week. While most sites publish once and disappear, we update weekly because college football is beautiful chaos—a coach ranked #5 can win three straight and drop to #50, while someone chilling at #100 can lose to an FCS school and rocket into the top 10 by Tuesday. We build these rankings by digging into the ugly truth through blog posts, weekly newsletters, and a mix of hard analytics with expert opinions. We factor in program expectations versus reality, recent performance, recruiting momentum, administrative support, fan pressure, and those whispered hallway conversations that actually determine job security. The hot seat doesn't send warning emails, but we track every move.

Rank	Head coach	Team	Conf	Base/Yr	Sch Yrs	Total School Wins	Total School Loss	Sch Win %	Total Career Wins	Total Career Loss	Career Win %
1	Mike Norvell	Florida State	ACC	$ 7,300,000	6	36	31	0.537	74	47	0.612
2	Jonathan Smith	Michigan State	Big Ten	$ 4,850,000	2	8	12	0.400	42	47	0.472
3	Bill Belichick	North Carolina	ACC	$ 10,000,000	1	2	5	0.286	2	5	0.286
4	Jeff Choate	Nevada	Mtn West	$ 1,600,000	2	4	17	0.190	4	17	0.190
5	Hugh Freeze	Auburn	SEC	$ 6,500,000	3	15	18	0.455	98	61	0.616
6	Luke Fickell	Wisconsin	Big Ten	$ 7,625,000	3	15	19	0.441	78	44	0.639
7	Justin Wilcox	California	ACC	$ 4,800,000	9	47	53	0.470	47	53	0.470
8	Derek Mason	Middle Tennessee	C-USA	$ 1,000,000	2	4	15	0.211	31	70	0.307
9	Shane Beamer	South Carolina	SEC	$ 6,125,000	5	32	27	0.542	32	27	0.542
10	Sonny Cumbie	Louisiana Tech	C-USA	$ 950,000	4	15	29	0.341	17	32	0.347
11	Dell McGee	Georgia State	Sun Belt	$ 850,000	2	4	16	0.200	5	16	0.238
12	Scotty Walden	UTEP	C-USA	$ 800,000	2	5	14	0.263	6	17	0.261
13	Joe Moorhead	Akron	MAC	$ 620,000	4	11	34	0.244	25	46	0.352
14	Butch Jones	Arkansas State	Sun Belt	$ 825,000	5	23	35	0.397	107	89	0.546
15	Dave Aranda	Baylor	Big 12	$ 3,021,003	6	35	34	0.507	35	34	0.507
16	Mark Stoops	Kentucky	SEC	$ 9,000,000	13	79	78	0.503	79	78	0.503
17	Jay Sawvel	Wyoming	Mtn West	$ 1,100,000	2	7	13	0.350	7	13	0.350
18	Lance Taylor	Western Michigan	MAC	$ 850,000	3	14	19	0.424	14	19	0.424
19	Tim Beck	Coastal Carolina	Sun Belt	$ 1,000,000	3	18	15	0.545	18	15	0.545
20	Dave Doeren	NC State	ACC	$ 5,965,377	13	91	69	0.569	114	73	0.610
21	Ricky Rahne	Old Dominion	Sun Belt	$ 846,000	6	25	33	0.431	25	33	0.431
22	Brent Brennan	Arizona	Big 12	$ 2,200,000	2	8	11	0.421	42	59	0.416
23	Clay Helton	Georgia Southern	Sun Belt	$ 900,000	4	23	24	0.489	69	48	0.590
24	Tony Sanchez	New Mexico State	C-USA	$ 600,000	2	6	13	0.316	26	53	0.329
25	Zach Kittley	Florida Atlantic	American	$ 1,000,000	1	3	5	0.375	3	5	0.375
26	Matt Rhule	Nebraska	Big Ten	$ 5,500,000	3	18	15	0.545	65	58	0.528
27	Lincoln Riley	USC	Big Ten	$ 10,000,000	4	31	16	0.660	86	26	0.768
28	Sean Lewis	San Diego State	Mtn West	$ 1,850,000	2	9	10	0.474	33	41	0.446
29	Sherrone Moore	Michigan	Big Ten	$ 6,000,000	2	15	7	0.682	14	7	0.667
30	Thomas Hammock	Northern Illinois	MAC	$ 677,045	7	34	44	0.436	34	44	0.436
31	Joe Harasymiak	UMass	MAC	$ 1,400,000	1	0	8	0.000	0	8	0.000
32	Phil Longo	Sam Houston	C-USA	$ 700,000	1	0	7	0.000	0	7	0.000
33	Jeff Lebby	Mississippi State	SEC	$ 4,510,000	2	6	14	0.300	6	14	0.300
34	Lance Leipold	Kansas	Big 12	$ 5,750,000	5	26	32	0.448	63	65	0.492
35	Tony Elliott	Virginia	ACC	$ 4,250,000	4	18	24	0.429	18	24	0.429
36	Timmy Chang	Hawaii	Mtn West	$ 600,006	4	19	27	0.413	19	27	0.413
37	Jedd Fisch	Washington	Big Ten	$ 7,700,000	2	12	9	0.571	29	31	0.483
38	Tim Albin	Charlotte	American	$ 1,000,000	1	1	7	0.125	34	26	0.567
39	Spencer Danielson	Boise State	Mtn West	$ 1,100,000	3	21	5	0.808	21	5	0.808
40	Gerad Parker	Troy	Sun Belt	$ 900,000	2	10	10	0.500	10	16	0.385
41	Scott Satterfield	Cincinnati	Big 12	$ 3,535,000	3	15	17	0.469	87	57	0.604
42	Mike Locksley	Maryland	Big Ten	$ 5,500,000	8	37	44	0.457	39	70	0.358
43	Kalen DeBoer	Alabama	SEC	$ 10,000,000	2	16	5	0.762	53	14	0.791
44	Greg Schiano	Rutgers	Big Ten	$ 4,000,000	16	98	105	0.483	98	105	0.483
45	Chuck Martin	Miami Ohio	MAC	$ 575,300	12	70	70	0.500	70	70	0.500
46	Clark Lea	Vanderbilt	SEC	$ 3,051,881	5	23	34	0.404	23	34	0.404
47	Scott Abell	Rice	American	$ 1,000,000	1	4	4	0.500	4	4	0.500
48	Barry Odom	Purdue	Big Ten	$ 4,000,000	1	2	6	0.250	46	39	0.541
49	Willie Fritz	Houston	Big 12	$ 2,842,000	2	11	9	0.550	82	63	0.566
50	Tre Lamb	Tulsa	American	$ 1,400,000	1	2	6	0.250	2	6	0.250
51	Eric Morris	North Texas	American	$ 1,300,000	3	18	15	0.545	18	15	0.545
52	Jake Dickert	Wake Forest	ACC	$ 4,000,000	1	5	2	0.714	28	22	0.560
53	Jeff Monken	Army	American	$ 2,000,000	12	85	61	0.582	85	61	0.582
54	K.C. Keeler	Temple	American	$ 625,000	1	5	3	0.625	17	15	0.531
55	Joey McGuire	Texas Tech	Big 12	$ 4,104,960	4	30	17	0.638	30	17	0.638
56	Frank Reich (Int)	Stanford	ACC	$ 4,000,000	1	3	5	0.375	3	5	0.375
57	Brent Venables	Oklahoma	SEC	$ 7,100,000	4	28	19	0.596	28	19	0.596
58	Jimmy Rogers	Washington State	Pac-12	$ 1,570,000	1	4	4	0.500	4	4	0.500
59	Bronco Mendenhall	Utah State	Mtn West	$ 2,000,000	1	4	4	0.500	144	92	0.610
60	Jim Mora	UConn	Ind	$ 2,500,000	4	23	23	0.500	69	53	0.566
61	Brent Key	Georgia Tech	ACC	$ 4,150,000	4	26	16	0.619	26	16	0.619
62	Dan Mullen	UNLV	Mtn West	$ 3,500,000	1	6	1	0.857	109	62	0.637
63	Mark Carney (Int)	Kent State	MAC	$ 525,000	1	3	5	0.375	3	5	0.375
64	Eddie George	Bowling Green	MAC	$ 700,000	1	3	5	0.375	3	5	0.375
65	Matt Entz	Fresno State	Mtn West	$ 1,100,000	1	5	3	0.625	5	3	0.625
66	Willie Simmons	Florida International	C-USA	$ 750,000	1	3	4	0.429	3	4	0.429
67	Jason Eck	New Mexico	Mtn West	$ 1,100,000	1	5	3	0.625	5	3	0.625
68	Dowell Loggains	Appalachian State	Sun Belt	$ 1,000,000	1	4	4	0.500	4	4	0.500
69	Charles Kelly	Jacksonville State	C-USA	$ 1,000,000	1	4	3	0.571	4	3	0.571
70	Bill O'Brien	Boston College	ACC	$ 5,000,000	2	8	13	0.381	23	22	0.511
71	Rich Rodriguez	West Virginia	Big 12	$ 3,500,000	8	62	32	0.660	138	97	0.587
72	Ryan Carty	Delaware	C-USA	$ 536,000	4	4	3	0.571	4	3	0.571
73	Troy Calhoun	Air Force	Mtn West	$ 3,000,000	19	137	94	0.593	137	94	0.593
74	Brian Smith	Ohio	MAC	$ 850,000	1	6	3	0.667	6	3	0.667
75	Jerry Mack	Kennesaw State	C-USA	$ 375,000	1	5	2	0.714	5	2	0.714
76	Mike Uremovich	Ball State	MAC	$ 700,000	1	3	5	0.375	3	5	0.375
77	Michael Desormeaux	Louisiana	Sun Belt	$ 775,000	5	25	24	0.510	25	24	0.510
78	Matt Drinkall	Central Michigan	MAC	$ 640,000	1	5	3	0.625	5	3	0.625
79	Tony Gibson	Marshall	Sun Belt	$ 1,000,000	1	4	3	0.571	4	3	0.571
80	Ken Niumatalolo	San Jose State	Mtn West	$ 2,300,000	2	9	11	0.450	119	94	0.559
81	Major Applewhite	South Alabama	Sun Belt	$ 825,000	2	9	12	0.429	24	23	0.511
82	Jason Candle	Toledo	MAC	$ 1,125,000	11	77	44	0.636	77	44	0.636
83	Josh Heupel	Tennessee	SEC	$ 9,000,000	5	43	17	0.717	71	25	0.740
84	Bret Bielema	Illinois	Big Ten	$ 6,500,000	5	33	25	0.569	130	83	0.610
85	Kenny Dillingham	Arizona State	Big 12	$ 3,850,000	2	19	15	0.559	19	15	0.559
86	P.J. Fleck	Minnesota	Big Ten	$ 6,000,000	9	63	42	0.600	93	64	0.592
87	Scott Frost	UCF	Big 12	$ 2,000,000	3	23	10	0.697	39	41	0.488
88	Charles Huff	Southern Miss	Sun Belt	$ 950,000	1	6	2	0.750	38	22	0.633
89	Ryan Beard	Missouri State	C-USA	$ 315,000	2	4	3	0.571	4	3	0.571
90	Steve Sarkisian	Texas	SEC	$ 10,800,000	5	44	19	0.698	90	54	0.625
91	Matt Campbell	Iowa State	Big 12	$ 4,000,000	10	69	54	0.561	104	69	0.601
92	Bob Chesney	James Madison	Sun Belt	$ 766,500	2	15	5	0.750	15	5	0.750
93	Deion Sanders	Colorado	Big 12	$ 5,500,000	3	16	17	0.485	16	17	0.485
94	David Braun	Northwestern	Big Ten	$ 3,500,000	3	17	16	0.515	17	16	0.515
95	Marcus Freeman	Notre Dame	Ind	$ 7,400,000	5	38	12	0.760	38	12	0.760
96	Bryant Vincent	Louisiana-Monroe	Sun Belt	$ 600,000	2	8	12	0.400	15	18	0.455
97	Chris Creighton	Eastern Michigan	MAC	$ 590,000	12	59	82	0.418	59	82	0.418
98	Fran Brown	Syracuse	ACC	$ 3,000,000	2	13	8	0.619	13	8	0.619
99	Pat Narduzzi	Pittsburgh	ACC	$ 6,699,551	11	78	58	0.574	78	58	0.574
100	Eliah Drinkwitz	Missouri	SEC	$ 6,000,000	6	44	26	0.629	56	27	0.675
101	Rhett Lashlee	SMU	ACC	$ 3,500,000	4	34	15	0.694	34	15	0.694
102	Jeff Traylor	UTSA	American	$ 2,500,000	6	49	24	0.671	49	24	0.671
103	Brian Newberry	Navy	American	$ 1,600,000	3	22	10	0.688	22	10	0.688
104	Dabo Swinney	Clemson	ACC	$ 10,758,575	17	183	51	0.782	183	51	0.782
105	Kyle Whittingham	Utah	Big 12	$ 6,325,000	22	173	88	0.663	173	88	0.663
106	Blake Harrell	East Carolina	American	$ 1,300,000	1	9	4	0.692	9	4	0.692
107	Alex Golesh	South Florida	American	$ 2,500,000	3	20	14	0.588	20	14	0.588
108	G.J. Kinne	Texas State	Sun Belt	$ 2,000,000	3	19	14	0.576	19	14	0.576
109	Tyson Helton	Western Kentucky	C-USA	$ 918,000	7	54	34	0.614	54	34	0.614
110	Mike Elko	Texas A&M	SEC	$ 7,000,000	2	16	5	0.762	32	14	0.696
111	Ryan Day	Ohio State	Big Ten	$ 10,196,250	6	77	10	0.885	77	10	0.885
112	Jeff Brohm	Louisville	ACC	$ 5,550,000	3	25	9	0.735	91	53	0.632
113	Kirk Ferentz	Iowa	Big Ten	$ 7,000,000	27	210	126	0.625	210	126	0.625
114	Kirby Smart	Georgia	SEC	$ 10,505,600	10	111	20	0.847	111	20	0.847
115	Pete Lembo	Buffalo	MAC	$ 790,000	2	13	8	0.619	46	37	0.554
116	Sonny Dykes	TCU	Big 12	$ 5,000,000	4	33	15	0.688	104	78	0.571
117	Mario Cristobal	Miami Florida	ACC	$ 8,000,000	4	28	17	0.622	90	77	0.539
118	Jon Sumrall	Tulane	American	$ 3,000,000	2	15	6	0.714	38	10	0.792
119	Chris Klieman	Kansas State	Big 12	$ 4,750,000	7	52	32	0.619	52	32	0.619
120	Lane Kiffin	Ole Miss	SEC	$ 9,000,000	6	51	19	0.729	113	53	0.681
121	Jamey Chadwell	Liberty	C-USA	$ 4,000,000	3	24	9	0.727	63	31	0.670
122	Manny Diaz	Duke	ACC	$ 4,000,000	2	13	7	0.650	34	22	0.607
123	Dan Lanning	Oregon	Big Ten	$ 11,000,000	3	42	7	0.857	42	7	0.857
124	Kalani Sitake	BYU	Big 12	$ 3,000,000	10	80	43	0.650	80	43	0.650
125	Ryan Silverfield	Memphis	American	$ 1,900,000	6	49	21	0.700	49	21	0.700
126	Curt Cignetti	Indiana	Big Ten	$ 4,000,000	2	19	2	0.905	38	6	0.864
0	Brent Pry	Virginia Tech	ACC	$ 4,750,000	4	16	24	0.400	16	24	0.400
0	DeShaun Foster	UCLA	Big Ten	$ 3,000,000	2	5	10	0.333	5	10	0.333
0	Mike Gundy	Oklahoma State	Big 12	$ 7,625,000	20	170	90	0.654	170	90	0.654
0	Sam Pittman	Arkansas	SEC	$ 6,350,000	6	32	34	0.485	32	34	0.485
0	Trent Dilfer	UAB	American	$ 1,300,000	3	9	21	0.300	9	21	0.300
0	James Franklin	Penn State	Big Ten	$ 8,500,000	11	104	45	0.698	128	60	0.681
0	Trent Bray	Oregon State	Pac-12	$ 2,000,000	2	5	14	0.263	5	14	0.263
0	Billy Napier	Florida	SEC	$ 6,920,000	4	22	23	0.489	62	35	0.639
0	Jay Norvell	Colorado State	Mtn West	$ 1,700,000	4	18	26	0.409	51	52	0.495
0	Brian Kelly	LSU	SEC	$ 9,975,000	4	34	14	0.708	200	76	0.725
Rank	Head coach	Team	Conf	Base/Yr	Sch Yrs	Total School Wins	Total School Loss	Sch Win %	Total Career Wins	Total Career Loss	Career Win %

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