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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 8 – 2025 COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHES HOT SEAT rankings

#01

#02

Hugh Freeze, Head Football Coach at Auburn University - Coaches Hot Seat

#03

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

#04

#05

#06

#07

Luke Fickell, Head Coach at University of Wisconsin

#08

Butch Jones, Arkansas State Head Football Coach - Coaches Hot Seat

#09

#10

Sonny Cumbie - Louisiana Tech - Coaches Hot Seat

Bubbling Under

#11

Derek Mason

Middle Tennessee

#12

Scotty Walden

UTEP

#13

Dell McGee

Georgia State

#14

Brent Brennan

Arizona

#15

Scott Satterfield

Cincinnati

#16

Lance Taylor

Western Michigan

#17

Mark Stoops

Kentucky

#18

Jay Sawvel

Wyoming

#19

Clay Helton

Georgia Southern

#20

Jonathan Smith

Michigan State

COACHES HOT SEAT RANKING

October 14, 2025 - Week 8

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	Billy Napier	Florida	SEC	$ 6,920,000	4	21	23	0.477	61	35	0.635
2	Hugh Freeze	Auburn	SEC	$ 6,500,000	3	14	17	0.452	97	60	0.618
3	Mike Norvell	Florida State	ACC	$ 7,300,000	6	36	30	0.545	74	46	0.617
4	Jeff Choate	Nevada	Mtn West	$ 1,600,000	2	4	15	0.211	4	15	0.211
5	Joe Moorhead	Akron	MAC	$ 620,000	4	10	33	0.233	24	45	0.348
6	Luke Fickell	Wisconsin	Big Ten	$ 7,625,000	3	12	18	0.400	78	42	0.650
7	Butch Jones	Arkansas State	Sun Belt	$ 825,000	5	21	35	0.375	105	89	0.541
8	Justin Wilcox	California	ACC	$ 4,800,000	9	46	52	0.469	46	52	0.469
9	Sonny Cumbie	Louisiana Tech	C-USA	$ 950,000	4	15	28	0.349	17	31	0.354
10	Derek Mason	Middle Tennessee	C-USA	$ 1,000,000	2	4	14	0.222	31	69	0.310
11	Scotty Walden	UTEP	C-USA	$ 800,000	2	4	14	0.222	5	17	0.227
12	Dell McGee	Georgia State	Sun Belt	$ 850,000	2	4	14	0.222	5	14	0.263
13	Brent Brennan	Arizona	Big 12	$ 2,200,000	2	8	10	0.444	42	58	0.420
14	Scott Satterfield	Cincinnati	Big 12	$ 3,535,000	3	13	17	0.433	85	57	0.599
15	Lance Taylor	Western Michigan	MAC	$ 850,000	3	14	18	0.438	14	18	0.438
16	Mark Stoops	Kentucky	SEC	$ 9,000,000	13	79	76	0.510	79	76	0.510
17	Bill Belichick	North Carolina	ACC	$ 10,000,000	1	2	3	0.400	2	3	0.400
18	Jay Sawvel	Wyoming	Mtn West	$ 1,100,000	2	6	12	0.333	6	12	0.333
19	Clay Helton	Georgia Southern	Sun Belt	$ 900,000	4	22	23	0.489	68	47	0.591
20	Jonathan Smith	Michigan State	Big Ten	$ 4,850,000	2	7	11	0.389	41	46	0.471
21	Dave Aranda	Baylor	Big 12	$ 3,021,003	6	35	32	0.522	35	32	0.522
22	Sean Lewis	San Diego State	Mtn West	$ 1,850,000	2	8	10	0.444	32	41	0.438
23	Sherrone Moore	Michigan	Big Ten	$ 6,000,000	2	12	7	0.632	12	7	0.632
24	Tony Sanchez	New Mexico State	C-USA	$ 600,000	2	6	10	0.375	26	50	0.342
25	Tony Elliott	Virginia	ACC	$ 4,250,000	4	16	24	0.400	16	24	0.400
26	Matt Rhule	Nebraska	Big Ten	$ 5,500,000	3	16	15	0.516	63	58	0.521
27	Lincoln Riley	USC	Big Ten	$ 10,000,000	4	31	15	0.674	86	25	0.775
28	Timmy Chang	Hawaii	Mtn West	$ 600,006	4	17	28	0.378	17	28	0.378
29	Lance Leipold	Kansas	Big 12	$ 5,750,000	5	27	31	0.466	64	64	0.500
30	Spencer Danielson	Boise State	Mtn West	$ 1,100,000	3	20	5	0.800	20	5	0.800
31	Gerad Parker	Troy	Sun Belt	$ 900,000	2	9	9	0.500	9	15	0.375
32	Thomas Hammock	Northern Illinois	MAC	$ 677,045	7	33	44	0.429	33	44	0.429
33	Kalen DeBoer	Alabama	SEC	$ 10,000,000	2	13	5	0.722	50	14	0.781
34	Jedd Fisch	Washington	Big Ten	$ 7,700,000	2	12	8	0.600	29	30	0.492
35	Jeff Lebby	Mississippi State	SEC	$ 4,510,000	2	6	12	0.333	6	12	0.333
36	Chuck Martin	Miami Ohio	MAC	$ 575,300	12	68	71	0.489	68	71	0.489
37	Clark Lea	Vanderbilt	SEC	$ 3,051,881	5	21	34	0.382	21	34	0.382
38	Mike Locksley	Maryland	Big Ten	$ 5,500,000	8	37	43	0.463	39	69	0.361
39	Scott Abell	Rice	American	$ 1,000,000	1	3	4	0.429	3	4	0.429
40	Greg Schiano	Rutgers	Big Ten	$ 4,000,000	16	96	105	0.478	96	105	0.478
41	Jay Norvell	Colorado State	Mtn West	$ 1,700,000	4	18	26	0.409	51	52	0.495
42	Tim Albin	Charlotte	American	$ 1,000,000	1	0	6	0.000	34	25	0.576
43	Willie Fritz	Houston	Big 12	$ 2,842,000	2	8	9	0.471	79	63	0.556
44	Tim Beck	Coastal Carolina	Sun Belt	$ 1,000,000	3	18	14	0.563	18	14	0.563
45	Ricky Rahne	Old Dominion	Sun Belt	$ 846,000	6	23	32	0.418	23	32	0.418
46	Eric Morris	North Texas	American	$ 1,300,000	3	16	15	0.516	16	15	0.516
47	Jake Dickert	Wake Forest	ACC	$ 4,000,000	1	4	1	0.800	27	21	0.563
48	Zach Kittley	Florida Atlantic	American	$ 1,000,000	1	3	2	0.600	3	2	0.600
49	K.C. Keeler	Temple	American	$ 625,000	1	3	3	0.500	15	15	0.500
50	Barry Odom	Purdue	Big Ten	$ 4,000,000	1	2	4	0.333	2	4	0.333
51	Frank Reich (Int)	Stanford	ACC	$ 4,000,000	1	1	5	0.167	1	5	0.167
52	Phil Longo	Sam Houston	C-USA	$ 700,000	1	0	7	0.000	0	7	0.000
53	Jeff Monken	Army	American	$ 2,000,000	12	85	60	0.586	85	60	0.586
54	Shane Beamer	South Carolina	SEC	$ 6,125,000	5	32	25	0.561	32	25	0.561
55	Brent Venables	Oklahoma	SEC	$ 7,100,000	4	27	18	0.600	27	18	0.600
56	Brent Key	Georgia Tech	ACC	$ 4,150,000	4	24	16	0.600	24	16	0.600
57	Joey McGuire	Texas Tech	Big 12	$ 4,104,960	4	29	16	0.644	29	16	0.644
58	Tre Lamb	Tulsa	American	$ 1,400,000	1	3	3	0.500	3	3	0.500
59	Jimmy Rogers	Washington State	Pac-12	$ 1,570,000	1	3	3	0.500	3	3	0.500
60	Bronco Mendenhall	Utah State	Mtn West	$ 2,000,000	1	3	3	0.500	143	91	0.611
61	Jason Eck	New Mexico	Mtn West	$ 1,100,000	1	2	3	0.400	2	3	0.400
62	Joe Harasymiak	UMass	MAC	$ 1,400,000	1	0	5	0.000	0	5	0.000
63	Matt Entz	Fresno State	Mtn West	$ 1,100,000	1	5	2	0.714	5	2	0.714
64	Willie Simmons	Florida International	C-USA	$ 750,000	1	1	4	0.200	1	4	0.200
65	Charles Kelly	Jacksonville State	C-USA	$ 1,000,000	1	4	2	0.667	4	2	0.667
66	Dan Mullen	UNLV	Mtn West	$ 3,500,000	1	7	0	1.000	110	61	0.643
67	Mark Carney (Int)	Kent State	MAC	$ 525,000	1	2	4	0.333	2	4	0.333
68	Troy Calhoun	Air Force	Mtn West	$ 3,000,000	19	136	94	0.591	136	94	0.591
69	Brian Smith	Ohio	MAC	$ 850,000	1	5	2	0.714	5	2	0.714
70	Jerry Mack	Kennesaw State	C-USA	$ 375,000	1	4	2	0.667	4	2	0.667
71	Eddie George	Bowling Green	MAC	$ 700,000	1	2	4	0.333	2	4	0.333
72	Matt Drinkall	Central Michigan	MAC	$ 640,000	1	4	2	0.667	4	2	0.667
73	Tony Gibson	Marshall	Sun Belt	$ 1,000,000	1	3	3	0.500	3	3	0.500
74	Dowell Loggains	Appalachian State	Sun Belt	$ 1,000,000	1	4	1	0.800	4	1	0.800
75	Ryan Carty	Delaware	C-USA	$ 536,000	4	3	2	0.600	3	2	0.600
76	Mike Uremovich	Ball State	MAC	$ 700,000	1	1	5	0.167	1	5	0.167
77	Bill O'Brien	Boston College	ACC	$ 5,000,000	2	8	10	0.444	23	19	0.548
78	Rich Rodriguez	West Virginia	Big 12	$ 3,500,000	8	61	31	0.663	137	97	0.586
79	Scott Frost	UCF	Big 12	$ 2,000,000	3	23	10	0.697	39	41	0.488
80	Charles Huff	Southern Miss	Sun Belt	$ 950,000	1	3	3	0.500	35	23	0.603
81	Jason Candle	Toledo	MAC	$ 1,125,000	11	75	44	0.630	75	44	0.630
82	Ryan Beard	Missouri State	C-USA	$ 315,000	2	4	2	0.667	4	2	0.667
83	Steve Sarkisian	Texas	SEC	$ 10,800,000	5	42	19	0.689	88	54	0.620
84	Bret Bielema	Illinois	Big Ten	$ 6,500,000	5	32	25	0.561	129	83	0.609
85	Kenny Dillingham	Arizona State	Big 12	$ 3,850,000	2	18	14	0.563	18	14	0.563
86	P.J. Fleck	Minnesota	Big Ten	$ 6,000,000	9	62	40	0.608	92	62	0.597
87	Ken Niumatalolo	San Jose State	Mtn West	$ 2,300,000	2	10	10	0.500	119	93	0.561
88	Dave Doeren	NC State	ACC	$ 5,965,377	13	90	69	0.566	113	73	0.608
89	Major Applewhite	South Alabama	Sun Belt	$ 825,000	2	8	11	0.421	23	22	0.511
90	Matt Campbell	Iowa State	Big 12	$ 4,000,000	10	68	53	0.562	103	68	0.602
91	Bob Chesney	James Madison	Sun Belt	$ 766,500	2	15	5	0.750	15	5	0.750
92	Deion Sanders	Colorado	Big 12	$ 5,500,000	3	24	13	0.649	24	13	0.649
93	David Braun	Northwestern	Big Ten	$ 3,500,000	3	16	14	0.533	16	14	0.533
94	Marcus Freeman	Notre Dame	Ind	$ 7,400,000	5	38	11	0.776	38	11	0.776
95	Pat Narduzzi	Pittsburgh	ACC	$ 6,699,551	11	76	57	0.571	76	57	0.571
96	Josh Heupel	Tennessee	SEC	$ 9,000,000	5	43	15	0.741	71	23	0.755
97	Michael Desormeaux	Louisiana	Sun Belt	$ 775,000	5	25	22	0.532	25	22	0.532
98	Brian Kelly	LSU	SEC	$ 9,975,000	4	34	12	0.739	200	74	0.730
99	Brian Newberry	Navy	American	$ 1,600,000	3	20	10	0.667	20	10	0.667
100	Rhett Lashlee	SMU	ACC	$ 3,500,000	4	32	15	0.681	32	15	0.681
101	Bryant Vincent	Louisiana-Monroe	Sun Belt	$ 600,000	2	9	10	0.474	16	16	0.500
102	Chris Creighton	Eastern Michigan	MAC	$ 590,000	12	60	79	0.432	60	79	0.432
103	Fran Brown	Syracuse	ACC	$ 3,000,000	2	13	6	0.684	13	6	0.684
104	Jeff Traylor	UTSA	American	$ 2,500,000	6	49	23	0.681	49	23	0.681
105	Blake Harrell	East Carolina	American	$ 1,300,000	1	6	5	0.545	6	5	0.546
106	Eliah Drinkwitz	Missouri	SEC	$ 6,000,000	6	43	25	0.632	55	26	0.679
107	Dabo Swinney	Clemson	ACC	$ 10,758,575	17	183	50	0.785	183	50	0.785
108	Mike Elko	Texas A&M	SEC	$ 7,000,000	2	13	5	0.722	29	14	0.674
109	Ryan Day	Ohio State	Big Ten	$ 10,196,250	6	75	10	0.882	75	10	0.882
110	Kyle Whittingham	Utah	Big 12	$ 6,325,000	22	171	88	0.660	171	88	0.660
111	Jeff Brohm	Louisville	ACC	$ 5,550,000	3	24	9	0.727	90	53	0.629
112	Kirk Ferentz	Iowa	Big Ten	$ 7,000,000	27	208	126	0.623	208	126	0.623
113	G.J. Kinne	Texas State	Sun Belt	$ 2,000,000	3	20	12	0.625	20	12	0.625
114	Tyson Helton	Western Kentucky	C-USA	$ 918,000	7	54	33	0.621	54	33	0.621
115	Kirby Smart	Georgia	SEC	$ 10,505,600	10	109	20	0.845	109	20	0.845
116	Alex Golesh	South Florida	American	$ 2,500,000	3	20	12	0.625	20	12	0.625
117	Sonny Dykes	TCU	Big 12	$ 5,000,000	4	30	15	0.667	101	78	0.564
118	Dan Lanning	Oregon	Big Ten	$ 11,000,000	3	40	7	0.851	40	7	0.851
119	Kalani Sitake	BYU	Big 12	$ 3,000,000	10	79	43	0.648	79	43	0.648
120	Jon Sumrall	Tulane	American	$ 3,000,000	2	13	7	0.650	36	11	0.766
121	Pete Lembo	Buffalo	MAC	$ 790,000	2	11	8	0.579	44	37	0.543
122	Chris Klieman	Kansas State	Big 12	$ 4,750,000	7	51	31	0.622	51	31	0.622
123	Lane Kiffin	Ole Miss	SEC	$ 9,000,000	6	50	18	0.735	112	52	0.683
124	Jamey Chadwell	Liberty	C-USA	$ 4,000,000	3	23	9	0.719	62	31	0.667
125	Mario Cristobal	Miami Florida	ACC	$ 8,000,000	4	27	16	0.628	89	76	0.539
126	Ryan Silverfield	Memphis	American	$ 1,900,000	6	48	20	0.706	48	20	0.706
127	Jim Mora	UConn	Ind	$ 2,500,000	4	23	21	0.523	69	51	0.575
128	Manny Diaz	Duke	ACC	$ 4,000,000	2	14	5	0.737	35	20	0.636
129	Curt Cignetti	Indiana	Big Ten	$ 4,000,000	2	17	2	0.895	36	6	0.857
	Brent Pry	Virginia Tech	ACC	$ 4,750,000	4	16	26	0.381	19	25	0.432
	DeShaun Foster	UCLA	Big Ten	$ 3,000,000	2	7	10	0.412	7	10	0.412
	Mike Gundy	Oklahoma State	Big 12	$ 7,625,000	20	170	92	0.649	170	93	0.646
	Sam Pittman	Arkansas	SEC	$ 6,350,000	6	32	35	0.478	32	35	0.478
	Trent Dilfer	UAB	American	$ 1,300,000	3	9	21	0.300	9	21	0.300
	James Franklin	Penn State	Big Ten	$ 8,500,000	11	104	45	0.698	128	60	0.681
	Trent Bray	Oregon State	Pac-12	$ 2,000,000	2	5	14	0.263	5	14	0.263
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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