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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.

Registered (it’s free!) members of Coaches Hot Seat get to stoke the flames (or douse them) with daily votes.

Upvote a coach? You’re saying the pressure’s on, the seat’s getting hotter. Downvote? Maybe there’s a flicker of hope, a chance for redemption.

Go ahead – hit the sign-up button above and join the inferno of opinions!

WEEK 8: TOP 20 COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHES HOT SEAT

#01

#02

#03

#04

Trent Dilfer head coach of UAB - Coaches Hot Seat

#05

#06

Sonny Cumbie - Louisiana Tech - Coaches Hot Seat

#07

#08

Stan Drayton - Temple - College Football Coaches Hot Seat

#09

Mike Houston - East Carolina - Coaches Hot Seat

#10

Ryan Walters, Purdue University Head Coach - Coaches Hot Seat

Bubbling Under

#11

Hugh Freeze

Auburn

#12

Mike Norvell

Florida State

#13

Mike Bloomgren

Rice

#14

Ryan Day

Ohio State

#15

Lincoln Riley

USC

#16

Mike MacIntyre

Florida International

#17

Brent Pry

Virginia Tech

#18

Scott Satterfield

Cincinnati

#19

Mike Neu

Ball State

#20

Kenni Burns

Kent State

COACHES HOT SEAT RANKING

October 15, 2024 - Week 8

At Coaches Hot Seat, we're not just blowing smoke about who's on the chopping block. We've got a meticulously calculated list, ranking all 134 FBS coaches from sizzling to stone cold. And it's not just about who's getting canned. You'll find big names like Smart, Kiffin, and Sarkisian in the mix, and they're certainly not cleaning out their desks. Being closer to the top means one thing: pressure. Every move is under a microscope, and our top ten practically swim with the sharks. We mix analytics with expert opinions, shaken, not stirred, to create these rankings. It's as subjective as your grandma's secret sauce, but remember, your voice counts. Those fiery debates on our message boards? They're part of the formula.

Rank	Head coach	Team	Conf	Base Contract/Yr	Yrs at School	School Wins	School Losses	School Win %	Career Wins	Career Losses	Career Win %
1	Dave Aranda	Baylor	Big 12	$ 3,021,003	5	25	29	0.463	25	29	0.463
2	Billy Napier	Florida	SEC	$ 6,920,000	3	14	16	0.467	54	29	0.651
3	Will Hall	Southern Miss	Sun Belt	$ 824,000	4	14	27	0.341	14	28	0.333
4	Trent Dilfer	UAB	American	$ 1,300,000	2	4	11	0.267	4	12	0.250
5	Joe Moorhead	Akron	MAC	$ 620,000	3	5	25	0.167	19	38	0.333
6	Sonny Cumbie	Louisiana Tech	C-USA	$ 950,000	3	7	21	0.250	10	24	0.294
7	Sam Pittman	Arkansas	SEC	$ 6,350,000	5	27	27	0.500	27	27	0.500
8	Stan Drayton	Temple	American	$ 2,500,000	3	7	23	0.233	7	23	0.233
9	Mike Houston	East Carolina	American	$ 2,349,000	6	27	36	0.429	27	36	0.429
10	Ryan Walters	Purdue	Big Ten	$ 4,000,000	2	5	12	0.294	5	13	0.278
11	Hugh Freeze	Auburn	SEC	$ 6,500,000	2	8	11	0.421	89	54	0.622
12	Mike Norvell	Florida State	ACC	$ 7,300,000	5	32	22	0.593	70	37	0.654
13	Mike Bloomgren	Rice	American	$ 926,208	7	23	50	0.315	24	50	0.324
14	Ryan Day	Ohio State	Big Ten	$ 10,196,250	6	61	8	0.884	61	9	0.871
15	Lincoln Riley	USC	Big Ten	$ 10,000,000	3	21	10	0.677	76	21	0.784
16	Mike MacIntyre	Florida International	C-USA	$ 750,000	3	10	19	0.345	56	85	0.397
17	Brent Pry	Virginia Tech	ACC	$ 4,000,000	3	13	17	0.433	13	17	0.433
18	Scott Satterfield	Cincinnati	Big 12	$ 3,535,000	2	6	11	0.353	79	51	0.608
19	Mike Neu	Ball State	MAC	$ 675,000	9	38	60	0.388	39	60	0.394
20	Kenni Burns	Kent State	MAC	$ 525,000	2	1	16	0.059	1	17	0.056
21	Don Brown	UMass	Ind	$ 816,000	3	5	23	0.179	5	24	0.172
22	Sonny Dykes	TCU	Big 12	$ 5,000,000	3	20	11	0.645	91	74	0.552
23	Shane Beamer	South Carolina	SEC	$ 6,125,000	4	23	20	0.535	23	21	0.523
24	Brent Brennan	Arizona	Big 12	$ 2,200,000	1	3	1	0.750	37	50	0.425
25	Lane Kiffin	Ole Miss	SEC	$ 9,000,000	5	37	16	0.698	98	50	0.662
26	Brent Venables	Oklahoma	SEC	$ 7,100,000	3	19	11	0.633	19	12	0.613
27	Jay Norvell	Colorado State	Mtn West	$ 1,700,000	3	10	18	0.357	44	44	0.500
28	Jeff Lebby	Mississippi State	SEC	$ 4,510,000	1	1	3	0.250	1	4	0.200
29	DeShaun Foster	UCLA	Big Ten	$ 3,000,000	1	1	3	0.250	1	4	0.200
30	Mack Brown	North Carolina	ACC	$ 4,300,000	6	40	30	0.571	278	148	0.653
31	P.J. Fleck	Minnesota	Big Ten	$ 6,000,000	8	53	37	0.589	84	59	0.587
32	Butch Jones	Arkansas State	Sun Belt	$ 825,000	4	14	28	0.333	98	83	0.541
33	Charles Huff	Marshall	Sun Belt	$ 755,500	4	25	19	0.568	25	20	0.556
34	Neal Brown	West Virginia	Big 12	$ 4,005,000	6	34	30	0.531	69	47	0.595
35	Kalani Sitake	BYU	Big 12	$ 3,000,000	9	64	41	0.610	65	41	0.613
36	Clay Helton	Georgia Southern	Sun Belt	$ 752,000	3	15	16	0.484	62	40	0.608
37	Jim McElwain	Central Michigan	MAC	$ 1,025,420	6	32	30	0.516	76	58	0.567
38	Shawn Clark	Appalachian State	Sun Belt	$ 925,020	5	36	22	0.621	36	23	0.610
39	Clark Lea	Vanderbilt	SEC	$ 3,051,881	4	12	28	0.300	13	28	0.317
40	Deion Sanders	Colorado	Big 12	$ 5,500,000	2	7	9	0.438	7	10	0.412
41	Marcus Freeman	Notre Dame	Ind	$ 5,000,000	3	23	9	0.719	24	9	0.727
42	Kevin Wilson	Tulsa	American	$ 1,900,000	2	6	12	0.333	32	59	0.352
43	Pat Narduzzi	Pittsburgh	ACC	$ 5,875,817	10	70	50	0.583	71	50	0.587
44	Tony Elliott	Virginia	ACC	$ 4,250,000	3	10	17	0.370	10	18	0.357
45	Bret Bielema	Illinois	Big Ten	$ 6,500,000	4	21	20	0.512	119	78	0.604
46	Ricky Rahne	Old Dominion	Sun Belt	$ 831,469	5	16	27	0.372	17	27	0.386
47	Luke Fickell	Wisconsin	Big Ten	$ 7,625,000	2	10	7	0.588	74	32	0.698
48	Gerad Parker	Troy	Sun Belt	$ 850,000	1	1	4	0.200	1	10	0.091
49	Brent Key	Georgia Tech	ACC	$ 2,800,000	3	14	12	0.538	15	12	0.556
50	Justin Wilcox	California	ACC	$ 4,400,000	8	38	45	0.458	38	46	0.452
51	Dave Clawson	Wake Forest	ACC	$ 4,284,656	11	65	63	0.508	97	96	0.503
52	Eric Morris	North Texas	American	$ 1,300,000	2	9	8	0.529	10	8	0.556
53	Tyson Helton	Western Kentucky	C-USA	$ 918,000	6	43	28	0.606	44	28	0.611
54	Tom Herman	Florida Atlantic	American	$ 700,000	2	5	11	0.313	59	34	0.634
55	Joey McGuire	Texas Tech	Big 12	$ 4,104,960	3	20	12	0.625	20	12	0.625
56	James Franklin	Penn State	Big Ten	$ 8,500,000	11	93	39	0.705	118	54	0.686
57	Kenny Dillingham	Arizona State	Big 12	$ 3,850,000	2	6	10	0.375	7	10	0.412
58	Biff Poggi	Charlotte	American	$ 1,000,000	2	5	12	0.294	5	12	0.294
59	Dave Doeren	NC State	ACC	$ 5,024,390	12	82	61	0.573	105	66	0.614
60	Brian Kelly	LSU	SEC	$ 9,975,000	3	23	7	0.767	170	69	0.711
61	Jim Mora	UConn	Ind	$ 1,800,000	3	13	16	0.448	59	46	0.562
62	Rich Rodriguez	Jacksonville State	C-USA	$ 1,000,000	3	20	8	0.714	130	89	0.594
63	Derek Mason	Middle Tennessee	C-USA	$ 1,000,000	2	1	3	0.250	28	59	0.322
64	Scotty Walden	UTEP	C-USA	$ 800,000	1	0	4	0.000	1	8	0.111
65	Jedd Fisch	Washington	Big Ten	$ 7,700,000	1	4	1	0.800	21	24	0.467
66	Timmy Chang	Hawaii	Mtn West	$ 600,006	3	10	20	0.333	10	21	0.323
67	Kirk Ferentz	Iowa	Big Ten	$ 7,000,000	26	198	121	0.621	199	121	0.622
68	Thomas Hammock	Northern Illinois	MAC	$ 677,045	6	27	35	0.435	28	35	0.444
69	Brian Newberry	Navy	American	$ 1,600,000	2	10	7	0.588	10	7	0.588
70	K.C. Keeler	Sam Houston	C-USA	$ 600,000	11	92	37	0.713	7	10	0.412
71	Tim Beck	Coastal Carolina	Sun Belt	$ 1,000,000	2	11	6	0.647	11	7	0.611
72	Mark Stoops	Kentucky	SEC	$ 9,000,000	12	76	66	0.535	76	67	0.531
73	Barry Odom	UNLV	Mtn West	$ 1,785,000	2	11	6	0.647	37	31	0.544
74	Chuck Martin	Miami Ohio	MAC	$ 575,300	11	57	64	0.471	58	64	0.475
75	Scot Loeffler	Bowling Green	MAC	$ 560,000	6	22	38	0.367	22	39	0.361
76	Tony Sanchez	New Mexico State	C-USA	$ 600,000	1	1	2	0.333	21	42	0.333
77	Jason Candle	Toledo	MAC	$ 1,125,000	9	68	36	0.654	68	37	0.648
78	Chris Creighton	Eastern Michigan	MAC	$ 590,000	11	55	69	0.444	55	70	0.440
79	Rhett Lashlee	SMU	ACC	$ 3,500,000	3	21	11	0.656	21	11	0.656
80	Matt Rhule	Nebraska	Big Ten	$ 5,500,000	2	9	8	0.529	56	51	0.523
81	Gus Malzahn	UCF	Big 12	$ 2,300,000	4	25	18	0.581	102	57	0.642
82	Jeff Brohm	Louisville	ACC	$ 5,550,000	2	13	6	0.684	80	50	0.615
83	Matt Campbell	Iowa State	Big 12	$ 4,000,000	9	58	48	0.547	94	63	0.599
84	Alex Golesh	South Florida	American	$ 2,500,000	2	8	9	0.471	8	10	0.444
85	Greg Schiano	Rutgers	Big Ten	$ 4,000,000	5	23	29	0.442	91	97	0.484
86	Tim Albin	Ohio	MAC	$ 651,500	4	25	18	0.581	26	18	0.591
87	Bryant Vincent	Louisiana-Monroe	Sun Belt	$ 365,000	1	4	1	0.800	12	7	0.632
88	Troy Taylor	Stanford	ACC	$ 2,000,000	2	5	12	0.294	5	13	0.278
89	Pete Lembo	Buffalo	MAC	$ 500,000	1	2	2	0.500	36	31	0.537
90	Nate Dreiling	Utah State	Mtn West	$ 800,000	1	1	3	0.250	1	4	0.200
91	Jonathan Smith	Michigan State	Big Ten	$ 4,850,000	1	2	3	0.400	36	38	0.486
92	G.J. Kinne	Texas State	Sun Belt	$ 800,000	2	11	6	0.647	12	6	0.667
93	Lance Taylor	Western Michigan	MAC	$ 850,000	2	5	11	0.313	6	11	0.353
94	Mike Elko	Texas A&M	SEC	$ 7,000,000	1	4	1	0.800	20	10	0.667
95	Brian Bohannon	Kennesaw State	C-USA	$ 390,000	10	71	34	0.676	0	4	0.000
96	Major Applewhite	South Alabama	Sun Belt	$ 825,000	1	1	4	0.200	16	15	0.516
97	David Braun	Northwestern	Big Ten	$ 3,500,000	2	9	8	0.529	10	8	0.556
98	Jay Sawvel	Wyoming	Mtn West					0.000	0	1	0.000
99	Manny Diaz	Duke	ACC	$ 3,600,000	1	4	1	0.800	25	16	0.610
100	Bronco Mendenhall	New Mexico	Mtn West	$ 1,200,000	1	1	2	0.333	22	42	0.344
101	Tim Skipper	Fresno State	Mtn West	$ 500,000	1	2	2	0.500	2	3	0.400
102	Dell McGee	Georgia State	Sun Belt	$ 850,000	1	1	2	0.333	1	3	0.250
103	Jeff Choate	Nevada	Mtn West	$ 1,600,000	1	2	3	0.400	3	3	0.500
104	Willie Fritz	Houston	Big 12	$ 2,842,000	1	1	4	0.200	72	58	0.554
105	Michael Desormeaux	Louisiana	Sun Belt	$ 755,000	3	17	15	0.531	18	15	0.545
106	Ken Niumatalolo	San Jose State	Mtn West	$ 2,300,000	1	3	1	0.750	112	85	0.569
107	Ryan Silverfield	Memphis	American	$ 1,900,000	5	34	20	0.630	35	20	0.636
108	Chris Klieman	Kansas State	Big 12	$ 4,750,000	6	42	25	0.627	43	25	0.632
109	Bill O'Brien	Boston College	ACC	$ 5,000,000	1	4	1	0.800	19	10	0.655
110	Sean Lewis	San Diego State	Mtn West	$ 353,000	1	2	2	0.500	27	33	0.450
111	Troy Calhoun	Air Force	Mtn West	$ 3,000,000	18	131	85	0.606	131	86	0.604
112	Jeff Traylor	UTSA	American	$ 2,500,000	5	40	15	0.727	40	16	0.714
113	Bob Chesney	James Madison	Sun Belt	$ 550,000	1	4	1	0.800	5	1	0.833
114	Mike Locksley	Maryland	Big Ten	$ 5,500,000	6	31	35	0.470	33	62	0.347
115	Sherrone Moore	Michigan	Big Ten	$ 6,000,000	1	4	2	0.667	4	2	0.667
116	Lance Leipold	Kansas	Big 12	$ 5,750,000	4	18	25	0.419	55	58	0.487
117	Trent Bray	Oregon State	Pac-12	$ 2,000,000	1	4	0	1.000	4	1	0.800
118	Fran Brown	Syracuse	ACC	$ 3,000,000	1	4	1	0.800	5	1	0.833
119	Spencer Danielson	Boise State	Mtn West	$ 1,100,000	2	7	2	0.778	8	2	0.800
120	Jake Dickert	Washington State	Pac-12	$ 2,700,000	4	18	17	0.514	19	17	0.528
121	Curt Cignetti	Indiana	Big Ten	$ 4,000,000	1	5	0	1.000	24	4	0.857
122	Jamey Chadwell	Liberty	C-USA	$ 4,000,000	2	17	1	0.944	57	23	0.713
123	Jon Sumrall	Tulane	American	$ 1,400,000	1	4	1	0.800	27	5	0.844
124	Mike Gundy	Oklahoma State	Big 12	$ 7,625,000	20	168	82	0.672	168	82	0.672
125	Dabo Swinney	Clemson	ACC	$ 10,758,575	16	174	44	0.798	175	44	0.799
126	Kalen DeBoer	Alabama	SEC	$ 10,000,000	1	3	1	0.750	41	10	0.804
127	Kyle Whittingham	Utah	Big 12	$ 6,325,000	20	165	80	0.673	165	81	0.671
128	Eliah Drinkwitz	Missouri	SEC	$ 6,000,000	5	31	22	0.585	44	23	0.657
129	Josh Heupel	Tennessee	SEC	$ 9,000,000	4	30	13	0.698	59	21	0.738
130	Jeff Monken	Army	American	$ 2,000,000	11	75	55	0.577	76	55	0.580
131	Dan Lanning	Oregon	Big Ten	$ 6,624,999	3	26	5	0.839	27	5	0.844
132	Kirby Smart	Georgia	SEC	$ 10,505,600	9	97	17	0.851	98	17	0.852
133	Mario Cristobal	Miami Florida	ACC	$ 8,000,000	3	16	13	0.552	78	73	0.517
134	Steve Sarkisian	Texas	SEC	$ 5,600,000	4	29	14	0.674	76	49	0.608
Rank	Head coach	Team	Conf	Base Contract/Yr	Yrs at School	School Wins	School Losses	School Win %	Career Wins	Career Losses	Career Win %

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HOW OUR TOP 20 COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHES LIST IS COMPILED

WEEK 8: TOP 20 COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHES HOT SEAT