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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 12: COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHES HOT SEAT rankings

#01

Shawn Clark - Appalachian State Head Coach - Coaches Hot Seat

#02

Charles Huff, Head Coach at Marshall - Coaches Hot Seat

#03

Kenni Burns - Kent State Head Coach - Coaches Hot Seat

#04

Neal Brown - Head Coach of West Virginia Mountaineers - Coaches Hot Seat

#05

Kevin Wilson, Head Coach at Tulsa - Coaches Hot Seat

#06

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

#07

Sonny Cumbie - Louisiana Tech - Coaches Hot Seat

#08

#09

Trent Dilfer head coach of UAB - Coaches Hot Seat

#10

Brent Pry, Head Coach of Virginia Tech on The Coaches Hot Seat

Bubbling Under

#11

Ryan Walters

Purdue

#12

Mike Locksley

Maryland

#13

Mike MacIntyre

Florida International

#14

Lincoln Riley

USC

#15

Mark Stoops

Kentucky

#16

Scott Satterfield

Florida International

#17

Clay Helton

Georgia Southern

#18

Mike Norvell

Florida State

#19

Joe Moorhead

Akron

#20

Mack Brown

North Carolina

COACHES HOT SEAT RANKING

November 18, 2024 - Week 13

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. Rankings are updated every Tuesday morning during the football season.

Rank	Head coach	Team	Conf	Base/Yr	Sch Yrs	Sch Wins	Sch Loss	Sch Win %	Car Wins	Car Loss	Career Win %
1	Shawn Clark	Appalachian State	Sun Belt	$ 925,020	5	39	23	0.63	39	23	0.629
2	Charles Huff	Marshall	Sun Belt	$ 755,500	4	29	20	0.59	29	20	0.592
3	Kenni Burns	Kent State	MAC	$ 525,000	2	1	21	0.05	1	21	0.045
4	Neal Brown	West Virginia	Big 12	$ 4,005,000	6	36	34	0.51	71	50	0.587
5	Kevin Wilson	Tulsa	American	$ 1,900,000	2	7	15	0.32	33	62	0.347
6	Hugh Freeze	Auburn	SEC	$ 6,500,000	2	10	13	0.44	93	56	0.624
7	Sonny Cumbie	Louisiana Tech	C-USA	$ 950,000	3	9	24	0.27	12	26	0.316
8	Sam Pittman	Arkansas	SEC	$ 6,350,000	5	28	30	0.48	28	30	0.483
9	Trent Dilfer	UAB	American	$ 1,300,000	2	6	16	0.27	6	16	0.273
10	Brent Pry	Virginia Tech	ACC	$ 4,000,000	3	13	19	0.41	13	19	0.406
11	Ryan Walters	Purdue	Big Ten	$ 4,000,000	2	5	17	0.23	5	17	0.227
12	Mike Locksley	Maryland	Big Ten	$ 5,500,000	6	33	39	0.46	33	65	0.337
13	Mike MacIntyre	Florida International	C-USA	$ 750,000	3	11	23	0.32	57	88	0.393
14	Lincoln Riley	USC	Big Ten	$ 10,000,000	3	24	13	0.65	79	23	0.775
15	Mark Stoops	Kentucky	SEC	$ 9,000,000	12	77	71	0.52	77	71	0.520
16	Scott Satterfield	Cincinnati	Big 12	$ 3,535,000	2	8	14	0.36	80	54	0.597
17	Clay Helton	Georgia Southern	Sun Belt	$ 752,000	3	18	18	0.49	64	42	0.604
18	Mike Norvell	Florida State	ACC	$ 7,300,000	5	32	26	0.55	70	41	0.631
19	Joe Moorhead	Akron	MAC	$ 620,000	3	6	28	0.18	20	40	0.333
20	Mack Brown	North Carolina	ACC	$ 4,300,000	16	113	77	0.60	280	148	0.654
21	Gerad Parker	Troy	Sun Belt	$ 850,000	1	3	7	0.30	3	13	0.188
22	Brent Venables	Oklahoma	SEC	$ 7,100,000	3	21	15	0.58	21	14	0.600
23	Brian Kelly	LSU	SEC	$ 9,975,000	3	23	9	0.72	170	70	0.708
24	Gus Malzahn	UCF	Big 12	$ 2,300,000	4	28	22	0.56	105	59	0.640
25	Brent Brennan	Arizona	Big 12	$ 2,200,000	1	4	6	0.40	38	54	0.413
26	Justin Wilcox	California	ACC	$ 4,400,000	8	41	48	0.46	40	48	0.455
27	Sherrone Moore	Michigan	Big Ten	$ 6,000,000	1	5	5	0.50	5	4	0.556
28	Jim McElwain	Central Michigan	MAC	$ 1,025,420	6	32	33	0.49	76	60	0.559
29	Matt Rhule	Nebraska	Big Ten	$ 5,500,000	2	9	11	0.45	56	54	0.509
30	Jeff Lebby	Mississippi State	SEC	$ 4,510,000	1	2	5	0.29	2	5	0.286
31	Pat Narduzzi	Pittsburgh	ACC	$ 5,875,817	10	70	53	0.57	71	52	0.577
32	Eric Morris	North Texas	American	$ 1,300,000	2	9	11	0.45	10	10	0.500
33	Sonny Dykes	TCU	Big 12	$ 5,000,000	3	22	12	0.65	92	75	0.551
34	Mike Gundy	Oklahoma State	Big 12	$ 7,625,000	20	168	84	0.67	168	83	0.669
35	P.J. Fleck	Minnesota	Big Ten	$ 6,000,000	8	54	38	0.59	85	59	0.590
36	Butch Jones	Arkansas State	Sun Belt	$ 825,000	4	15	29	0.34	99	83	0.544
37	Ryan Day	Ohio State	Big Ten	$ 10,196,250	6	65	9	0.88	64	9	0.877
38	Shane Beamer	South Carolina	SEC	$ 6,125,000	4	27	20	0.57	26	21	0.553
39	Jay Norvell	Colorado State	Mtn West	$ 1,700,000	3	12	18	0.40	46	44	0.511
40	Bret Bielema	Illinois	Big Ten	$ 6,500,000	4	22	21	0.51	120	79	0.603
41	Dave Doeren	NC State	ACC	$ 5,024,390	12	83	62	0.57	106	66	0.616
42	Clark Lea	Vanderbilt	SEC	$ 3,051,881	4	14	29	0.33	15	28	0.349
43	Dave Clawson	Wake Forest	ACC	$ 4,284,656	11	66	65	0.50	98	97	0.503
44	Kyle Whittingham	Utah	Big 12	$ 6,325,000	20	165	83	0.67	165	83	0.665
45	Tony Elliott	Virginia	ACC	$ 4,250,000	3	11	19	0.37	10	20	0.333
46	Joey McGuire	Texas Tech	Big 12	$ 4,104,960	3	21	14	0.60	21	13	0.618
47	Luke Fickell	Wisconsin	Big Ten	$ 7,625,000	2	11	9	0.55	75	34	0.688
48	Ricky Rahne	Old Dominion	Sun Belt	$ 831,469	5	16	29	0.36	17	29	0.370
49	Tim Skipper	Fresno State	Mtn West	$ 500,000	1	2	3	0.40	2	3	0.400
50	Tim Beck	Coastal Carolina	Sun Belt	$ 1,000,000	2	12	9	0.57	11	10	0.524
51	Brent Key	Georgia Tech	ACC	$ 2,800,000	3	15	13	0.54	15	13	0.536
52	DeShaun Foster	UCLA	Big Ten	$ 3,000,000	1	4	4	0.50	3	5	0.375
53	Deion Sanders	Colorado	Big 12	$ 5,500,000	2	9	9	0.50	8	10	0.444
54	Marcus Freeman	Notre Dame	Ind	$ 5,000,000	3	25	9	0.74	25	9	0.735
55	Tyson Helton	Western Kentucky	C-USA	$ 918,000	6	45	29	0.61	45	29	0.608
56	Jedd Fisch	Washington	Big Ten	$ 7,700,000	1	6	2	0.75	23	24	0.489
57	Derek Mason	Middle Tennessee	C-USA	$ 1,000,000	2	2	4	0.33	29	59	0.330
58	Brian Newberry	Navy	American	$ 1,600,000	2	11	9	0.55	10	9	0.526
59	Timmy Chang	Hawaii	Mtn West	$ 600,006	3	11	23	0.32	11	23	0.324
60	Scotty Walden	UTEP	C-USA	$ 800,000	1	1	5	0.17	1	9	0.100
61	Major Applewhite	South Alabama	Sun Belt	$ 825,000	1	2	4	0.33	17	15	0.531
62	James Franklin	Penn State	Big Ten	$ 8,500,000	11	95	40	0.70	119	55	0.684
63	Kenny Dillingham	Arizona State	Big 12	$ 3,850,000	2	9	11	0.45	9	11	0.450
64	Dell McGee	Georgia State	Sun Belt	$ 850,000	1	1	5	0.17	1	5	0.167
65	Chris Creighton	Eastern Michigan	MAC	$ 590,000	11	55	71	0.44	55	72	0.433
66	Thomas Hammock	Northern Illinois	MAC	$ 677,045	6	29	36	0.45	29	36	0.446
67	Jonathan Smith	Michigan State	Big Ten	$ 4,850,000	1	2	4	0.33	36	39	0.480
68	Jeff Brohm	Louisville	ACC	$ 5,550,000	2	14	8	0.64	81	52	0.609
69	Kirk Ferentz	Iowa	Big Ten	$ 7,000,000	26	199	123	0.62	200	122	0.621
70	Kalen DeBoer	Alabama	SEC	$ 10,000,000	1	5	2	0.71	42	11	0.792
71	Billy Napier	Florida	SEC	$ 6,920,000	3	16	19	0.46	56	30	0.651
72	Dave Aranda	Baylor	Big 12	$ 3,021,003	5	29	29	0.50	29	29	0.500
73	Jim Mora	UConn	Ind	$ 1,800,000	3	15	17	0.47	60	47	0.561
74	Rich Rodriguez	Jacksonville State	C-USA	$ 1,000,000	3	23	8	0.74	132	89	0.597
75	Matt Campbell	Iowa State	Big 12	$ 4,000,000	9	59	50	0.54	95	64	0.597
76	Sean Lewis	San Diego State	Mtn West	$ 353,000	1	2	4	0.33	27	34	0.443
77	Nate Dreiling	Utah State	Mtn West	$ 800,000	1	2	5	0.29	2	5	0.286
78	Troy Taylor	Stanford	ACC	$ 2,000,000	2	6	14	0.30	6	15	0.286
79	Barry Odom	UNLV	Mtn West	$ 1,785,000	2	13	6	0.68	38	31	0.551
80	K.C. Keeler	Sam Houston	C-USA	$ 600,000	11	94	38	0.71	9	11	0.450
81	Kalani Sitake	BYU	Big 12	$ 3,000,000	9	65	42	0.61	65	42	0.607
82	Michael Desormeaux	Louisiana	Sun Belt	$ 755,000	3	19	16	0.54	19	16	0.543
83	Trent Bray	Oregon State	Pac-12	$ 2,000,000	1	4	3	0.57	4	3	0.571
84	David Braun	Northwestern	Big Ten	$ 3,500,000	2	10	10	0.50	11	10	0.524
85	Jay Sawvel	Wyoming	Mtn West	$ 1,100,000	1	2	8	0.20	2	8	0.200
86	Lance Taylor	Western Michigan	MAC	$ 850,000	2	5	13	0.28	6	12	0.333
87	Chris Klieman	Kansas State	Big 12	$ 4,750,000	6	42	26	0.62	43	26	0.623
88	Eliah Drinkwitz	Missouri	SEC	$ 6,000,000	5	32	23	0.58	44	24	0.647
89	Jeff Choate	Nevada	Mtn West	$ 1,600,000	1	2	5	0.29	3	4	0.429
90	Jason Candle	Toledo	MAC	$ 1,125,000	9	70	36	0.66	70	37	0.654
91	Greg Schiano	Rutgers	Big Ten	$ 4,000,000	5	25	30	0.46	92	98	0.484
92	Chuck Martin	Miami Ohio	MAC	$ 575,300	11	59	64	0.48	59	64	0.480
93	Scot Loeffler	Bowling Green	MAC	$ 560,000	6	24	38	0.39	23	39	0.371
94	Pete Lembo	Buffalo	MAC	$ 500,000	1	4	3	0.57	38	32	0.543
95	Tony Sanchez	New Mexico State	C-USA	$ 600,000	1	1	2	0.33	21	42	0.333
96	G.J. Kinne	Texas State	Sun Belt	$ 800,000	2	13	7	0.65	13	7	0.650
97	Tim Albin	Ohio	MAC	$ 651,500	4	27	19	0.59	27	19	0.587
98	Alex Golesh	South Florida	American	$ 2,500,000	2	10	10	0.50	10	10	0.500
99	Mike Elko	Texas A&M	SEC	$ 7,000,000	1	5	1	0.83	21	10	0.677
100	Bryant Vincent	Louisiana-Monroe	Sun Belt	$ 365,000	1	4	3	0.57	12	8	0.600
101	Manny Diaz	Duke	ACC	$ 3,600,000	1	5	1	0.83	25	16	0.610
102	Bronco Mendenhall	New Mexico	Mtn West	$ 1,200,000	1	3	2	0.60	23	42	0.354
103	Willie Fritz	Houston	Big 12	$ 2,842,000	1	2	6	0.25	73	60	0.549
104	Bill O'Brien	Boston College	ACC	$ 5,000,000	1	5	3	0.63	19	12	0.613
105	Ken Niumatalolo	San Jose State	Mtn West	$ 2,300,000	1	4	2	0.67	112	86	0.566
106	Ryan Silverfield	Memphis	American	$ 1,900,000	5	36	20	0.64	36	20	0.643
107	Troy Calhoun	Air Force	Mtn West	$ 3,000,000	18	133	86	0.61	132	87	0.603
108	Jamey Chadwell	Liberty	C-USA	$ 4,000,000	2	19	1	0.95	58	23	0.716
109	Lane Kiffin	Ole Miss	SEC	$ 9,000,000	5	39	16	0.71	99	50	0.664
110	Jeff Traylor	UTSA	American	$ 2,500,000	5	42	15	0.74	42	16	0.724
111	Lance Leipold	Kansas	Big 12	$ 5,750,000	4	20	25	0.44	56	58	0.491
112	Fran Brown	Syracuse	ACC	$ 3,000,000	1	6	2	0.75	7	1	0.875
113	Bob Chesney	James Madison	Sun Belt	$ 550,000	1	6	2	0.75	6	2	0.750
114	Jake Dickert	Washington State	Pac-12	$ 2,700,000	4	19	18	0.51	19	18	0.514
115	Kirby Smart	Georgia	SEC	$ 10,505,600	9	99	18	0.85	100	17	0.855
116	Mario Cristobal	Miami Florida	ACC	$ 8,000,000	3	17	14	0.55	79	73	0.520
117	Spencer Danielson	Boise State	Mtn West	$ 1,100,000	2	10	2	0.83	10	2	0.833
118	Josh Heupel	Tennessee	SEC	$ 9,000,000	4	32	14	0.70	60	22	0.732
119	Curt Cignetti	Indiana	Big Ten	$ 4,000,000	1	7	0	1.00	25	4	0.862
120	Rhett Lashlee	SMU	ACC	$ 3,500,000	3	23	11	0.68	23	11	0.676
121	Jon Sumrall	Tulane	American	$ 1,400,000	1	7	1	0.88	29	5	0.853
122	Dabo Swinney	Clemson	ACC	$ 10,758,575	16	176	44	0.80	176	44	0.800
123	Steve Sarkisian	Texas	SEC	$ 5,600,000	4	31	15	0.67	77	50	0.606
124	Jeff Monken	Army	American	$ 2,000,000	11	77	55	0.58	77	55	0.583
125	Dan Lanning	Oregon	Big Ten	$ 6,624,999	3	29	5	0.85	29	5	0.853
126	Mike Houston - out	East Carolina	American	$ 2,349,000	6	29	37	0.44	28	37	0.431
127	Will Hall - out	Southern Miss	Sun Belt	$ 824,000	4	14	30	0.32	14	29	0.326
128	Mike Bloomgren - out	Rice	American	$ 926,208	7	24	52	0.32	25	51	0.329
129	Brian Bohannon - out	Kennesaw State	C-USA	$ 390,000	10	71	37	0.66	0	6	0.000
130	Mike Neu - out	Ball State	MAC	$ 675,000	9	40	63	0.39	40	62	0.392
131	Stan Drayton - out	Temple	American	$ 2,500,000	3	9	25	0.27	9	25	0.265
132	Don Brown - out	UMass	Ind	$ 816,000	3	6	28	0.18	6	28	0.176
133	Tom Herman - out	Florida Atlantic	American	$ 700,000	2	5	15	0.25	59	37	0.615
134	Biff Poggi	Charlotte	American	$ 1,000,000	2	5	15	0.25	5	15	0.250
Rank	Head coach	Team	Conf	Base/Yr	Sch Yrs	Sch Wins	Sch Loss	Sch Win %	Car Wins	Car Loss	Career Win %

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HOW OUR TOP 20 COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHES LIST IS COMPILED

WEEK 12: COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHES HOT SEAT rankings