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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.

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Week 6 – 2025 COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHES HOT SEAT rankings

#01

#02

Trent Dilfer head coach of UAB - Coaches Hot Seat

#03

#04

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

#05

Sonny Cumbie - Louisiana Tech - Coaches Hot Seat

#06

Derek Mason

Middle Tennessee

#07

Scotty Walden

UTEP

#08

#09

Scott Satterfield - Cincinnati Bearcats - Big 12

#10

Bubbling Under

#11

Luke Fickell

Wisconsin

#12

Trent Bray

Oregon State

#13

Mark Stoops

Kentucky

#14

Jay Sawvel

Wyoming

#15

Hugh Freeze

Auburn

#16

Tony Elliott

Virginia

#17

Kalen Deboer

Alabama

#18

Dave Aranda

Baylor

#19

Justin Wilcox

California

#20

Sean Lewis

San Diego State

COACHES HOT SEAT RANKING

September 30, 2025 - Week 6

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	School Wins	School Loss	Sch Win %	Career Wins	Career Loss	Career Win %
1	Billy Napier	Florida	SEC	$ 6,920,000	4	20	22	0.476	60	34	0.638
2	Trent Dilfer	UAB	American	$ 1,300,000	3	9	19	0.321	9	19	0.321
3	Joe Moorhead	Akron	MAC	$ 620,000	4	9	32	0.220	23	44	0.343
4	Butch Jones	Arkansas State	Sun Belt	$ 825,000	5	20	35	0.364	104	89	0.539
5	Sonny Cumbie	Louisiana Tech	C-USA	$ 950,000	4	15	27	0.357	17	30	0.362
6	Derek Mason	Middle Tennessee	C-USA	$ 1,000,000	2	4	13	0.235	31	68	0.313
7	Scotty Walden	UTEP	C-USA	$ 800,000	2	4	13	0.235	5	16	0.238
8	Jeff Choate	Nevada	Mtn West	$ 1,600,000	2	4	13	0.235	4	13	0.235
9	Scott Satterfield	Cincinnati	Big 12	$ 3,535,000	3	11	17	0.393	83	57	0.593
10	Lance Taylor	Western Michigan	MAC	$ 850,000	3	12	18	0.400	12	18	0.400
11	Luke Fickell	Wisconsin	Big Ten	$ 7,625,000	3	15	15	0.500	78	40	0.661
12	Trent Bray	Oregon State	Pac-12	$ 2,000,000	2	5	12	0.294	5	12	0.294
13	Mark Stoops	Kentucky	SEC	$ 9,000,000	13	78	75	0.510	78	75	0.510
14	Jay Sawvel	Wyoming	Mtn West	$ 1,100,000	2	5	11	0.313	5	11	0.313
15	Hugh Freeze	Auburn	SEC	$ 6,500,000	3	14	16	0.467	97	59	0.622
16	Brent Brennan	Arizona	Big 12	$ 2,200,000	2	6	9	0.400	40	57	0.412
17	Dave Aranda	Baylor	Big 12	$ 3,021,003	6	34	32	0.515	34	32	0.515
18	Justin Wilcox	California	ACC	$ 4,800,000	9	46	51	0.474	46	51	0.474
19	Sean Lewis	San Diego State	Mtn West	$ 1,850,000	2	6	10	0.375	30	41	0.423
20	Clay Helton	Georgia Southern	Sun Belt	$ 900,000	4	22	22	0.500	68	46	0.596
21	Tony Sanchez	New Mexico State	C-USA	$ 600,000	2	5	10	0.333	25	50	0.333
22	Tony Elliott	Virginia	ACC	$ 4,250,000	4	15	24	0.385	15	24	0.385
23	Dell McGee	Georgia State	Sun Belt	$ 850,000	2	3	13	0.188	4	13	0.235
24	Matt Rhule	Nebraska	Big Ten	$ 5,500,000	3	14	15	0.483	61	58	0.513
25	Timmy Chang	Hawaii	Mtn West	$ 600,006	4	16	28	0.364	16	28	0.364
26	Jonathan Smith	Michigan State	Big Ten	$ 4,850,000	2	7	9	0.438	41	44	0.482
27	Spencer Danielson	Boise State	Mtn West	$ 1,100,000	3	19	4	0.826	19	4	0.826
28	Gerad Parker	Troy	Sun Belt	$ 900,000	2	7	9	0.438	7	15	0.318
29	Sherrone Moore	Michigan	Big Ten	$ 6,000,000	2	11	6	0.647	11	6	0.647
30	Kalen DeBoer	Alabama	SEC	$ 10,000,000	2	11	5	0.688	48	14	0.774
31	Jedd Fisch	Washington	Big Ten	$ 7,700,000	2	10	8	0.556	27	30	0.474
32	Jeff Lebby	Mississippi State	SEC	$ 4,510,000	2	6	11	0.353	6	11	0.353
33	Chuck Martin	Miami Ohio	MAC	$ 575,300	12	66	71	0.482	66	71	0.482
34	Clark Lea	Vanderbilt	SEC	$ 3,051,881	5	21	33	0.389	21	33	0.389
35	Lance Leipold	Kansas	Big 12	$ 5,750,000	5	26	30	0.464	63	63	0.500
36	Jay Norvell	Colorado State	Mtn West	$ 1,700,000	4	17	25	0.405	50	51	0.495
37	Thomas Hammock	Northern Illinois	MAC	$ 677,045	7	33	42	0.440	33	42	0.440
38	Willie Fritz	Houston	Big 12	$ 2,842,000	2	7	8	0.467	78	62	0.557
39	Tim Beck	Coastal Carolina	Sun Belt	$ 1,000,000	3	17	13	0.567	17	13	0.567
40	Mike Locksley	Maryland	Big Ten	$ 5,500,000	8	37	41	0.474	39	67	0.368
41	Mike Norvell	Florida State	ACC	$ 7,300,000	6	37	28	0.569	75	44	0.630
42	Greg Schiano	Rutgers	Big Ten	$ 4,000,000	16	96	104	0.480	96	104	0.480
43	Bill Belichick	North Carolina	ACC	$ 10,000,000	1	1	2	0.333	334	180	0.650
44	Jake Dickert	Wake Forest	ACC	$ 4,000,000	1	2	1	0.667	25	21	0.543
45	Zach Kittley	Florida Atlantic	American	$ 1,000,000	1	1	2	0.333	1	2	0.333
46	Scott Abell	Rice	American	$ 1,000,000	1	3	2	0.600	3	2	0.600
47	Jeff Monken	Army	American	$ 2,000,000	12	83	60	0.580	83	60	0.580
48	Ricky Rahne	Old Dominion	Sun Belt	$ 846,000	6	22	31	0.415	22	31	0.415
49	Brent Key	Georgia Tech	ACC	$ 4,150,000	4	23	16	0.590	23	16	0.590
50	Eric Morris	North Texas	American	$ 1,300,000	3	16	14	0.533	16	14	0.533
51	Joey McGuire	Texas Tech	Big 12	$ 4,104,960	4	27	16	0.628	27	16	0.628
52	Tim Albin	Charlotte	American	$ 1,000,000	1	0	4	0.000	34	23	0.596
53	K.C. Keeler	Temple	American	$ 625,000	1	2	2	0.500	14	14	0.500
54	Tre Lamb	Tulsa	American	$ 1,400,000	1	3	2	0.600	3	2	0.600
55	Frank Reich (Int)	Stanford	ACC	$ 4,000,000	1	1	4	0.200	1	4	0.200
56	Barry Odom	Purdue	Big Ten	$ 4,000,000	1	2	2	0.500	2	2	0.500
57	Jimmy Rogers	Washington State	Pac-12	$ 1,570,000	1	3	2	0.600	3	2	0.600
58	Bronco Mendenhall	Utah State	Mtn West	$ 2,000,000	1	3	2	0.600	143	90	0.614
59	Phil Longo	Sam Houston	C-USA	$ 700,000	1	0	5	0.000	0	5	0.000
60	Willie Simmons	Florida International	C-USA	$ 750,000	1	1	3	0.250	1	3	0.250
61	Matt Entz	Fresno State	Mtn West	$ 1,100,000	1	4	1	0.800	4	1	0.800
62	Charles Kelly	Jacksonville State	C-USA	$ 1,000,000	1	3	2	0.600	3	2	0.600
63	Dan Mullen	UNLV	Mtn West	$ 3,500,000	1	5	0	1.000	108	61	0.639
64	Jason Eck	New Mexico	Mtn West	$ 1,100,000	1	2	1	0.667	2	1	0.667
65	Joe Harasymiak	UMass	MAC	$ 1,400,000	1	0	3	0.000	0	3	0.000
66	Jerry Mack	Kennesaw State	C-USA	$ 375,000	1	3	2	0.600	3	2	0.600
67	Eddie George	Bowling Green	MAC	$ 700,000	1	1	4	0.200	1	4	0.200
68	Mark Carney (Int)	Kent State	MAC	$ 525,000	1	1	3	0.250	1	3	0.250
69	Tony Gibson	Marshall	Sun Belt	$ 1,000,000	1	2	3	0.400	2	3	0.400
70	Dowell Loggains	Appalachian State	Sun Belt	$ 1,000,000	1	2	1	0.667	2	1	0.667
71	Brian Smith	Ohio	MAC	$ 850,000	1	5	1	0.833	5	1	0.833
72	Mike Uremovich	Ball State	MAC	$ 700,000	1	0	4	0.000	0	4	0.000
73	Charles Huff	Southern Miss	Sun Belt	$ 950,000	1	2	3	0.400	34	23	0.596
74	Matt Drinkall	Central Michigan	MAC	$ 640,000	1	4	1	0.800	4	1	0.800
75	Ryan Beard	Missouri State	C-USA	$ 315,000	2	3	2	0.600	3	2	0.600
76	Ryan Carty	Delaware	C-USA	$ 536,000	4	3	1	0.750	3	1	0.750
77	Troy Calhoun	Air Force	Mtn West	$ 3,000,000	19	136	92	0.596	136	92	0.596
78	Rich Rodriguez	West Virginia	Big 12	$ 3,500,000	8	61	30	0.670	137	96	0.588
79	Jason Candle	Toledo	MAC	$ 1,125,000	11	75	43	0.636	75	43	0.636
80	Shane Beamer	South Carolina	SEC	$ 6,125,000	5	32	24	0.571	32	24	0.571
81	Bill O'Brien	Boston College	ACC	$ 5,000,000	2	8	8	0.500	23	17	0.575
82	James Franklin	Penn State	Big Ten	$ 8,500,000	11	103	43	0.705	127	58	0.686
83	Bret Bielema	Illinois	Big Ten	$ 6,500,000	5	31	24	0.564	128	82	0.610
84	Kenny Dillingham	Arizona State	Big 12	$ 3,850,000	2	18	13	0.581	18	13	0.581
85	Bob Chesney	James Madison	Sun Belt	$ 766,500	2	13	5	0.722	13	5	0.722
86	Steve Sarkisian	Texas	SEC	$ 10,800,000	5	41	18	0.695	87	53	0.621
87	David Braun	Northwestern	Big Ten	$ 3,500,000	3	14	14	0.500	14	14	0.500
88	Marcus Freeman	Notre Dame	Ind	$ 7,400,000	5	36	11	0.766	36	11	0.766
89	Pat Narduzzi	Pittsburgh	ACC	$ 6,699,551	11	74	57	0.565	74	57	0.565
90	Josh Heupel	Tennessee	SEC	$ 9,000,000	5	42	15	0.737	70	23	0.753
91	Ken Niumatalolo	San Jose State	Mtn West	$ 2,300,000	2	9	9	0.500	118	92	0.562
92	Dave Doeren	NC State	ACC	$ 5,965,377	13	89	68	0.567	112	72	0.609
93	Brian Kelly	LSU	SEC	$ 9,975,000	4	33	12	0.733	199	74	0.729
94	Brian Newberry	Navy	American	$ 1,600,000	3	18	10	0.643	18	10	0.643
95	Rhett Lashlee	SMU	ACC	$ 3,500,000	4	30	15	0.667	30	15	0.667
96	Scott Frost	UCF	Big 12	$ 2,000,000	3	23	8	0.742	39	39	0.500
97	P.J. Fleck	Minnesota	Big Ten	$ 6,000,000	9	61	39	0.610	91	61	0.599
98	Michael Desormeaux	Louisiana	Sun Belt	$ 775,000	5	25	21	0.543	25	21	0.543
99	Dabo Swinney	Clemson	ACC	$ 10,758,575	17	181	50	0.784	181	50	0.784
100	Mike Elko	Texas A&M	SEC	$ 7,000,000	2	11	5	0.688	27	14	0.659
101	Ryan Day	Ohio State	Big Ten	$ 10,196,250	6	73	10	0.880	73	10	0.880
102	Kyle Whittingham	Utah	Big 12	$ 6,325,000	22	170	88	0.659	170	88	0.659
103	Major Applewhite	South Alabama	Sun Belt	$ 825,000	2	8	10	0.444	23	21	0.523
104	Kirk Ferentz	Iowa	Big Ten	$ 7,000,000	27	207	126	0.622	207	126	0.622
105	Brent Venables	Oklahoma	SEC	$ 7,100,000	4	26	17	0.605	26	17	0.605
106	Tyson Helton	Western Kentucky	C-USA	$ 918,000	7	53	33	0.616	53	33	0.616
107	Kirby Smart	Georgia	SEC	$ 10,505,600	10	107	20	0.843	107	20	0.843
108	Deion Sanders	Colorado	Big 12	$ 5,500,000	3	23	12	0.657	23	12	0.657
109	Lincoln Riley	USC	Big Ten	$ 10,000,000	4	30	15	0.667	85	25	0.773
110	Matt Campbell	Iowa State	Big 12	$ 4,000,000	10	68	51	0.571	103	66	0.609
111	Alex Golesh	South Florida	American	$ 2,500,000	3	18	12	0.600	18	12	0.600
112	Blake Harrell	East Carolina	American	$ 1,300,000	1	6	4	0.600	6	4	0.600
113	Eliah Drinkwitz	Missouri	SEC	$ 6,000,000	6	43	24	0.642	55	25	0.688
114	Kalani Sitake	BYU	Big 12	$ 3,000,000	10	77	43	0.642	77	43	0.642
115	Jon Sumrall	Tulane	American	$ 3,000,000	2	12	7	0.632	35	11	0.761
116	Pete Lembo	Buffalo	MAC	$ 790,000	2	10	8	0.556	43	37	0.538
117	Chris Creighton	Eastern Michigan	MAC	$ 590,000	12	59	78	0.431	59	78	0.431
118	Fran Brown	Syracuse	ACC	$ 3,000,000	2	13	5	0.722	13	5	0.722
119	Lane Kiffin	Ole Miss	SEC	$ 9,000,000	6	49	18	0.731	111	52	0.681
120	Sonny Dykes	TCU	Big 12	$ 5,000,000	4	29	14	0.674	100	77	0.565
121	Jamey Chadwell	Liberty	C-USA	$ 4,000,000	3	22	9	0.710	61	31	0.663
122	Mario Cristobal	Miami Florida	ACC	$ 8,000,000	4	26	16	0.619	88	76	0.537
123	Jeff Brohm	Louisville	ACC	$ 5,550,000	3	24	8	0.750	90	52	0.634
124	Ryan Silverfield	Memphis	American	$ 1,900,000	6	47	20	0.701	47	20	0.701
125	Bryant Vincent	Louisiana-Monroe	Sun Belt	$ 600,000	2	9	8	0.529	16	14	0.533
126	Jim Mora	UConn	Ind	$ 2,500,000	4	22	21	0.512	68	51	0.571
127	Dan Lanning	Oregon	Big Ten	$ 11,000,000	3	40	6	0.870	40	6	0.870
128	Jeff Traylor	UTSA	American	$ 2,500,000	6	48	22	0.686	48	22	0.686
129	Manny Diaz	Duke	ACC	$ 4,000,000	2	13	5	0.722	34	20	0.630
130	Chris Klieman	Kansas State	Big 12	$ 4,750,000	7	50	30	0.625	50	30	0.625
131	G.J. Kinne	Texas State	Sun Belt	$ 2,000,000	3	20	10	0.667	20	10	0.667
132	Curt Cignetti	Indiana	Big Ten	$ 4,000,000	2	16	2	0.889	35	6	0.854
0	Brent Pry	Virginia Tech	ACC	$ 4,750,000	4	16	24	0.400	19	23	0.452
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	91	0.651
0	Sam Pittman	Arkansas	SEC	$ 6,350,000	6	32	34	0.485	32	34	0.485
Rank	Head coach	Team	Conf	Base/Yr	Sch Yrs	School Wins	School Loss	Sch Win %	Career Wins	Career Loss	Career Win %

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