“Humor has bailed me out of more tight situations than I can think of. If you go with your instincts and keep your humor, creativity follows. With luck, success comes, too.” Jimmy Buffett
“The key to winning is poise under stress.” Paul Brown
“As a coach, your high standards of performance, attention to detail and – above all – how hard you work set the stage for how your players perform.” Don Shula
“You can’t control people. You must understand them. You have to know where they’re coming from, their beliefs and values, what turns them off, what they’re against.” Hayden Fry
“A coach is someone who tells you what you don’t want to hear, who has you see what you don’t want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be.” Tom Landry
“No coach, no matter how successful, ever completely escapes the pressure of winning.” John McKay
Give these Hot Seat Coaches Hell Johnny!
Thank You Mr. Cash!
#2 Hot Seat – Danny Gonzales, New Mexico
We haven’t a Damn Clue why Danny Gonzales hasn’t been more successful as Head Coach at his alma mater New Mexico, but whatever the Hell is going on…
It Ain’t Good…It Ain’t Good At All!
Overall: 7 – 24
MWC: 3 – 20
Certainly Gonzales has had Great Success as a Defensive Coordinator at San Diego State and Arizona State, but something is really messed-up at UNM and either it will get fixed in 2023 or they will be looking for a new Head Football Coach in Albuquerque come December!
Let’s take a look at New Mexico’s 2023 schedule to see where this thing is going >
At Texas A&M
Tennessee Tech
New Mexico State
At UMass
At Wyoming
San Jose State
Hawaii
At Nevada
UNLV
At Boise State
At Fresno State
Utah State
Come on now….in Year 3 at New Mexico there’s just No Damn Excuse to not win at least 6 Games with the above schedule! Come on Danny…get off your ass Son and start winning some football games!
Let’s Play Football!
We love you Johnny Cash and we would love to hear some Ring of Fire!
Thanks Johnny!
#3 Hot Seat – Butch Jones – Arkansas State
After the 2016 college football season Butch Jones was coming off his 2 nd straight 9 Win season at Tennessee and although 9 Wins at Tennessee isn’t Great it’s Not Too Bad of Football, but since 2016 Ole Butch has seen his career go downhill in a Helluva hurry with a 4 – 6 record in 2017, a few years on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama, and now 2 seasons at Arkansas State where he has posted records of…
2 – 10 and 3 – 9
The folks at Arkansas State aren’t going to tolerate another 2 or 3 win season and really not going to tolerate Butch being around in 2024 unless he takes the Red Wolves to a bowl game this year and with that in mind let’s take a look at Arkansas State’s 2023 schedule >
At Oklahoma
Memphis
Stony Brook
Southern Miss
At UMass
At Troy
Coastal Carolina
At La. Monroe
Louisiana
At South Alabama
Texas State
At Marshall
Really now….if Butch Jones can’t Win 6 Games with that schedule in Year 3 on the job at Arkansas State….
Oh Where Oh Where Are You Johnny Cash? There you are!
Thanks Mr. Cash!
#4 Hot Seat – Mario Cristobal – Miami
If you look at the 4 Head Coaches of the Miami Hurricanes that preceded Mario Cristobal in Coral Gables that either got fired or left because they didn’t like how things were being run at the school, you quickly see why Mario Cristobal better get the Good Ship Canes righted and quick because that 5 – 7 record that Mario put up in Year 1 wasn’t not only tolerated in the past….
ALL of those 4 Miami Head Coaches had Winning Records and are gone from the school!
Randy Shannon: 28 – 22
Al Golden: 32 – 25
Mark Richt: 26 – 12
Manny Diaz: 21 – 15
Mario Cristobal: 5 – 7
Oh Mario your ass better get things moving and QUICK Son or you are going to get your ass run right out of Miami and that brings us to the Canes 2023 schedule >
Miami (OH)
Texas A&M
Bethune-Cookman
At Temple
Georgia Tech
At North Carolina
Clemson
Virginia
At NC State
At Florida State
Louisville
At Boston College
Well…right off the bat we see that Bozo the Clown would win 7 Games Minimum coaching Miami in 2023 but how many games will Mario Win?
Well, he better Damn Win 8+ Games for starters but if we had to put $$$ down on the barrel-top on how many games that Miami will Win in 2023 we go with…
7 or 8
It Better Damn Be 8+ Wins Mario!
Let’s Play Football
We are looking for the Great Johnny Cash to step right up and sing us some of his Ring of Fire!
Thanks Johnny!
#5 Hot Seat – Neal Brown – West Virginia
West Virginia isn’t an easy coaching gig being in the Big 12 Conference and having to travel so much to play football games but by our reckoning a Head Coach at WVU should average…
7.5 Wins A Season
…or be considered for the Hot Seat and in 4 years at West Virginia Neal Brown has won…
22 Games
….with Records of…
Overall: 22 – 25
Big 12: 14 – 21
Got Roaring Hot Seat for Neal Brown?
The Good Folks of West Virginia are only going to tolerate Mediocre Football for “X” amount of time and “X” happens to be Year 5 in Neal Brown’s case so either Neal performs in 2023 or they will be looking for a new Head Coach in Morgantown which brings us to the Mountaineers 2023 schedule >
At Penn State
Duquesne
Pitt
Texas Tech
At TCU
At Houston
Oklahoma State
At UCF
BYU
At Oklahoma
Cincinnati
At Baylor
Goodness that’s a TOUGH schedule and with Neal Brown needing 8 Wins Minimum to hang onto his job how in the world is West Virginia gonna Win 8 Games in 2023?
Our guess is WVU is sitting on 5 Wins when they travel to play at Baylor on November 25 and that ain’t gonna be a fun trip at all if that’s the case!
Let’s Play Football!
“The height of human desire is what wins, whether it’s on Normandy Beach or in Ohio Stadium.” Woody Hayes
Give Em Hell Johnny Cash!
Thanks Johnny!
#6 Hot Seat – Jeff Hafley – Boston College
When you get right down to it Expectations and Not Meeting Expectations is what leads to College Head Coaches ending up on the Hot Seat and our Expectations for a Head Coach at Boston College aren’t high….not high at all…and if you are taking the Eagles to a bowl game every season you might end up on the Edge of the Hot Seat even if you are doing mediocre work but if you drop below .500 your ass will end up on the Hot Seat and that’s where Jeff Hafley is now!
In 3 seasons as the Head Coach at Boston Jeff Hafley has posted records of…
2020: 6 – 5
2021: 6 – 6
2022: 3 – 9
Overall: 15 – 20
ACC: 9 – 17
…and that’s some Mediocre Football alright and Hafley better right the Good Ship BC and do it in 2023!
Let’s go BC’s 2023 schedule >
Northern Illinois
Holy Cross
Florida State
At Louisville
Virginia
At Army
At Georgia Tech
UConn
At Syracuse
Virginia Tech
At Pitt
Miami
Boston College getting to 6 Wins in 2023 ain’t gonna be easy unless they really up their game and BC better be no worse than 3 – 2 when they head to play Army at West Point on October 7 on what should be a Beautiful Day on the Hudson River in Upstate New York!
Let’s Play Football!
Oh how we miss you Johnny Cash so what about some Ring of Fire?
Thank You Mr. Cash!
#7 Hot Seat – Brent Venables – Oklahoma
Hey now we would love to see Brent Venables Thrive, Grow, and win BIG at Oklahoma but having watched Brent closely going back to his days as Bob Stoops DC at OU we always has reservations about Brent’s ability to be a Head Coach on the FBS level especially at a place like Oklahoma which ain’t exactly the kind of place where you can make lots of mistakes and get away with them because…
It’s Freaking Oklahoma!
There’s just No Damn Reason for Brent Venables or Anyone Else to not win BIG at Oklahoma and Lincoln Riley in 5 seasons in Norman posted an Overall Record of…
55 – 10
…and we all know what Big Game Bob Stoops did at OU and if you have forgotten in 18 seasons at Oklahoma Bob posted an Overall Record of…
191 – 48
In Brent Venables first season at OU he posted a record of…
6 – 7
Nope…that’s not gonna get it done and in this last year in the Big 12 Conference before the Sooners head to Big, Bad, Tough SEC Conference Land Venables better Damn get things right at Oklahoma or this entire shindig could spiral into a Total Damn Disaster and in a Helluva hurry!
Let’s go to Oklahoma’s 2023 schedule to see where this train is going >
Arkansas State
SMU
At Tulsa
At Cincinnati
Iowa State
Texas in Dallas
UCF
At Kansas
At Oklahoma State
West Virginia
At BYU
TCU
Well…it goes without saying that OU better start 3 – 0 and if the Sooners lose one of those first 3 games you can Turn Out the Lights because this thing is OVER for Venables in Norma but if the Sooners do start 3 – 0 then 5 – 0 is a real possibility heading into Dallas to play Texas on October 7.
With Oklahoma’s roster they SHOULD Win…
10 Games in 2023
…and how many games will the Sooners actually Win….
7…maybe 8 Games in 2023
If the Sooners only Win 7 Games in their last year in the Big 12 they will be Damn Lucky to Win 7 Games in their first year in the SEC come 2024!
Hey, Hey, Hey Johnny Cash where have you gone? There you are with Ring of Fire!
Thanks Johnny!
#8 Hot Seat – Mel Tucker – Michigan State
The Thing about Mel Tucker is that no one really knows what Mel Tucker is all about as a Coach and that’s saying something since Mel has now been a Head Coach on the FBS level for…
4 Seasons now at Colorado and Michigan State
…and is sitting on Win/Loss Records of >
Overall: 23 – 21
Conference: 15 – 19
Also in 3 of those 4 seasons Tucker has put-up a Sub .500 records which ain’t a good sign at all which makes the 2023 season at Michigan State beyond Damn critical because another losing season and the folks in East Lansing will be looking at 8 Seasons remaining on Tucker’s fully-guaranteed contract at $9.5M A Season =
$76 Million Dollars Large!
So let’s get this straight now and remember that we have lots of experience with the Pac-12 Conference which been run by Damn Morons for 10+ years now so we Know Damn Idiocy when we see it >
Michigan State gave Mel Tucker a Fully Guaranteed Contract based upon 1 Good Season and he’s now sitting on a Career Winning % of….
.523
….and if posts another Sub .500 Record in 2023 the folks in East Lansing would owe Tucker…
$76M
…if they wanted to make a change?
That’s close to the Damn Idiocy in the Pac-12 and might even match it…exceed it nope since Larry and George Totally Destroyed a 108 Year Old Conference with Damn Idiocy not matched in the History of Humans on the Earth but what’s going on at Michigan State comes close now…it comes mighty Damn close to both the Pac-12 and Charlie Weis Damn Idiocy at Notre Dame and Kansas territory now!
Let’s go to Michigan State’s 2023 schedule to see what could unfold this Fall…
Central Michigan
Richmond
Washington
Maryland
At Iowa
At Rutgers
Michigan
At Minnesota
Nebraska
At Ohio State
At Indiana
Penn State
Well….Bozo the Clown would Win 6 Games coaching the Spartans in 2023 but how many games will Tucker Win?
A 4 – 0 start should be a real possibility for a coach in his 4 th season at Michigan State with 4 Home Games to start things off so 6 Wins should be a Total Layup but what will the Spartans record be this season?
We’ll go…
5, 6, or 7 Wins
Only 5 Wins and $76M Large or not Mel Tucker has to be fired even if bankrupts Michigan State University in its entirety just to prove what Total Damn Idiots are now running US Universities all across America such as the Pac-12 University Presidents who hired these 2 Damn Morons and let them Totally Destroy a 108 Year Old Conference!
Let’s Play Football and Come on Folks….Quit Hiring Damn Morons!
Please step up on the stage and give these Hot Seat Coaches Hell Johnny!
Thanks Mr. Cash!
#9 Hot Seat – Billy Napier – Florida
Coming off a 6 – 7 record in 2022 in his first season as the Head Coach at Florida we have reminded ourselves that Nick Saban went 7 – 6 in his first season at Alabama but Billy isn’t Nick and Alabama in 2007 isn’t Florida in 2022 and this ain’t gonna be easy righting this ship in Gainesville mainly because the SEC is much more of a Bear in every way today than it was when Saban took over at Alabama.
The Biggest Issue facing Napier is that the Florida Gators Roster is about the 7 th or 8 th Best Roster in the SEC Conference right now and that’s why the Gators 2023 schedule is going to be Tough to Navigate…Very Tough!
At Utah
McNeese
Tennessee
Charlotte
At Kentucky
Vanderbilt
At South Carolina
Georgia in Jacksonville
Arkansas
At LSU
At Missouri
Florida State
We don’t see the Gators winning in Salt Lake City and they will beat McNeese which makes that Tennessee game in Week 3 the Pivotal Game on Florida’s 2023 schedule because a win over the Vols in this spot and they should be…
3 – 1
…heading to Lexington on September 30 and Kentucky always has a tough time beating the Gators at home or on the road.
Overall, this looks like another 6 Win Season for Florida in 2023 to us and can Billy Napier post back-to-back 6 Wins Seasons in Gainesville and keep his job?
The folks in Gainesville may have no choice but to swallow 2 straight .500 seasons because to buyout Billy it would probably be $10M+ and you then head to 2024 with your Head Coach still on the Hot Seat and how exactly do you get out of this Mediocrity?
You Gotta Take A Jump = Leapfrog Ahead of where you should be and to date we just haven’t seen Billy Napier doing anything at Florida like what Nick Saban did at Alabama to Leapfrog anyone else in the SEC and that reality has got to scare the Hell outta the folks in Gainesville with the SEC only getting Tougher in 2024 with Texas and Oklahoma coming into the Conference!
Let’s Play Football!
We never tire of hearing from the Great Johnny Cash!
Thank You Johnny!
#10 Hot Seat – Mike Bloomgren – Rice
Mike Blooomgren has now been the Head Coach at Rice for 5 seasons posting records of…
2018: 2 – 11
2019: 3 – 9
2020: 2 – 3
2021: 4 – 8
2022: 5 – 8
…which shows improvement but still Bloomgren’s Overall Records at Rice stand at >
Overall: 16 – 39
Conference: 12 – 25
Hardly inspiring and now going into his 6 th season and Rice entering the American Athletic Conference this is going to be a challenging year indeed for the Owls with this schedule >
At Texas
Houston
Texas Southern
At South Florida
East Carolina
UConn
At Tulsa
Tulane
SMU
At UTSA
At Charlotte
Florida Atlantic
That looks like 4 Wins to us and the real question here is >
Can Mike Bloomgren survive another losing season which would make 6 for 6 losing seasons at Rice?
We haven’t a clue if Bloomgren can survive that or not because we haven’t a clue what Rice’s goals are with its football program!
Winning?
Survival?
Just Existence?
Nothing Really?
No idea but…
Let’s Play Football!
Hello and Welcome to the 17 th season of Coaches Hot Seat covering the great game of College Football!
Whoa Nellie! Little did we think when we cranked-up Coaches Hot Seat in January 2007 that we still be throwing in our comments from the peanut gallery on Coaches on the Hot Seat and All Other Things we care to talk about in this Crazy World still in the year 2023 and yet here we are so let’s…
Keep This Baby Rolling!
There’s a Helluva Lot we have said on Twitter about the Total Destruction of the Pac-12 Conference the last 14 years under Larry Scott and George Kliavkoff, but really what that Destruction came down to is this >
2 Totally Clueless Pac-12 Commissioners hired by Dozens of Pac-12 School Presidents over a decade-plus led to the only place it could lead…
The Utter and Total Destruction of the Pac-12!
We warned in this very place on the Coaches Hot Seat Blog within 90 days of Larry Scott being hired as the Pac-12 Commissioner in 2009 that Larry…
Posed A Clear and Present Danger to the Future Success and Existence of the Pac-12 Conference
…and within 180 days of George Kliavkoff being hired as the Pac-12 Commissioner in 2021 we said the same thing but also added…
George Kliavkoff is Dumber than Larry Scott and Poses an Even Greater Threat to the Pac-12 than Larry and Yep as we predicted over and over again on Twitter going back to the Fall of 2021….
The Pac-12 has been Utterly and Totally Destroyed by Very Damn Stupid People who really have no business Shoveling Shit for a Living forget about running a Billion $$$ Enterprise like the Pac-12….which is No More and it was No Surprise to anyone at Coaches Hot Seat!
It was a Great 108 Year Run and we have 400+ Pac-12 Alums who are Members at Coaches Hot Seat who are really bummed about the end of this once Great Conference of Champions but again…
When you hire Total Damn Morons expect Total Damn Destruction!
Save the above we are Ready, Rested, Tanned, and Fired-Up for the 2023 College Football Season so away we go and as ALWAYS….
Let’s Play Football!
“The secret is to work less as individuals and more as a team. As a coach, I play not my eleven best, but my best eleven.” Knute Rockne
“If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride – and never quit – you’ll be a winner. The price of victory is high but so are the rewards.” Paul “Bear” Bryant
