Blog Article

The Mike Gundy Era Is Over (Whether Oklahoma State Admits It Or Not)

Mark Haines on September 23, 2025

Oklahoma State’s legendary coach has become a cautionary tale about staying too long at the party

Here’s what nobody wants to say out loud.

Mike Gundy is done. Not “struggling.” Not “going through a rough patch.” Not “needing time to adjust to the new landscape.” Done.

And the numbers don’t lie—even when the narrative tries to.

The Brutal Reality Check

Let me paint you a picture of just how far Oklahoma State has fallen.

172.3 passing yards per game. That’s it. That’s the offensive explosion Mike Gundy has engineered in 2025. For context, most high school teams throw for more than that. 0.3 passing touchdowns per game. You read that correctly. In three games, Oklahoma State has thrown ONE touchdown pass. Uno. A single aerial score. 426.7 yards allowed per game. The defense—if we can even call it that—is surrendering nearly 7 yards every time an opponent snaps the ball.

But here’s the number that should make every Oklahoma State administrator’s blood run cold.

When Legends Become Liabilities

Twenty years ago, Mike Gundy was the answer to Oklahoma State’s prayers.

He turned the Cowboys into a consistent winner. Eighteen straight winning seasons. Five major bowl appearances. 102 Big 12 wins—third in conference history. He made Oklahoma State a national presence. But success has an expiration date. And Gundy’s expired somewhere between his “I’m a man! I’m 40!” rant and losing to Tulsa at home for the first time since the Clinton administration.

The statistical evidence isn’t just bad—it’s historically catastrophic.

The $15 Million Question

Here’s where things get interesting (and expensive).

Oklahoma State owes Gundy $15 million if it fires him before 2027. That’s a lot of money for a school that’s already struggling with NIL funding and watching their coach publicly complain about Oregon’s “$40 million roster.” But you know what’s more expensive than $15 million? Irrelevance. Every game Gundy stays, every embarrassing loss, every empty seat in Boone Pickens Stadium—that’s the real cost.

That’s the price of watching a proud program become a punchline.

The Oregon Excuse Factory

Before Oklahoma State got boat-raced 69-3 by Oregon, Gundy spent his press conference whining about financial disadvantages.

He suggested teams like Oregon shouldn’t play teams with fewer resources. This is where we separate legends from losers. Great coaches find ways to win with what they have. Average coaches make excuses about what they don’t have. Guess which category Gundy has fallen into? Two weeks after complaining about Oregon’s spending, Tulsa—with a NIL budget smaller than most high school booster clubs—walked into Stillwater and won.

The excuses don’t work when you’re getting out-coached by teams that can’t even spell “NIL.”

The Statistical Smoking Gun

Let’s discuss what good coaching looks like versus what Oklahoma State is currently receiving.

Elite programs adapt. Oklahoma State’s passing game has gotten worse every year. Elite programs develop talent. The Cowboys have more transfers than touchdowns. Elite programs win games they should win. Oklahoma State can’t beat Tulsa at home. Elite programs prepare for the future. Gundy hired two coordinators who hadn’t called plays since 2021. This isn’t about NIL. This isn’t about the transfer portal. This isn’t about “the changing landscape of college football.”

This is about a coach who stopped evolving while the game passed him by.

The Uncomfortable Truth

Mike Gundy gave Oklahoma State twenty incredible years.

He deserves gratitude, respect, and a place in the school’s Hall of Fame. What he doesn’t deserve is another season to damage further the program he helped build. The fans know it—they booed at halftime against Tulsa and left early. The media knows it—even OSU’s own radio broadcast called it “the worst sore we’ve seen in a long time.” The administration knows it—they restructured his contract in December with a $1 million pay cut and modified buyout terms.

Everyone knows it except the man making $6.75 million to go 1-2 against teams like Tennessee-Martin, Oregon, and Tulsa.

The Way Forward

Oklahoma State has two choices.

Pay the $15 million and start rebuilding now. Watch their program become the laughingstock of the Big 12. The first option is expensive. The second option is fatal. Great organizations make difficult decisions before they become impossible ones. They cut ties with legends before legends become liabilities. Mike Gundy was the right coach for Oklahoma State for twenty years.

But the Mike Gundy Era is over.

The numbers don’t lie.

The results speak for themselves. And sometimes, the most brutal truth is that every great story has an ending. Mike Gundy’s story at Oklahoma State was beautiful.

But it’s time to write the final chapter.

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Blog Article

Two Coaches, Two Seasons: How Cal vs San Diego State Became A Tale of Opposite Trajectories

Mark Haines on September 18, 2025

Cal coach Justin Wilcox started this season at #15 on our Coaches Hot Seat Rankings. This week, he sits at #41.

Cal supporters were calling for his firing. Eight years of mediocrity had worn thin on a fanbase that remembered the Jeff Tedford glory days. The move to the ACC felt like a desperate attempt to save a program—and a coach—that had lost its way.

Three games into the 2025 season, Wilcox isn’t just off the hot seat.

He’s got Cal positioned as a legitimate ACC championship contender.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

Let’s start with what actually matters: results.

2024 Cal: 6-7 record, including a bowl loss. Mediocre on both sides of the ball.

2025 Cal: 3-0 with statement wins, including a road victory at Oregon State and a home domination of Big Ten’s Minnesota.

But here’s where it gets interesting—the statistical transformation is unprecedented.

The Defensive Revolution:

Total Defense: 421.4 yards allowed (2024) → 280.0 yards allowed (2025)
That’s 141+ fewer yards per game—one of the most dramatic single-season improvements in college football
Rush Defense: 109.8 yards allowed → 82.3 yards allowed (-27.5 yards, -25.0%)
Pass Defense: 227.6 yards allowed → 197.7 yards allowed (-29.9 yards, -13.1%)

The Offensive Evolution:

Scoring: 23.2 ppg → 24.3 ppg
Total Offense: 380.1 yards → 387.7 yards
Passing: 258.6 yards → 269.0 yards (+10.4 yards)

This isn’t a marginal improvement. This is a systematic transformation.

The Schedule That Changes Everything

Here’s where Wilcox caught lightning in a bottle: Cal’s ACC scheduling rotation.

Teams Cal AVOIDS in 2025: Clemson, Miami, Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Wake Forest.

Teams Cal PLAYS in ACC action:

@ Boston College
vs Duke (ACC home opener)
vs North Carolina (Bill Belichick’s debut season)
@ Virginia Tech
vs Virginia
@ Louisville (their toughest road test)
@ Stanford (Big Game rivalry)
vs SMU (potential title game preview)

Look at that list again.

Cal avoided every single ACC powerhouse except SMU—and they get the Mustangs at home in the regular season finale.

The Hot Seat Parallel That Should Terrify Sean Lewis

While Wilcox has engineered one of the most dramatic coaching turnarounds in recent memory, his Week 4 opponent represents the opposite trajectory.

Sean Lewis at San Diego State:

Started at #41 on our Hot Seat Rankings
Now sitting at #17 and climbing
His “AztecFAST” offense has somehow gotten WORSE in Year 2

The Numbers:

2024 SDSU: 19.5 points per game (terrible)
2025 SDSU: 15.5 points per game (historically bad)
Point Differential: -8.3 (2024) → -3.0 (2025)*

*Only improved because their defense got dramatically better while the offense cratered

The Fan Revolt: Season ticket sales down 33%. The program handed out 4,000 free tickets to get bodies in seats for Cal’s visit. Lewis is exhibiting all the warning signs of a coach about to be fired mid-season.

Saturday’s Matchup: Cal (24.3 ppg, elite defense) vs SDSU (15.5 ppg, historically bad offense)

This should be a statement win that propels Cal toward ACC title contention.

The Path to Charlotte

Here’s the reality that nobody wants to talk about: Cal has a legitimate path to the ACC Championship Game.

The New Format: No divisions. The two teams with the best ACC conference records play for the title.

Cal’s Realistic Projection:

Likely Wins (5 games): Boston College, Duke, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Stanford
Toss-ups (2 games): North Carolina (Belichick’s first year chaos), Louisville (road)
Statement Game (1 game): SMU at home in finale

Path to 7-1 in ACC play: Beat the teams you should beat, split the toss-ups, and upset SMU at home.

Path to 6-2 in ACC play: Same as above, but lose one of the “sure things.”

Either record likely gets Cal to Charlotte.

The Transformation Timeline

January 2025: Cal supporters want Wilcox fired
March 2025: Wilcox at #15 on Hot Seat Rankings
September 2025: Cal 3-0 with the most improved defense in college football
December 2025: Playing for an ACC Championship?

This is what great coaching looks like when everything clicks.

Wilcox didn’t just make cosmetic changes. He fundamentally transformed the identity of his program. The defense that was giving up 421+ yards per game in 2024 is now allowing just 280 yards in 2025—that’s the kind of year-over-year improvement that typically takes multiple recruiting cycles and scheme overhauls.

The Foster Parallel

Remember our piece on DeShaun Foster’s situation at UCLA? The parallels between Foster’s final days and Sean Lewis’s current predicament at San Diego State are striking:

Initial optimism followed by spectacular failure
Gimmicky offensive systems that don’t work
Fan revolts and administrative pressure
Players transferring out

But Wilcox represents the opposite trajectory.

Sometimes a coach on the hot seat doesn’t need to be fired—he needs to be challenged. The move to the ACC, the pressure from fans, the make-or-break moment seemed to unlock something in Wilcox that eight years at Cal hadn’t revealed.

The Bottom Line

Justin Wilcox started 2025 fighting for his job.

He might end it fighting for a conference championship.

The statistical improvements aren’t flukes. The schedule isn’t luck—it’s opportunity. The wins aren’t accidents—they’re the result of systematic program transformation.

Cal’s defense has improved by 141 yards per game. Their offense is more efficient. Their quarterback play is steady. Their coaching is sharp.

Most importantly, they avoid Clemson, Miami, and the ACC’s elite tier while getting most of their challenging games at home.

Prediction: Cal goes 6-2 or 7-1 in ACC play and plays for the conference championship.

Hot Seat Status: Wilcox isn’t just off our rankings—he’s building a program that could compete at the highest level for years to come.

Sometimes, the coach everyone wants fired is exactly the coach who needed the proper support and circumstances to succeed.

Justin Wilcox just found his.

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Blog Article

Martin Jarmond Set DeShaun Foster Up To Fail. Now UCLA’s Athletic Director Should Be The One Looking For A New Job.

Mark Haines on September 15, 2025

Martin Jarmond fired DeShaun Foster after 15 games, but the real problem sits one floor above the football offices.

UCLA’s athletic director created the perfect storm that destroyed Foster’s tenure before it began. The hasty hiring process, inadequate resources, and administrative dysfunction all trace back to one person: the man who pulled the trigger on Foster’s dismissal.

Here’s why Jarmond should be updating his resume.

The Timeline Tells The Real Story

Foster never had a fair chance at UCLA because Jarmond bungled the coaching transition from the very beginning.

In November 2023, Chip Kelly was openly shopping for coordinator jobs elsewhere. Instead of making a clean break, Jarmond let the situation drag on for nearly six weeks. Kelly finally left on February 2, 2024, just weeks before spring camp.

The damage was already done:

Recruiting class decimated
Transfer portal window missed
Staff continuity destroyed
Spring preparation compromised

Foster was told he wouldn’t be considered for the head coaching job if Kelly left. He took the running backs job with the Las Vegas Raiders. When Kelly bolted two weeks later, UCLA had no viable candidates willing to leave their current positions so close to spring practice.

Jarmond made calls to other coaches, but no one was going to abandon their team weeks before training camp.

The UCLA players rallied around Foster, and Jarmond gave him the job with little time to prepare. It was a desperation move masquerading as a feel-good story.

Foster Inherited An Impossible Situation

The numbers don’t lie about what Foster walked into at UCLA.

Financial constraints:

Reduced Big Ten revenue sharing
Limited NIL resources compared to Big Ten peers
Budget restrictions on staff expansion
Facility upgrades delayed or cancelled

Roster challenges:

Late start on transfer portal acquisitions
Minimal time to evaluate existing players
Spring practice shortened by hiring timeline
No established recruiting relationships

Administrative support:

No clear vision for Big Ten transition
Conflicting directives from university leadership
Unclear reporting structure with new chancellor

Foster went 5-10 in 15 games, but considering the circumstances, the surprise is that UCLA won five games at all.

The Zoom Call Revealed Everything

More than 100 former UCLA players held a Zoom call with Jarmond after Foster’s firing, and the conversation exposed the real problems in Westwood.

Former players told Jarmond directly:

He needs to listen more than he talks
There’s a disconnect between athletics and program traditions
Foster was active in recruiting local high schools
Previous coaches ignored alumni outreach entirely
The athletic department lacks a central point of contact for former players

“Martin was told he needs to listen more than he does,” one participant revealed.

The Zoom call wasn’t about defending Foster.

It was about confronting Jarmond’s broader failures as an athletic director. Former players demanded accountability from the person directly responsible for UCLA’s decline.

Chancellor Frenk Sees The Problem

The power struggle between Jarmond and Chancellor Julio Frenk reveals who really understands UCLA’s situation.

Frenk told the LA Times he intends to be “very involved in the athletic department and the football program, recognizing that success in a marquee sport like football can be financially advantageous for the school as a whole.”

This contrasts sharply with former Chancellor Gene Block, who was “notoriously removed from athletics.”

Frenk’s involvement signals recognition that Block’s hands-off approach failed. The new chancellor understands what Block and Jarmond missed: football success drives university-wide benefits.

Multiple sources confirm the coaching search committee will report directly to Frenk, not Jarmond.

When your boss creates a workaround to bypass your authority, it’s usually a sign your days are numbered.

Bill Plaschke Said The Quiet Part Out Loud

LA Times columnist Bill Plaschke published a scathing column arguing Jarmond should not be allowed to hire the next coach.

Plaschke blamed Jarmond for the “wreckage” of UCLA football, specifically calling out:

Mishandling Chip Kelly’s departure
The rushed Foster hiring process
Lack of adequate support for Foster
Creating systemic problems beyond coaching

When the city’s paper of record publishes a column calling for an athletic director’s removal from a coaching search, it reflects widespread institutional failure.

Plaschke captured what many UCLA stakeholders believe: the problem isn’t coaching, it’s leadership.

The Kelly Contract Extension Debacle

Jarmond’s pattern of poor decision-making extends beyond the Foster situation.

In December 2021, Kelly’s contract was subject to renewal clauses. His tenure had been unsuccessful, but Jarmond offered him a contract extension without a definitive decision deadline.

Kelly dragged out the process for months:

His representatives floated Oregon Ducks interest
Several qualified potential coaches took jobs elsewhere
UCLA missed multiple hiring cycles
Uncertainty damaged recruiting and staff retention

Good athletic directors create timelines and stick to them.

Jarmond allowed coaches to control processes that should have clear administrative deadlines. The Kelly extension saga revealed an athletic director unwilling or unable to make difficult decisions when necessary.

The Attendance Scandal

The LA Times recently reported that UCLA has been “blatantly and artificially boosting attendance numbers at games at the Rose Bowl.”

Reporter Ben Bolch obtained data from actual ticket scan machines and compared them to UCLA’s attendance announcements. The difference was usually several thousand, consistently inflated by the university.

This isn’t just bad optics.

It’s institutional dishonesty that reflects broader problems with Jarmond’s leadership. When athletic departments resort to fabricating attendance figures, it signals deeper issues with accountability and transparency.

UCLA Needs New Leadership

Foster’s firing was the inevitable result of Jarmond’s administrative failures, not coaching incompetence.

The evidence is overwhelming:

Poor timing on coaching transitions
Inadequate resource allocation
Disconnect from alumni and program traditions
Inflated attendance reporting
Loss of confidence from university leadership

Foster deserved better support. UCLA deserved better planning.

Both paid the price for organizational dysfunction that starts at the top of the athletic department.

The next coaching search faces identical systemic problems that doomed Foster unless UCLA addresses the real issue: the continued employment of Martin Jarmond as athletic director.

UCLA can fire coaches every 15 games, or they can fire the person who hires the wrong coaches for the wrong reasons at the wrong time.

The choice seems obvious to everyone except the person making the decisions.

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Blog Article

Why College Football Coaching Has Become a Weekly Pressure Cooker

Mark Haines on September 9, 2025

Modern college football coaching means living under microscopic scrutiny where every decision gets analyzed and every loss creates crisis-level pressure.

Week 3 showcased how quickly hot-seat temperatures can spike when coaches face the unforgiving mathematics of fan expectations.

When Pressure Becomes Unbearable

Billy Napier’s situation at Florida illustrates how rapidly coaching pressure can escalate.

The offensive regression that created instant scrutiny:

Week 1: Florida scored 55 points vs LIU (looked unstoppable)
Week 2: Florida managed only 16 points and lost to South Florida at home
Post-game press conference felt like damage control
Reporters directly questioned whether he’s the right fit

That kind of performance swing doesn’t just lose games, it loses confidence from everyone watching.

The Heat Index Rising

Brent Pry discovered that some losses generate more pressure than others.

Virginia Tech’s 44-20 home loss to Vanderbilt created immediate comparisons to Charleston Southern’s 45-3 loss to the same team. When your ACC program’s defensive performance mirrors an FCS team’s effort, the pressure becomes suffocating.

The math doesn’t lie, and neither do angry fan forums.

Pressure Multipliers

Mike Gundy’s situation demonstrates how external factors amplify coaching pressure.

The timeline that turned trash talk into a nightmare:

December: Took a salary cut at Oklahoma State
September: Made comments about Oregon’s spending on the radio
Game day: Lost 69-3 after providing bulletin board material

Pre-game confidence turned into post-game humiliation, which went viral across every social media platform.

The New Normal

Today’s coaching environment creates pressure that previous generations never experienced.

The modern pressure ecosystem:

Social media amplifies every mistake instantly
Fan forums dissect every play call in real time
Athletic directors face constant donor pressure
One bad weekend transforms secure positions into hot seat situations

The microscope has never been more powerful, and the patience has never been thinner.

Want to see how all 136 FBS coaches rank under this new pressure?

Subscribe to my newsletter for detailed hot seat analysis that tracks which coaches are feeling the heat and why their situations are getting more intense each week.

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Blog Article

Oklahoma’s #6 Hot Seat Coach Has 12 Games To Save His Job. Michigan Is Game #2.

Mark Haines on September 3, 2025

Here’s what everyone in college football knows but won’t say out loud.

Brent Venables is coaching for his career on Saturday. Not his season. His career. When you’re ranked #6 out of 136 coaches on the Coaches Hot Seat rankings, every game becomes a referendum on your future.

The Math Is Simple:

22-17 record in three seasons at Oklahoma
Two losing seasons out of three
#6 on the hot seat rankings (danger zone territory)
A schedule ESPN calls the toughest in college football

Meanwhile, Sherrone Moore sits comfortably at #36 in our rankings. That’s the difference between “we’re watching” and “we’re planning your replacement.”

Here’s What Makes Saturday Fascinating:

Oklahoma went nuclear in the offseason. They brought in 21 transfer portal players, hired a new offensive coordinator, and landed John Mateer—the quarterback who led all of college football with 44 total touchdowns last season.

Michigan countered with the #1 recruit in the country, Bryce Underwood, who already proved he belongs by going 21/31 for 251 yards in his debut.

The Stakes:

For Venables, this is his best shot at an early statement win before facing eight projected top-25 opponents. Win, and the complete program overhaul looks genius. Lose, and the whispers become roars.

For Moore, this is about proving their offensive transformation can execute against proven competition.

The Truth:

Desperate coaches make dangerous opponents. When your job depends on 12 games, every snap gets magnified. Every decision gets scrutinized.

Saturday tells us whether that desperation breaks Oklahoma or brings out its best.

We Track Coaching Pressure So You See The Warning Signs First

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9 College Football Coaches Who Just Felt Their Seats Get 10 Degrees Hotter After Week 1 (And Why the Pressure Is Only Getting Started)

Mark Haines on September 2, 2025

College football’s coaching carousel spins fastest in September, when preseason optimism crashes into Week 1 reality and exposes the coaches who spent the offseason building excuses instead of building programs.

While ESPN debates which coaches are “on the bubble,” smart money watches the programs where fan forums have already turned toxic, ticket sales have quietly declined, and athletic directors start making those carefully worded statements about “evaluating all aspects of our program.” These aren’t the coaches having one bad game—these are the coaches whose foundational problems just got exposed under the bright lights, and no amount of spin can change what everyone saw on Saturday.

The hot seat isn’t about one loss; it’s about the pattern of problems that one loss reveals, and some coaches just proved they’re exactly who we thought they were.

#1: Sonnie Cumbie – Louisiana Tech

The Master of Bare Minimum Achievement

Sonny Cumbie has mastered the most dangerous skill in college football: being just competent enough to survive another week.

The brutal numbers tell his story:

7-17 overall record across two seasons at Louisiana Tech
Beat FCS Southeastern Louisiana 24-0 in Week 1—exactly what any Power 5 program should do
Perfected coaching limbo: too successful to fire immediately, too mediocre to ever feel safe
Louisiana Tech fans have completely given up hope, which ironically gives him more job security

Cumbie doesn’t hold the #1 hot seat because he’s the worst coach—he holds it because he’s trapped everyone in a cycle of lowered expectations.

#2: Scott Satterfield – Cincinnati

When 69 Yards Kills Your Season

Scott Satterfield’s season died in 60 minutes when his quarterback threw for 69 yards against Nebraska.

The math that doomed him:

Rushing attack proved talent exists (202 yards), but questionable coordinator decisions amplified QB disaster
Cincinnati fans still have expectations, unlike programs where hope has died
0.001 behind Cumbie in hot seat rating, but might have a higher actual firing probability
Disappointed expectations create way more pressure than met low expectations

One more Nebraska-level disaster, and that microscopic gap to #1 disappears entirely.

#3: Joe Moorhead – Akron

The Statistical Art of Organized Failure

After four years and 30 losses, Joe Moorhead has turned losing into a statistical art form—and his shutout loss to Wyoming proved that organized failure is still failure.

The Year 4 reality check:

Shutout 10-0 at home by Wyoming validated every pessimistic preseason prediction
Mastered showing statistical improvement while delivering results that prove the opposite
8-30 overall record with enough time to build something—and a shutout loss is what he built
Every metric looks better except the only one that matters: points scored

Statistical improvement without wins isn’t progress—it’s just organized failure with better spreadsheets.

#4: Trent Dilfer – UAB

The 52-Point Problem

Trent Dilfer needed 52 points to beat Alabama State, and somehow that victory made his hot seat even hotter.

When offense isn’t enough:

520 total yards, capable QB play, zero turnovers—the offense clearly works
Gave up 42 points to an FCS team that shouldn’t score 20 (defensive malpractice)
7-18 record in Year 3 means zero margin for error
Two seasons of roster overhauls haven’t fixed the fundamental problem

In college football, being able to coach only one side of the ball isn’t a recipe for job security—it’s a recipe for updating your resume.

#5: Brent Venables – Oklahoma

Following Legends at a Program That Demands Perfection

Brent Venables crushed Illinois State 35-3, and Oklahoma fans are still holding their breath because beating FCS teams is just Tuesday at Oklahoma.

The championship standard reality:

Following Bob Stoops and Lincoln Riley means even dominant wins feel like pop quizzes
QB John Mateer looked transformed (30/37, 392 yards, 3 TD), showing offensive promise
6-7 in 2024 was completely unacceptable to a fanbase that expects championships
Brutal SEC schedule ahead will determine if Year 3 is a breakthrough or a breakdown

Venables did what was required in Week 1, but at Oklahoma, coaches either become legends or become former coaches—there’s no middle ground.

Other Coaches We’re Watching After Week 1:

#7: Kalen Deboer – Alabama

The Fastest Hot Seat Elevation in History

Kalen DeBoer experienced the fastest hot seat elevation in college football history, jumping from #85 to #7 after one loss, proving that coaching at Alabama means living in a different reality.

The Saban shadow effect:

Lost 31-17 to unranked Florida State as #8-ranked team (institutional panic mode activated)
Offensive struggles (341 yards, only 17 points) plus defensive breakdowns in Year 2
Alabama doesn’t grade on curves—they grade on championships
Following Nick Saban means one bad game can define everything

DeBoer learned that at Alabama, losing to unranked teams isn’t championship behavior, and championship behavior is the only acceptable standard.

#15: DeShaun Foster – UCLA

When Paranoia Becomes Performance

Deshaun Foster spent eight months building walls around his UCLA program, then got embarrassed 43-10 at home by Utah, turning those walls into a spotlight on his failure.

The media strategy backfire:

Shut out media, tighter restrictions, eliminated distractions—the team looked completely unprepared anyway
Destroyed 43-10 at home (220 total yards vs Utah’s 492) in Year 2
Big Ten relevance demands visible improvement, not the same fundamental problems
Media restrictions only work if you deliver results—blowouts amplify the disaster

Foster played high-stakes poker with UCLA’s credibility and lost big, and now everyone’s watching him try to rescue himself from a disaster of his own making.

#17: Dave Aranda – Baylor

Getting Out-Coached by the More Desperate Guy

Dave Aranda’s 38-24 loss to Auburn wasn’t just disappointing—it was a masterclass in getting out-coached by a coach who was supposed to be in more trouble.

The preparation failure:

Allowed 307 rushing yards to a team that averaged 165.5/game
Managed only 64 rushing yards when Baylor averaged 178.8/game last season
Lost to Hugh Freeze (ranked #6 on hot seat)—more desperate coach out-prepared him
Year 3 expectations meant progress, not regression against the 5-7 Auburn team

When the coach ranked 28 spots higher on the hot seat makes you look unprepared on both sides of the ball, you didn’t just lose a game—you lost credibility.

#19: Spencer Danielson – Boise State

From Under the Radar to Immediate Crisis

Spencer Danielson was flying under the radar until #25 Boise State got blown out 34-7 by unranked South Florida, and suddenly everyone’s paying attention.

The complete statistical disaster:

378 total yards but only 7 points (comprehensive red zone failure)
3 turnovers, 27-point blowout, never competitive against G5 competition
Fan unrest at the end of 2024 now looks prophetic—they saw this coming
Moved from “under the radar” to “immediate crisis” in one game

This is precisely the pattern: fan concerns emerge first, Week 1 validates those warnings, and situations escalate quickly when ignored.

The Bottom Line

These coaches didn’t just have bad games—they revealed fundamental problems that one weekend of football exposed for everyone to see.

Some will survive September and buy themselves time to fix what’s broken. Others will discover that in college football, pattern recognition happens fast, and athletic directors are watching the same games as the fans who’ve already made up their minds.

The hot seat rankings that actually matter aren’t about who gets fired first—they’re about who proves they belong in the conversation for all the wrong reasons.

We Track Coaching Pressure So You See The Warning Signs First

You just read the kind of analysis that predicted coaching changes before they happened. While other publications wait for the obvious, we identify the warning signs early.

The Coaches Hot Seat newsletter delivers:

Weekly hot seat rankings with data-driven predictions
Inside analysis on coaching moves before they’re announced
The real financial stories behind hiring and firing decisions
Zero fluff, zero access journalism, zero protecting feelings

Because college football moves fast.

And the programs that survive are the ones that see what’s coming next—not the ones caught reacting to what already happened.

Click Here To Subscribe to Coaches Hot Seat Newsletter

Get the analysis that matters. Before it becomes obvious to everyone else.

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Blog Article

Why USC’s October Schedule Is Sabotaging Their Championship Dreams (And What Every High Performer Can Learn From It)

Mark Haines on August 29, 2025

Most people think October rivalry games are magical.

They’re missing the point entirely.

USC’s October Problem

While other programs optimize their schedules for conference championships, USC flies cross-country in the middle of its toughest stretch.

Notre Dame in October. Then right back into Big Ten play.

It’s like running a marathon, then immediately sprinting 400 meters while your competitors get to rest.

The Independence Advantage

Here’s what Notre Dame gets that USC doesn’t:

No conference championship game
Complete scheduling flexibility
Strategic bye weeks when they need them
Zero back-to-back rivalry pressure

Meanwhile, USC is locked into:

Cross-country travel nightmares
October scheduling chaos
Big Ten championship requirements
Playoff implications for every game

The Hidden Cost of Bad Timing

This isn’t just about football.

Every high performer faces the same scheduling trap. That monthly client call during your busiest week. The annual conference is right before your biggest deadline. The tradition that worked perfectly 10 years ago, but now creates unnecessary friction.

We keep these commitments because they are important to us. Because changing them feels like giving up.

But innovative competitors know something most people don’t: timing isn’t just logistics—it’s strategy.

The Bottom Line

USC Athletic Director Jen Cohen isn’t trying to kill tradition. She’s trying to save it by making it work within reality.

The best rivalries aren’t preserved by blind loyalty. They’re maintained by smart adaptation.

Your calendar is your competitive advantage. Protect it like your career depends on it.

Because it does.

Tired of surface-level college football takes? Coaches Hot Seat delivers the analysis that actually matters. Rankings Tuesday, deep breakdowns Friday. Join for free.

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Blog Article

Week 0 Coaches Hot Seat Rankings: We Analyzed Every College Football Coach’s Job Security. Here Are The 10 Most Endangered

Mark Haines on August 22, 2025

These are our preseason rankings.

The starting point for tracking coaching pressure all season long.

Every coach occupies their spot heading into Week 1. But here’s the thing—these rankings are dynamic. They move every single week based on wins, losses, and the political reality inside each program.

Someone in our Top 5 can win their way down the list. It’s equally possible for a coach ranked 100th out of 136 to find themselves in serious trouble by October.

The hot seat never stays still.

That’s why you need to check back every Tuesday during football season. We’ll show you who’s trending down (breathing easier) and who’s trending up (heading for trouble).

Because in college football, your job security changes faster than a fumble recovery.

Here are the coaches starting the season in the most danger:

1. Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech

Why Sonny Cumbie Owns the Hottest Seat in College Football This Season

Louisiana Tech’s Sonny Cumbie enters Year Four with an 11-26 record and mounting pressure after three consecutive losing seasons.

His .297 winning percentage and 0.574 Hot Seat Rating signal he’s been underwater since Day One, far below the 1.0 threshold for meeting expectations.
The trajectory shows no recruiting momentum while fans still remember Skip Holtz’s consistent winning, making patience increasingly scarce.
Coaches in this position rarely recover—by Year Four, you either show tangible progress or the program shows you the door.

Unless Cumbie delivers a miracle turnaround in 2025, his seat isn’t just hot—it’s burning.

2. Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati

The Six-Win Ultimatum: Why Scott Satterfield’s Job—and Cincinnati’s Future—Hangs in the Balance In 2025

Scott Satterfield is out of time after two bruising, back-to-back losing seasons at Cincinnati, with everything on the line across twelve Saturdays.

He’s trailing the ghost of Luke Fickell’s 53-10 legacy and playoff success, while his own .333 win rate signals trouble for a fanbase starved for relevance.
Nine months removed from five straight losses and high-profile staff departures, every decision is under the microscope as he feels the pressure of his buyout clause.
Quarterback Brendan Sorsby must cut turnovers while the team needs six wins for bowl eligibility—anything less might mean packing bags.

For a proud program where mediocrity isn’t an option, “hot seat” might not be hot enough in 2025.

3. Joe Moorhead, Akron

Joe Moorhead’s Statistical Masterpiece of Losing

Joe Moorhead has cracked the code on making college football statistics look respectable while losing games at an alarming rate.

His Akron teams generate impressive numbers—like Ben Finley’s 378 yards and four touchdowns in an 11-point loss to Buffalo—but have dropped 10 one-score games in two years, including five by a field goal or less.
With a 0.659 Hot Seat Rating and an 8-28 record over three seasons, Moorhead’s offensive schemes produce yards and individual stats that suggest competence, yet his teams consistently fail when games hang in the balance.
The cruel mathematics reveal that when you have explosive receivers, a productive quarterback, and reliable kicking, but still struggle to win, the problem isn’t talent—it’s execution under pressure.

Moorhead was supposed to be the offensive mastermind who would solve Akron’s perpetual losing problem, but instead became the poster child for why coordinating success and leading it require entirely different skill sets.

4. Brent Venables, Oklahoma

Brent Venables Faces 8 Top 25 Teams In 2025. Here’s Why This Will Be His Last Season At Oklahoma

Most people think coaching success is about X’s and O’s, but Brent Venables learned the hard way that your past success means nothing when the game changes around you.

His first SEC season at Oklahoma produced a 6-7 record with just 24 points per game—the program’s lowest scoring output since the 1990s—proving that elite coordinator credentials don’t automatically translate to head coaching success in a new conference.
The SEC’s unforgiving arms race exposes recruiting misses and tactical weaknesses that Oklahoma could hide in the Big 12, with eight projected Top 25 opponents in 2025, including Michigan, LSU, Texas, Alabama, and Tennessee.
247Sports ranks Venables as college football’s most embattled coach entering 2025, with Vegas projecting a middle-tier SEC finish while fans demand results over explanations from their well-resourced program.

In Norman, nobody gets remembered for coming close—and anything less than a winning season could end his tenure.

5. Trent Dilfer, UAB

UAB Passed Over A 7-6 Interim Coach To Hire Trent Dilfer. 2 Years Later, Dilfer Is 7-17, And That Coach Beat Him 32-6.

UAB Athletic Director Mark Ingram chose the shiny object in 2022, hiring former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer over interim coach Bryant Vincent despite Vincent’s 7-6 record.

Two years later, Dilfer sits at 7-17 with zero road wins while Vincent’s Louisiana Monroe team beat Dilfer’s UAB squad 32-6 this season, highlighting the missed opportunity.
Athletic directors consistently get starstruck by NFL pedigree, mistaking name recognition for competence and assuming Super Bowl rings translate to recruiting ability, ignoring that college coaching requires relationship-building with 18-year-olds, not managing millionaire adults.
Former NFL players often struggle because they’ve never learned to develop teenagers, recruit prospects, manage boosters, or navigate the transfer portal—skills that proven college coaches possess for a reason.

The next time an athletic director gets stars in their eyes over a former NFL player, remember that sometimes the best hire is the one standing right in front of you, even if they’re not the most exciting candidate.

6. Hugh Freeze, Auburn

Auburn’s Hugh Freeze Sits At #6 On Our Hot Seat Rankings. Here’s Why 2025 Will Either Save His Career Or End It.

Hugh Freeze has methodically eliminated every excuse a coach could have after two straight losing seasons at Auburn, leaving himself nowhere to hide in Year 3.

He landed Jackson Arnold, a former 5-star transfer quarterback from Oklahoma, while building back-to-back top-10 recruiting classes filled with blue-chip prospects and adding 19 strategic transfer portal additions.
Auburn avoids Texas this season and hosts both Alabama and Georgia at home, creating a more favorable schedule than recent years, while Freeze publicly admits “we’ve got to go to a bowl game.”
In 12 seasons as a head coach, Freeze has missed bowl eligibility exactly twice—his scandal-plagued final year at Ole Miss and his rebuilding year at Auburn—and lightning doesn’t strike three times for coaches who want to survive.

Hugh Freeze has built the perfect team to save his career, and now he has to prove he deserves it.

7. Brent Pry, Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech’s Brent Pry Fired 3 Coaches And Replaced 30 Players To Save His Job. Here’s Why These Desperate Moves Will Get Him Fired Instead

Most people think college football coaches get fired for losing games, but they actually get fired for making desperate moves that prove they never understood why they were losing in the first place.

After going 16-21 over three seasons, Virginia Tech’s Brent Pry fired his coordinators not strategically but politically, sending the message that “the problem wasn’t me—it was them” while proving he can’t take responsibility for his failures.
Pry lost his top running back (1,159 yards, 15 TDs) and best pass rusher (16 sacks) to the transfer portal, then added 30 strangers who’ve never played together, creating roster panic instead of building chemistry that takes years to develop.
He’s asking the impossible: 30 new players to trust each other, learn new systems from two new coordinators, and execute under pressure while their head coach’s job hangs in the balance—a recipe for chaos and meltdown.

Once you start making desperate moves, you’ve already lost because you’re no longer building a program—you’re just surviving until you get fired.

8. Tony Elliott, Virginia

Tony Elliott Has 8 Regular Season Games To Save His Virginia Coaching Career

Tony Elliott enters 2025 with 11 wins and 23 losses over three years at Virginia, but there’s only one number that matters now: 8.

Elliott finally has everything he said he needed—Chandler Morris from TCU (5,500+ career passing yards), Mitchell Melton from Ohio State, 7 home games, and no Clemson or Miami on the schedule—which means he’s completely out of excuses.
His track record suggests deeper problems with 4-8 records in one-score games, averaging 5+ penalties per game, and losing his starting quarterback to the transfer portal—patterns that go beyond bad luck.
The math is brutally simple: win 8 games and keep his job, win 7 or fewer and update his LinkedIn, with no middle ground or “moral victory” season that saves him after three years of disappointment.

Elliott finally has the perfect setup for success, and 2025 is his moment to prove he deserves it.

9. Sam Pittman, Arkansas

Sam Pittman Has A 30-31 Record At Arkansas. Here’s Why He’s The SEC’s Most Undervalued Coach

Sam Pittman enters 2025 with a 30-31 overall record and the narrative that another mediocre season means goodbye, but here’s what nobody talks about: he’s the SEC’s third-longest tenured coach with his current team.

Only Kirby Smart at Georgia and Mark Stoops at Kentucky have been around longer, proving that while other programs churn through coaches, Arkansas stuck with their guy through rebuilds, growing pains, and SEC brutality.
Pittman has built five years of recruiting relationships, institutional knowledge most coaches never get, a cultural foundation that takes time to develop, and three bowl wins that demonstrate his program’s progress.
With Taylen Green returning (3,756 total yards), Bobby Petrino in his second year calling plays, and a transfer portal haul ranked 8th nationally, the complete roster reconstruction offers a fresh start for his foundation to bear fruit.

The 2025 season will prove whether college football still rewards patience or if it only rewards wins—and whether the best hire is sometimes the guy who stays long enough to see his vision through.

10. Billy Napier, Florida

Florida’s Championship Window Opens in 2025

Most college football fans think Florida is still years away from competing for titles, but the Gators have quietly assembled all the pieces for a breakthrough season in 2025.

DJ Lagway isn’t just another promising quarterback—he’s a generational talent who went 6-1 in his starts as a true freshman, beating ranked LSU and Ole Miss while leading all SEC returners with a 52.8% completion rate on deep balls.
Florida’s top-10 recruiting class brings elite defensive backs and game-changing receivers, while four returning offensive line starters provide crucial stability and defensive coaching upgrades address last season’s major weaknesses.
After winning just 11 games in Napier’s first two seasons, the Gators closed 2024 with four straight wins and their first bowl victory since 2019, showing the culture has shifted when nobody was paying attention.

Championship windows don’t announce themselves with fanfare—they open quietly when talent meets opportunity, and Florida’s window is creaking open right now.

Don’t Miss A Single Coaching Move This Season

These rankings are just the beginning. Every Tuesday, we’ll update these hot seat rankings based on the weekend’s results, showing you exactly who’s trending up (heading for trouble) and who’s trending down (breathing easier). Because in college football, a coach can go from safe to fired in three weeks flat.

But here’s where it gets really interesting: our Friday newsletters dive deep into the stories behind the rankings. We’ll break down the political dynamics inside each program, analyze recruiting momentum, and give you the insider perspective on which coaches are actually fighting for their jobs versus which ones just look like they are.

Think of it as your weekly coaching intelligence report. While everyone else is guessing who might get fired, you’ll know exactly why it’s happening and when it’s coming.

Subscribe to our newsletter and get:

Tuesday Rankings: Updated hot seat positions for all 136 coaches
Friday Deep Dives: The real stories behind the coaching pressure
Insider analysis you won’t find anywhere else
First access to coaching movement predictions before they hit the mainstream

The hot seat never stays still, and neither should your information advantage.

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Because when the coaching carousel starts spinning, you’ll want to be ahead of the story, not chasing it.

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Blog Article

Sonny Cumbie’s 11-26 Record At Louisiana Tech Puts Him At #1 On Coaches Hot Seat Preseason Rankings—Here’s Why

Mark Haines on August 19, 2025

Everyone pretends to be shocked when a coach gets fired after 3 straight losing seasons.

As if the writing wasn’t on the wall the entire time. Louisiana Tech head coach Sonny Cumbie enters his fourth season in 2025 with our hot seat rating of 0.574 (where 1.0 represents meeting expectations and anything below signals mounting pressure) and a .297 winning percentage. Translation: he’s cooked. Done. Finished.

The only question isn’t whether he’ll get fired, but when.

This Was Always Going To Happen

Cumbie took over Louisiana Tech in December 2021 with one selling point: offensive innovation.

This was the guy who was once the highest-paid offensive coordinator in college football at TCU. The air raid genius. The quarterback whisperer. Fast forward to 2024, and he’s giving up play-calling duties four games into the season.

Think about that for a second.

You hire a chef because he makes the world’s best pasta, and then four months later he’s asking someone else to cook the pasta because he can’t figure out the recipe anymore. That’s Sonny Cumbie at Louisiana Tech.

His record speaks for itself:

2022: 3-9
2023: 3-9
2024: 5-8

Three straight losing seasons. The program hasn’t had a winning record since 2019, which means under both Skip Holtz’s final year (3-9) and Cumbie’s entire tenure, Louisiana Tech has been irrelevant.

But here’s where it gets fascinating.

The Defense Got Better, The Offense Got Worse

In 2024, something magical happened on defense.

Louisiana Tech went from allowing 39.2 points per game in 2022 and 33.4 in 2023 to just 21.0 points per game in 2024. They ranked top 3 in Conference USA and top 15 nationally in total defense. Know what Cumbie did? He fired defensive coordinator Scott Power and hired Jeremiah Johnson.

Smart move. Problem solved.

While the defense found its footing, the offense lost its way completely:

Yards per game dropped: 392 (2022) to 332.9 (2024)
Offensive line couldn’t protect anybody
Running game was nonexistent
Eventually had to give up play-calling

So he handed the play-calling over to someone else.

Here’s what’s wild about this situation.

Conference USA Should Be Easy Money

You know what Conference USA looks like after realignment?

A watered-down version of its former self. Programs left for better conferences. The competition got weaker. The path to success got clearer. And Louisiana Tech still couldn’t figure it out.

The disappointing numbers tell the story:

Conference record in 2024: 4-4
Road record under Cumbie: 2-17
Bowl appearances: 1 (only because Marshall opted out)

Four and four in conference play. In a league that should theoretically be easier to dominate than ever before. Two wins in 17 road games since taking over.

That’s not bad luck. That’s not external factors. That’s coaching.

Teams that can’t win on the road can’t win when things get uncomfortable. They fold under pressure. They make mistakes at critical moments.

They’re not mentally tough enough to handle adversity.

But There’s More At Stake Than Just Wins And Losses

Here’s where Athletic Director Ryan Ivey found himself in a tough spot.

Cumbie signed a five-year deal worth $4.85 million with a base salary that hit $1 million by 2024. Firing him means:

Paying a buyout
Paying to hire someone new
Paying that new coach a competitive salary

For a program like Louisiana Tech, that’s real money.

But here’s what administrators never want to acknowledge: keeping a losing coach costs more than firing him. Losing seasons mean fewer ticket sales. Fewer donations. Less corporate sponsorship. Lower TV revenue. Decreased enrollment interest.

The financial damage compounds every year you wait.

Louisiana Tech made one bowl game under Cumbie—the 2024 Independence Bowl—and they only got that because Marshall opted out due to transfer portal losses. They lost to Army 27-6. That’s not progress.

That’s charity.

The 2025 Reality Check

CBS Sports ranked Cumbie as the only coach in the “Win or be fired” category with a perfect 5.0 rating from nine expert evaluators.

Translation: everyone who covers college football knows what’s coming. The schedule gives him a chance—manageable Conference USA opponents—but also exposes him to road trips to LSU and Washington State. Given his 2-17 road record, those games look like guaranteed losses.

Even with some positive developments, the challenges are mounting:

Defensive improvement shows he can make changes
But the offensive line lost key players to the transfer portal
Tony Franklin hired as new offensive coordinator
Yet history suggests desperation hires rarely work

The offensive line lost Ja’Marion Kennedy to Wake Forest and Zarian McGill to Colorado, which means the unit that was already struggling just got worse.

Here’s the thing about desperation moves.

Why This Matters Beyond Louisiana Tech

College football is brutal.

Coaches get hired based on potential and fired based on results. There’s no participation trophy for “trying hard” or “building culture” when you’re 11-26 over three seasons. Cumbie’s situation represents everything problematic about how programs evaluate coaching hires.

They fell in love with his reputation instead of his results:

Assumed past success would automatically translate
Ignored warning signs about fit and system
Wanted to believe instead of evaluating reality

Louisiana Tech has proud football traditions. Conference championships. Bowl victories. Relevant seasons.

Under Cumbie, they’ve had none of that.

The Bottom Line

Sonny Cumbie is facing near-certain dismissal.

Whether it comes after early setbacks in 2025 or at the season’s end, the odds are stacked against him. The only question is how much damage Louisiana Tech is willing to accept while they delay what appears inevitable.

Because here’s what nobody wants to say out loud: keeping a struggling coach doesn’t protect the program’s future.

It jeopardizes it.

Our hot seat rating of 0.574 for Cumbie isn’t just a number. It’s a warning label. And everyone except the people making decisions seems to understand what it means.

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Blog Article

Trent Dilfer Has A 7-17 Record At UAB. Here’s Why His $3.6 Million Buyout Won’t Save His Job In 2025

Mark Haines on August 19, 2025

Here’s what nobody wants to say out loud.

Trent Dilfer is coaching for his job at UAB. And based on two years of evidence, he’s going to lose it. The numbers don’t lie. A 7-17 record. A .292 winning percentage. Zero road wins in 24 months. And a hot seat rating of 0.715 that has him ranked as the fifth most endangered coach in college football.

This isn’t speculation.

This is math.

The Problem With Hiring Names Instead Of Coaches

Athletic Director Mark Ingram made a classic mistake in 2022.

He got starstruck. Instead of promoting interim coach Bryant Vincent—who had just led UAB to a 7-6 record—Ingram chased the shiny object. He wanted the former NFL quarterback. The Super Bowl winner. The ESPN analyst with name recognition.

“I’m not hiring a high school football coach,” Ingram said at the time. “I’m hiring the number six overall pick in the NFL draft.”

Wrong.

You were hiring a high school football coach who happened to be a former NFL player. And there’s a massive difference between those two things. The irony? Bryant Vincent—the guy Ingram passed over—is now coaching Louisiana Monroe to potential bowl eligibility. Meanwhile, Dilfer’s UAB team got obliterated 32-6 by Vincent’s Warhawks to open the 2024 season.

That’s not just bad luck.

That’s institutional malpractice.

When The Numbers Tell The Whole Story

Here’s how badly things have collapsed under Dilfer.

2023 to 2024 regression:

Passing accuracy: 71.7% → 63.7% (catastrophic)
Total offense: 450 yards/game → 392.5 yards/game
Rushing: 161.1 yards/game → 130.9 yards/game
Turnovers per game: 1.7 → 2.1

You don’t accidentally get worse at this many things. This is a systematic failure. The defense was even more brutal. UAB allowed 212.9 rushing yards per game in 2024—among the worst in the country. They gave up 34.2 points per game and finished 120th in scoring defense.

Six different opponents ran for more than 190 yards against them.

That’s not a personnel problem. That’s a coaching problem.

The Hail Mary

Dilfer knows he’s drowning.

So he’s throwing everything at the wall. New defensive coordinator Steve Russ brings legitimate credibility—two Super Bowl rings and six years of NFL coaching experience. The entire defensive staff was rebuilt with over 40 years of combined NFL experience.

Through the transfer portal, 19 players left, but 13+ new faces arrived:

Quarterback Ryder Burton from West Virginia
Running back Jevon Jackson from UTEP
Wide receiver Kaleb Brown from Iowa

When you flip half your roster in one offseason, you’re not building a program.

You’re admitting the previous two years were a complete waste of time.

The Tone-Deaf Moments That Define Him

But here’s what shows you who Trent Dilfer is as a coach.

After a September loss, he dismissed criticism by saying, “It’s not like this is freakin’ Alabama.” Think about that for a second. Your job is to build excitement around your program. Your job is to sell hope to your fanbase. And instead, you’re publicly lowering expectations and making excuses.

Even worse? On a UAB-produced podcast, Dilfer promoted Louisville’s volleyball program—where his daughter played—over UAB’s volleyball team. At the same time, his own Athletic Director tried to defend UAB’s program on the same podcast.

That’s not just tone-deaf.

That’s sabotage.

The Math On His Future

Oddsmakers set UAB’s win total at 4.5 games for 2025.

The under is favored. Most national previews have UAB finishing 13th out of 14 teams in the AAC. The schedule includes Tennessee, Memphis, Army, and Navy—teams that will expose every weakness.

To reach bowl eligibility, UAB needs to double its 2024 win total. Based on two years of evidence, that’s not happening. The financial reality makes it worse. UAB owes Dilfer $3.6 million if they fire him after 2025, dropping to $2.4 million after the season.

But keeping a failing coach to save money is how programs die.

Why This Matters Beyond UAB

This is a cautionary tale about the modern college football hiring process.

UAB had a program with momentum. Bill Clark had built something special before health issues forced his resignation. Bowl games. Competitive teams. Hope. Dilfer inherited a functional program and systematically destroyed it through inexperience and poor judgment.

The lesson?

Past playing success doesn’t translate to coaching success
Name recognition doesn’t win games
When you hire someone for the wrong reasons, you get predictable results

The Verdict

Trent Dilfer will coach the 2025 season at UAB.

But he won’t coach the 2026 season. The comprehensive staff changes and roster overhaul might buy him a few extra wins. But fundamentally, nothing has changed. He’s still the same coach who has never won a road game in college football.

Athletic Director Mark Ingram will eventually have to admit his mistake.

The question isn’t if—it’s when. UAB fans deserve better than watching their program become a cautionary tale. They deserve better than a coach who publicly diminishes their school while collecting a $1.3 million salary.

The 2025 season will be Trent Dilfer’s last at UAB.

Everyone knows it, including him.

The clock isn’t just ticking. It’s about to expire.

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