After winning his third national title and looking poised to contend for a fourth next year, Urban Meyer has made a convincing case to be considered the best coach in college football. Of course, nobody is questioning Meyer’s job security. However, several coaches around the nation must watch their back and be wary of that pink slip heading into 2015.
Slow starts and more could realistically end these coaches’ tenures swiftly and without apology, leaving them unemployed before Christmas. Here are the five coaches with the hottest seats heading into next season.
T-5. Tim Beckman (Illinois)
Beckman’s Illini finally reached a bowl game in his third season, but a 35-18 loss to Louisiana Tech in the Heart of Dallas Bowl didn’t do much to inspire his detractors. A 6-7 record was an improvement on his respective 2-10 and 4-8 marks to begin his Illinois tenure, but he needs to show he can shatter the glass ceiling of mediocrity before gaining real votes of confidence. And with only four Big Ten victories in three years, he needs to do it fast.
T-5. Larry Fedora (North Carolina)
After going 8-4 in his first season, the Tar Heels have regressed each year under Larry Fedora. UNC was a preseason Top 25 team in 2014, only to finish 6-7 with just four wins against FBS competition. Such lowlights include yielding 70 points to East Carolina and a three-touchdown loss to Rutgers in the Quick Lane Bowl. The only improvement he’s made from the Butch Davis Era are his own abs, which might not be enough to save his job if North Carolina falters again next year.
4. Kirk Ferentz (Iowa)
In the last four years, Iowa has finished fourth, second, sixth and fourth in its division and has lost three out of four to lowly rival Iowa State. It’s hard to part ways with a 16-year head coach (Iowa has only had two coaches since 1979), but it’s important to recognize when things have grown stagnant.
Iowa hasn’t won a bowl since 2010 and has finished with a winning conference record just once over the last five seasons. Waffling between 7-6 and 8-5 seasons can’t go on forever, and despite the sturdy resume Ferentz built at Iowa and his absurd contract through 2020, the Hawkeyes could be in the market for fresh coaching blood by year’s end.
3. Mike London (Virginia)
In five years, London is 23-38 with just one bowl appearance, a loss to Auburn in the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl. After bottoming out to a 2-10 mark in 2013, his team improved by three wins in 2014, including single-digit losses to UCLA, BYU and Virginia Tech. Unfortunately, the Cavaliers still finished last in the ACC Coastal, going 3-5 in conference.
It might take a small miracle to extend London’s tenure into a seventh year and beyond — fans didn’t even want to see a sixth. London is a well-regarded recruiter, but has only been able to finish above the ACC cellar once during his tenure (11-29 conference record, four last place finishes). If he can’t turn recruits into results this fall, that could be it.
2. Paul Rhoads (Iowa State)
Iowa State signed Rhoads to a 10-year, $20 million extension in December 2011 after a 6-6 regular season, which tells you how low the bar is set in Ames. The Cyclones have averaged two conference wins over the last four seasons and have finished under .500 every year since Rhoads’ first season in 2009.
Rhoads’ win total has dropped from six to three to two over the last three seasons. There’s almost nowhere to go but up, but we’ll see how long Rhoads can make Iowa State feel content being chained to his contract.
1. Al Golden (Miami)
Miami started 6-3 in 2014, but blew a lead against Florida State, lost by double digits to Virginia and Pitt and fell to South Carolina in the Independence Bowl. Golden’s Hurricanes have averaged just over seven wins a season and are .500 in the lean ACC. Disgruntled former players and petitions and flyovers have made ‘Canes fans’ feelings well advertised and frustrations will boil over this season if Golden can’t break his string of mediocrity at a school used to competing for national titles.
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