It may be far too early for projecting how teams will perform but time is on our side when making a list of coaches on the hot seat. When a college football coach has a dubious win-loss record or has stumbled in one or more critical categories that prevent success it typically runs several seasons. Out of the blue we stumbled upon a piece by Jackson Sparks at Rotoballer.com that lists 11 CFB head coaches that Sparks feels should be a bit uncomfortable.
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There are a couple of ACC coaches that definitely should be on the list and, yes, we immediately found them. The interesting thing is how several others are tied to the conference either directly or indirectly. Thus, we’ve tossed them in with the alligators as well.
Let’s take a look and talk a little about them.
Hot Seat
Up first, Mike Norvell of Florida State. This is a somewhat contentious topic among fans. If you take a few minutes you’ll find social media ablaze with Norvell chatter. Some good, some bad. On Reddit just the other day the conversation went off the rails into blaming a website for turning fans against Norvell as opposed to his performance. Opinions. Everyone has one, right?
The thing with Norvell is he’s up against the wall with fans and alumni who expect nothing short of championship seasons every year. Now, the realistic among us know that can’t always be the case. He delivered a couple of solid winning records up front but suddenly the team has taken a nose-dive. Overall, the Seminoles are 33-27 under Norvell. Not good. In ’23 the team was 13-0 and then in ’24 they crashed and burned with a 2-10 finish.
So, with a pretty decent roster and a seat that is used to heat up a branding iron one might expect nothing short of perfection to keep the howling dogs away. Can Norvell deliver? You may ask, what’s keeping him around? Perhaps a substantial buyout, reported to be around $54.4-56 million. Norvell has donated $4.5 million of his 2025 salary toward fundraising efforts, made sweeping staff changes and sometimes a good-faith effort is more than enough. At least, for yet another year.
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Next up is Justin Wilcox who leads California. Wilcox has had a very long leash with 8 years and an overall record of 42-50. Is being fair to middling just okay with Golden Bears fans? At what point does that become unacceptable? Being in a new conference where football teams have different expectations may be the final nail for Wilcox. In his article Sparks mentions the special number six. Should the team not pull off at a minimum six wins this season could the hot seat become too much for Wilcox?
Unlike Jethro from the Beverley Hillbillies, the folks in Berkeley know how to ‘cipher’. If the numbers aren’t adding up then it’s time to implement a new business strategy in the athletic department. Wilcox has a substantial contract commitment, with his deal running through 2027 and carrying a $15 million buyout. In response to the mounting pressure, Wilcox has completely overhauled his offense. Until we get into the first few weeks of the season there’s no telling if this team can save their coaches hide. With Boston College, Duke, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Louisville and SMU on the schedule it doesn’t feel like a sure thing.
One nice memory from last year was the win over Auburn which is just one thing that has Hugh Freeze on the hot seat.
If you are a Virginia or Virginia Tech fan don’t fool yourself into thinking that Tony Elliott or Brent Pry aren’t smoking as well. Elliot has three abysmal seasons under his belt and is struggling to fill spots on the Cavaliers roster with top-grade talent. Can he survive a complete season? Definitely on the hot seat. When it comes to Pry his three seasons have shown some growth but with a challenging year ahead it might be enough for the Hokies to pull the plug if the wins don’t increase. A so-so candidate for the hot seat.
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Among the ‘Used To Be’s’ Brent Venables, former Clemson DC and now responsible for Oklahoma where fans are less than enthusiastic about the current state of affairs. Venables feels the heat and has taken over the defensive play calls for this season. Would Clemson fans take him back if things don’t work out? A fans demanding more kind of hot seat.
Knowing Louisville fans and the no love lost feelings they have for Cincinnati’s Scott Satterfield we can only imagine the loud roar of, ‘I told you so’s’ after seeing that he’s on a hot seat. Talking about driving with a flat tire, the Bearcats aren’t succeeding in the way they envisioned when they hired Satterfield. His overall record is 8-16 and yes, it may be too early to judge him just on that however the big picture – transfer portal, recruiting, etc., just points to this car blowing another tire this season. Pants on fire kind of hot seat.
