Bret Bielema, Arkansas
America’s least favorite pumpkin-shaped coach found himself on the hot seat after a 1-3 start that included a home loss to the Toledo Rockets.
However, the Razorbacks have won two out of their last three, including a quadruple-overtime victory over Auburn last Saturday, and can level their record at 4-4 if they manage to beat FCS juggernaut Tennessee-Martin this weekend. A bowl berth for the Razorbacks might be a tall order (their final four games: at Ole Miss, at LSU, vs. Mississippi State, vs. Missouri), but missing out on the postseason doesn’t necessarily spell doom for Fayetteville’s resident troll.
Firing Bielema would cost Arkansas $15.4 million, so it would likely take a catastrophic meltdown in order for the Razorbacks to sever ties with ol’ Bert.
Mike London, Virginia
With Al Golden out at Miami, Virginia’s Mike London has risen to the top of the list of ACC coaches on the hot seat.
The former police officer has seemingly been on the hot seat since 2012, but has miraculously managed to remain employed up to this point. The Cavaliers have gone just 25-43 with London at the helm, including a 12-31 record in conference play. Expectations aren’t exactly sky-high at Virginia, but even that level of ineptitude won’t be tolerated.
The Cavaliers will most likely need to reach bowl eligibility for London to avoid the chopping block. With their record currently sitting at 2-5, the chances of that happening are looking rather slim.
Of course, if the school hasn’t fired him yet, it wouldn’t seem that far-fetched if he sticks around for another year.
Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech
There’s no denying the impact Frank Beamer has had on the Virginia Tech football program during his 28-plus seasons with the Hokies.
Beamer has won 233 games at Virginia Tech and has recorded 275 victories overall during his storied career. He helped build the Hokies into a program that was relevant on the national stage, including a stretch from 2004 to 2011 that saw them compile an 84-24 record and post eight consecutive seasons of at least 10 wins.
However, the Hokies have been stuck in neutral since 2012. Over that span, they’ve gone 25-22 and have lost seven of their last nine conference games at Lane Stadium, a venue that was once considered one of the toughest places to play for opponents in all of college football.
Paul Rhoads, Iowa State
Trying to build a consistent winner at Iowa State is like trying to kill Jason Voorhees — try as you may, it’s pretty much impossible.
Still, fans do expect the team that’s fielded to be something resembling a competitive squad, and the Cyclones have mostly failed to even clear that low bar over the last few years.
Rhoads’ tenure in Ames started off promising enough — the Cyclones posted a 24-27 record and made three bowl games in his first seasons at the helm — but the program has been worse than a Friday the 13th sequel since 2013.
Iowa State has won just seven of its 31 games and will be hard-pressed to find another win this year. In all likelihood, Rhoads will not be patrolling the sidelines of Ames in 2016.
Darrell Hazell, Purdue
The Purdue Boilermakers are bad and they should feel bad.
Since Hazell took over as head coach prior to the 2013 season, Purdue has posted an abysmal 5-26 record, including a 1-18 mark in Big Ten play. In Hazell’s defense, he took over a program that was in complete disarray, but they’ve made essentially no progress since his arrival in West Lafayette. Of his five wins, only two have come against FBS opponents.
The Boilermakers seem perpetually stuck in the Big Ten cellar, and it’s hard to imagine that changing under Hazell.
With fan apathy at an all-time high and the on-field performance at an all-time low, Hazell has as good a chance of sticking around past this season as a car in a horror movie has of starting on the first try.
Kyle Flood, Rutgers
How Kyle Flood is still even employed at Rutgers is utterly mystifying and will be studied by scholars for centuries to come.
A myriad of off-field incidents plagued the Scarlet Knights this past offseason and led many to call for Flood to be fired. But, thanks to administrative incompetence and/or divine intervention, he got off with just a three-game suspension.
Still, Rutgers sits at 3-4 currently and scraping together three more wins to reach bowl eligibility might be a tall order for the Scarlet Knights. If Rutgers misses the postseason, it’s really hard to imagine Flood not being shown the door. Then again, it was hard to fathom that he’d last this long before the season started, so perhaps he’s discovered the secret to coaching immortality.
