Coaches on the Hot Seat Going Into 2024
Coaches on the Hot Seat Going Into 2024
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| Credit: CBS Sports |
While we are very far away from the 2024 college football season, it is important to remember that there is no off-season for the hot seat. Every year we see coaches start the season on the hotseat and finish off of it or get fired. Other times we also see coaches start off of the hot seat and then get fired at the end of the season. Nonetheless, here are my 5 most notable coaches on the hot seat going into 2024.
Billy Napier - Florida
There is no doubt that the Billy Napier era at UF has been very rocky. The best way to describe his tenure would be to say that this feels like a Willie Taggart situation but at UF instead of FSU. Despite starting his tenure with an upset win over then-7th-ranked Utah back in 2022, Napier has been anything but good. Despite having some elite recruiting classes, most of the talent at UF has entered the transfer portal looking to go somewhere they can win. After going 6-7 in his first year, Napier only struggled more by going 5-7 in his second year. The Gators looked non-competitive at certain points during the season and almost as though they didn’t care to be at the game sometimes. Even worse for Napier, the 2024 UF schedule is brutal with only one somewhat guaranteed win, that being Samford. Their final five games include: vs Georgia (in Jacksonville), at Texas, vs LSU, vs Ole Miss, and closes at Florida State. This schedule feels like a death sentence and so if Napier can win with this schedule, he should be safe, but if not, he will most assuredly be fired. Napier has also shown consistent issues when it comes to fielding the correct number of players for punt returns. UF often has either too little or too many men on the field at the same time.
Mario Cristobal - Miami
This may come as a surprise to many people however, Cristobal is not the coach he presents as. On paper, he is very good. His time at Oregon saw a PAC-12 championship along with a Rose Bowl victory and he has had Miami in the top 10 recruiting class for the class of 2024 recruiting rankings. However, this is only on paper. When watching his teams play, their games are riddled with poor game management as seen in the Miami vs. Georgia Tech game this past season where Cristobal opted to run the ball instead of take a knee with less than 30 seconds left in the game with the lead. This poor choice led to a miraculous Georgia Tech touchdown that derailed the rest of Miami’s season. Additionally, Cristobal has a 74-73 coaching record, meaning that he clearly has flaws in his coaching. The other critical thing to point out here is that Cristobal severely misused Tyler Van Dyke, a Heisman contender at the beginning of 2022. Going into Miami’s game against Florida State in 2022, Cristobal chose to play a clearly injured TVD and had made his shoulder injury significantly worse than it initially was. This injury also derailed the rest of TVD’s time in Miami as his confidence was all but lost in the coaching staff. If Cristobal doesn’t turn it around quick, he will have had a disappointing tenure in Miami in which his first two seasons were 5-7 and 7-6.
Lastly, in that loss to Georgia Tech, rather than take responsibility for his poor decisions, Cristobal opted to blame a kid for not holding the ball well enough. If only there was a play call that could’ve ended the game to avoid that situation…
Ryan Day - Ohio State
There is no doubt that a majority of college football programs would take Ryan Day in a heartbeat. However, Ohio State fans don’t see what others see. Despite arguably some of the best wide receiver rooms of all time at Ohio State, Coach Day has not had the trophies to show for it. Only winning the Big Ten twice during his tenure, Ohio State has failed to beat archrival Michigan 3 years in a row. I expect this trend to end this coming season as the game is not only being played at Ohio State but also because they have one of the best transfer portal classes in the country. If they lose to Michigan and fail to win the playoffs, we may see Ohio State do the unthinkable and fire Ryan Day. It is also important to point out that after barely sneaking by Notre Dame, Coach Day was more focused on calling out former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz.
Dave Aranda - Baylor
Even though he is one of the best coaches to watch in press conferences, he is NOT fielding great teams as of late. Despite winning the Big 12 in 2021 at Baylor, coach Aranda has seen a steep decline in his program’s performance. After a year in which many thought he’d be fired, there’s no reason to not suspect he’s on the hot seat going into week 1 next season. He certainly won’t appreciate being on this list!
Shane Beamer - South Carolina
While coach Shane Beamer may be related to the great Frank Beamer, the same recipe that worked at Virginia Tech 25 years ago, doesn’t work at South Carolina 25 years later. Who would have thought! As a result of this, Shane Beamer is often at press conferences trying to use lame humor to get out of harsh questions by the media as they continue to question his team’s performance week in and week out. It is hard to see him being able to turn it around at South Carolina as he simply hasn’t been able to muster up any true success in the SEC.
Billy Napier - Florida
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| Credit: Saturday Down South |
Mario Cristobal - Miami
This may come as a surprise to many people however, Cristobal is not the coach he presents as. On paper, he is very good. His time at Oregon saw a PAC-12 championship along with a Rose Bowl victory and he has had Miami in the top 10 recruiting class for the class of 2024 recruiting rankings. However, this is only on paper. When watching his teams play, their games are riddled with poor game management as seen in the Miami vs. Georgia Tech game this past season where Cristobal opted to run the ball instead of take a knee with less than 30 seconds left in the game with the lead. This poor choice led to a miraculous Georgia Tech touchdown that derailed the rest of Miami’s season. Additionally, Cristobal has a 74-73 coaching record, meaning that he clearly has flaws in his coaching. The other critical thing to point out here is that Cristobal severely misused Tyler Van Dyke, a Heisman contender at the beginning of 2022. Going into Miami’s game against Florida State in 2022, Cristobal chose to play a clearly injured TVD and had made his shoulder injury significantly worse than it initially was. This injury also derailed the rest of TVD’s time in Miami as his confidence was all but lost in the coaching staff. If Cristobal doesn’t turn it around quick, he will have had a disappointing tenure in Miami in which his first two seasons were 5-7 and 7-6.
Lastly, in that loss to Georgia Tech, rather than take responsibility for his poor decisions, Cristobal opted to blame a kid for not holding the ball well enough. If only there was a play call that could’ve ended the game to avoid that situation…
Ryan Day - Ohio State
There is no doubt that a majority of college football programs would take Ryan Day in a heartbeat. However, Ohio State fans don’t see what others see. Despite arguably some of the best wide receiver rooms of all time at Ohio State, Coach Day has not had the trophies to show for it. Only winning the Big Ten twice during his tenure, Ohio State has failed to beat archrival Michigan 3 years in a row. I expect this trend to end this coming season as the game is not only being played at Ohio State but also because they have one of the best transfer portal classes in the country. If they lose to Michigan and fail to win the playoffs, we may see Ohio State do the unthinkable and fire Ryan Day. It is also important to point out that after barely sneaking by Notre Dame, Coach Day was more focused on calling out former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz.
Dave Aranda - Baylor
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| Credit: AP |
Even though he is one of the best coaches to watch in press conferences, he is NOT fielding great teams as of late. Despite winning the Big 12 in 2021 at Baylor, coach Aranda has seen a steep decline in his program’s performance. After a year in which many thought he’d be fired, there’s no reason to not suspect he’s on the hot seat going into week 1 next season. He certainly won’t appreciate being on this list!
Shane Beamer - South Carolina
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| Credit: Sporting News |
While coach Shane Beamer may be related to the great Frank Beamer, the same recipe that worked at Virginia Tech 25 years ago, doesn’t work at South Carolina 25 years later. Who would have thought! As a result of this, Shane Beamer is often at press conferences trying to use lame humor to get out of harsh questions by the media as they continue to question his team’s performance week in and week out. It is hard to see him being able to turn it around at South Carolina as he simply hasn’t been able to muster up any true success in the SEC.
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