Welcome once again to the CBS Sports annual Hot Seat Rankings, where the most coveted jobs in college athletics face their greatest tests. This offseason saw 25 coaching changes, but only 16 involved firings. Out of those, only three occurred at the Power Four level. But last year’s quiet could give way to a loud coaching carosuel in 2025-26, with several coaches at blueblood programs facing pivotal years.
With the retirement of the great Dennis Dodd — the originator of this ranking — our rankings have undergone a realignment of their own. Now, nine of our college football insiders and experts each gave the 136 coaches in FBS a rating between “0” and “5”. Those scores are combined and averaged to get to a hot seat score for each coach.
One coach who received fives across the board — and we’ll get to that. No coach got all zeros, though Jeff Monken, Kirby Smart and Marcus Freeman received zeros from all but one voter. Before we get into it, here’s the criteria we used and how many coaches fell into each category in 2025.
|
5 |
Win or be fired |
1 |
|
4-4.99 |
Start improving now |
8 |
|
3-3.99 |
Pressure is mounting |
16 |
|
2-2.99 |
All good … for now |
23 |
|
1-1.99 |
Safe and secure |
60 |
|
0-0.99 |
Untouchable |
28 |
Last year featured an astounding run of success for the coaches on this list. Out of the 11 coaches featured, only three were ultimately fired. Every single power conference coach returned. Baylor’s Dave Aranda, BYU’s Kalani Sitake and Miami’s Mario Cristobal managed to put together breakout campaigns, while Ohio State’s Ryan Day persisted through pressure to win the national championship.
It’s no fun to see your team’s coach appear below, but keep the faith. Things can turn around in a hurry.
There are 14 coaches to field a 3.5 or higher in the ratings, including nine to hit a four or worse. Narrowly on the other side of the aisle sits Mike Norvell (Florida State), Brian Kelly (LSU) and Lincoln Riley (USC), who each have a 3.33. Without improvement, all three could make next year’s list — or worse. With that said, here are the 14 coaches who are facing extreme pressure heading into the 2025 season.
America’s Hottest Seat
2025 Hot Seat: Now or Never
2025 Hot Seat: Getting warmer
Read the full article here
