The college football offseason once again saw significant turnover atop the FBS with 29 programs — 22% of the subdivision (now at 134 teams with the addition of Kennesaw State) — changing coaches. That means major college football features a large swath of coaches entering honeymoon years with their new schools. Couple that with a number of programs finding their footing amid conference realignment, and there are more unknowns than knowns entering the 2024 college football season.
The Hot Seat Rankings have long been an accurate predictor in terms of job security, however. Over the last six years, 34 of the 50 coaches rated 4 or hotter in the preseason eventually lost their jobs that season (68%). That includes four of seven in 2023 with West Virginia’s Neal Brown, Arkansas State’s Butch Jones and Rice’s Mike Bloomgren not only surviving but feeling their seats cool down.
Entering the 2024 season, there are nine coaches firmly on the proverbial hot seat (rated 4 or higher). However, as is the case every offseason, you can be sure there will be far more than nine job changes given the coaching carousel is always spinning no matter the expectations entering a given year.
In addition to the full set of rankings below, we have detailed those nine coaches sitting on the hottest seats ahead of the 2024 campaign. There is also a group “Notable 3s” to keep an eye on throughout the season. Featured among them are Arkansas’ Sam Pittman — on the hottest seat of any coach this season — as one of three SEC bosses on the eight-man list. Florida’s Billy Napier and Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea are the others.
Below you can find where all 134 FBS coaches stand before the season begins. Check out the ratings key first and see where every coach in college football ranks with kickoff scheduled in less than two months.
|
5 |
Win or be fired |
1 |
|
4 |
Start improving now |
8 |
|
3 |
Pressure is mounting |
19 |
|
2 |
All good … for now |
49 |
|
1 |
Safe and secure |
44 |
|
0 |
Untouchable |
13 |
The table below is arranged in alphabetical order by school. Listed is each coach’s win-loss record at his current program and the number of years he’s led that team prior to 2024. If the coach’s rating has changed from the 2023 season, the old rating is listed in parenthesis. Asterisks (*) indicate that games won/lost as an interim coach immediately preceding a full-time hiring are included.
