Hot Seat Rankings: The coaching carousel officially begins
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It took a while, but we finally have our first firings of the season. Let's go over them before we get to this week's rankings.
FIRED
Will Hall - Southern Miss (1-6)
Hall was fourth in last week's rankings, so it's no surprise that Southern Miss pushed the button after the Golden Eagles lost to Arkansas State:
Sources: Southern Miss is firing coach Will Hall. They are 1-6 on the season and Hall is 14-30 in four seasons there. pic.twitter.com/mWfwu8Pm3b
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) October 20, 2024
It's time to bring him home to Hattiesburg:
Mike Houston - ECU (3-4)
This is one that I dropped the ball on when it comes to the rankings. I never thought of Houston once, but it does make sense that they did it after ECU got wrecked in back-to-back weeks by Charlotte and Army:
Houston was in his sixth season at ECU. Won 15 total games in 2021 and ‘22 but was just 5-14 the last two years, including a 3-4 start to this season
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) October 20, 2024
As you've already seen in the cover image - it's time to bring him home to Greenville:
Hot Seat Rankings: The coaching carousel officially begins
1. Trent Dilfer - UAB (1-6) (Last week: 1)
UAB outgained USF 485-355 and actually led 19-7 in the third quarter, but ultimately took a 35-25 L. I'll hand Dilfer an ounce of credit, though, given that they lost their previous three by a 52-12 average. Progress!
Dilfer also didn't say anything stupid afterwards, which has to be considered a minor improvement after how the last month has gone. It's not enough to pry him away from the top spot, but it also wasn't a complete disaster. In more positive news, tomorrow's home game against 2-5 Tulsa coming off a loss to Temple is legitimately winnable. But, the reality here is that Dilfer's getting fired at some point in the next two months - dropping this one may be the game where it actually happens.
2. Neal Brown - West Virginia (3-4) (Last week: 3)
Piggybacking off the "Didn't say anything stupid," train-of-thought, Neal Brown at least has to be happy he didn't have PR damage control duties again this week. His comments last week –in addition to West Virginia's play– shot him right near the top of the rankings, and I'm not sure he's coming back down any time soon. WVU got smoked by Kansas State at home, neutering one of the most passionate fanbases in the country in the process:
Literally everyone leaving the stadium as West Virginia once again gets vaporized by a good team is telling each other they're glad we had a good time.
— The Smoking Musket (@smokingmusket) October 20, 2024
The university can pretend it's being overblown as much as they want but this is what the program is now.
Unless WVU really finishes strong, the damage from Brown's comments combined with a poor record might be too severe to overcome.
3. Mike MacIntyre - Florida International (2-6) (Last week: 10)
I say all the time that the margins on the hot seat are slim, and FIU's 10-7 loss to Sam Houston is just another example. The Panthers trailed 10-7 with just under two minutes left, possessing the ball at their own 37. Beating a surprising 5-2 Sam Houston team wouldn't just wash the bitter taste of losing to UTEP last week away, but provide MacIntyre a crucial piece of evidence that things are heading in the right direction. It looked like he'd get the chance, too, after FIU converted a fourth-and-nine to get into Sam Houston territory with 1:14 left. Unfortunately, the play got called back for holding. MacIntyre's reaction speaks volumes:
The Panthers couldn't convert on fourth-and-19, falling to 2-6. I still think there's a realistic chance MacIntyre gets a fourth season –The same scenario worked out well with him at Colorado in 2016– but I wouldn't blame FIU for cutting bait if that's the direction they choose.