Hot Seat Rankings: Dilfer's crimes

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Can you smell fall in the air? The kick of pumpkin spice. The earthy aroma of orange and brown leaves scattered about. The heavenly scent of turkey in the oven and fresh rolls ready to be devoured at Thanksgiving. The burnt plastic from the the seat that two handfuls of college football head coaches currently sit on. It's intoxicating!

We're basically at the mid-point of the 2024 season, which means the reality of living on the hot seat is hitting in full force - and fanbases across the country officially smell blood. TO THE RANKINGS WE GO!

1. Kalen DeBoer - Alabama (4-1)

Just kidding - But welcome to being the Head Coach at Alabama, brother:

1. Trent Dilfer - UAB (1-4) (Last week: 9)

I won't give Trent Dilfer credit for much, but kudos to him for somehow finding multiple ways to piss off UAB's fanbase even more than he did last week.

UAB got steamrolled 70-21 by Tulane in their own building - which is ugly enough on its own before you see how they actually played:

There was nothing redeeming about this game for UAB. They were down 57-6 in the third quarter, gave up a 100-yard kick return TD, turned the ball over three times (one was a pick-six) and went 4-19 combined on third-and-fourth downs. In a cruel twist of fate, Tulane even scored during the middle of Dilfer's in-game sideline interview:

Does this look like a fanbase interested in rallying around their head coach?

His peers can't stand him, either! For some reason, Dilfer called two timeouts in the final 1:30 of play, despite being down 51 points. Tulane's Jon Sumrall wasn't pleased:

It somehow gets worse. With starting quarterback Jacob Zeno injured, Dilfer rolled with Jalen Kitna as his QB1. If you're unaware, Kitna –Yes, he's Jon's son– was dismissed from Florida in November 2022 after being arrested for distributing, possessing, and sharing child pornography involving images found on his cell phone. (The charges were later dropped in a deal with prosecutors and Kitna served six months' probation for each count.) It's one thing to embarrass your fans with the way your team plays. It's entirely another to embarrass them with decisions that tarnish the program's reputation. Just another day in the life of the self-described, "Worst college football coach in America":

2. Dave Aranda - Baylor (2-4) (Last week: 6)

There was nothing super egregious about Baylor's road loss to a strong Iowa State team, but the seconds on the clock are ticking a bit faster on Aranda as bowl eligibility becomes less likely. The Bears are off this week, but have to find a way to get at least four of their last six to save his job, and even that might not be enough:

3. Stan Drayton - Temple (1-5) (Last week: 3)

This is one of the most brutal ways to lose a game I've ever seen:

Drayton standing alone at midfield afterwards says it all.