It happens seemingly before every college football season — head coaches get put on the hot seat whether they like it or not. In 2015-16, we saw a number of head coaches get fired or retire — Steve Spurrier, Mark Richt, Randy Edsall, Gary Pinkel, Steve Sarkisian and of course Art Briles are a few of the more notable coaches that were either fired or retired. And of course there was the whole LSU/Les Miles debacle that ended in Miles staying put in Baton Rogue —- for now. So heading into 2016, CBS Sports listed the coaches with hottest seats — the number 5 representing the hottest, and the lowest being zero.
Les Miles, LSU: 5 — This one isn't all that surprising, and if Miles manages to lost to Alabama and gets a couple more SEC West losses on the season next year, one could see his reign likely being over in Baton Rogue.
Jim Grobe, Baylor: 5 — Quite honestly, I have no idea why Grobe was even included in his list. Baylor has made no hints that they want to keep Grobe around, they even are calling him "acting head coach" in Waco. Grobe isn't on the hot seat, he's simply only being kept around for a season.
Charlie Strong, Texas: 4 — This one was a little interesting, but he does only have a 4 instead of 5. Strong has been under fire seemingly ever since he arrived in Austin, Tx. and the L's kept piling on for the Longhorns, but I'd say Strong has a year or two before the athletic department decides to make a coaching change. After all, he's only been there for just two short seasons.
Gus Malzahn and Kevin Sumlin: 3.5 — Now this is where it gets even more puzzling. CBS' scale uses a 3.5 as the "pressure mounting" phase of the hot seat. But it's a little odd that both these guys were given the same rating — both haven't finished higher than 4th in the SEC West the past two seasons, and the gap continues to widen between them and LSU/Alabama. If I had to put money on it, I'd say one of these guys has a higher probability to be let go if they have a 6-win or less season than say Charlie Strong, but that's just me — a lot of that depends on what happens next season.
See the rest of CBS' hot seat rankings by clicking here.
