Could another week of the 2025 college football season result in the firing of a head coach? It’s becoming increasingly rare to go another seven days around the sun without a head coach casualty, as usually reserved ADs and university presidents throw caution (and millions of dollars) to the wind in pursuit of a change in direction and the pursuit of the ultimate goal.
Heading out of Week 10, which coaches are currently sitting on the college football hot seat, and how quickly could it burn?
Hugh Freeze, Auburn
If a Week 9 win on the road at the Arkansas Razorbacks earned Hugh Freeze a week of reprieve from the college football hot seat, then the result in Week 10 should expedite his exit from The Plains. While the Auburn Tigers were losing to ranked teams week after week, there was a case to be made for his continued tenure, but a loss to the Kentucky Wildcats is wildly different.
The defeat to a team that is in a similar situation piles the pressure on Freeze, compounded by a quarterback change designed to strengthen his security, which backfired spectacularly as the Tigers labored to just three points and 123 passing yards. For a renowned “quarterback whisperer,” the appalling play at the position is particularly damning.
The team has scored just six touchdowns in its five SEC losses, was averaging just 24.8 points per game heading into the Week 10 defeat to Kentucky, and ranked last in the SEC for passing offense with just 170.0 yards per game. No other team in the conference has logged fewer passing touchdowns during the 2025 college football season.
The fanbase is tired and angry of the usual rhetoric around “being close” and other such platitudes that Freeze doles out to the media in the wake of another defeat. When the consumer stops buying the snake oil, it’s time to move on from the salesman. With every passing week, that’s precisely how the situation has unfolded for the Auburn fans.
Bill O’Brien, Boston College
Unlike the first coach on our college football hot seat list, Bill O’Brien didn’t suffer an embarrassing defeat in Week 10. In fact, the Boston College Eagles put up more of a fight against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish than many would have given them credit for ahead of the game. However, that speaks more to everything that came before than what transpired on Saturday.
Year 2 under O’Brien has been nothing but an unmitigated disaster.
MORE: 5 Candidates to Replace Bill O’Brien if Boston College Fires Head Coach
For a head coach who has dined out on his reputation as an offensive guru, the Eagles have had quarterback conundrums and inefficiencies in all phases, while the defense has been one of the more porous in the nation, allowing 34.4 points per game ahead of the Notre Dame loss.
Such has been the malaise around the program that many fans have begun to wonder if O’Brien already has his eyes on an offensive coordinator role within one of the teams that have already fired their coach. Whether that’s true or not, it is a cold, hard fact that the Eagles are the only ACC team without a conference win through Week 10 of the 2025 season.
Phil Longo, Sam Houston
A first-year head coach on the college football hot seat? It might sound ridiculous, but there should be a world where the Sam Houston Bearkats seriously consider moving on from Phil Longo at the end of this season — or sooner. This proud team is a shadow of its former self, and a legacy hire that came with much excitement has reduced solid foundations to a crumbling mess.
The latest embarrassment came at the hands of a 55-14 shellacking by the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. The defence has given up 30+ points in all but one game this season, which is a major concern. However, it’s the performance of an offense that returned quarterback Hunter Watson that is particularly disappointing, given Longo’s history. Just 16.6 points per game ranks 130th out of the 136 FBS teams through Week 10.
Luke Fickell, Wisconsin
The Wisconsin Badgers were on a bye in Week 10, but that doesn’t remove Luke Fickell from the college football hot seat; it merely gives him an extra week in the role. Here’s what we wrote about his candidacy one week ago:
“In the week leading up to the 21-7 loss to the Oregon Ducks, Wisconsin Badgers AD Chris McIntosh issued a vote of confidence in head coach Luke Fickell. In it, he discusses supporting the program’s leader, adding financial investment to help the Madison-based program compete in the new era of college football. It was the second confidence vote of the year.
During the broadcast of the Week 9 defeat, which is nothing to be embarrassed about in isolation, Tim Brando criticized the media and “all these podcasters” for heaping pressure on Fickell and casting aspersions on a situation about which they know nothing, one week after a media storm about how the program facilitates (or doesn’t facilitate) NFL scouts on campus.
The very existence of this college football hot seat column kind of plays into Brando’s narrative here. However, there is absolutely no smoke without fire, and regardless of the vocal campaigning on behalf of the head coach, the simple truth is that Fickell has failed to meet expectations at Wisconsin.
The team is now 2-6 and staring down the barrel of missing bowl eligibility in successive seasons for the first time since 1991-1992. Once a frontrunner in the old Big Ten divisional system, the Badgers are now a bottom-dweller, one of just four teams in the league without a conference win. The axe might not swing this week, but it should be a matter of when, not if.”
Other Head Coaches on the College Football Hot Seat
- Derek Mason, Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
- Mark Stoops, Kentucky Wildcats
- Dabo Swinney, Clemson Tigers
- Mike Norvell, Florida State Seminoles
- Deion Sanders, Colorado Buffaloes
- Mike Locksley, Maryland Terrapins
- Shane Beamer, South Carolina Gamecocks
- Dell McGee, Georgia State Panthers
