If you’d been counting the number of head coaches fired in the 2025 college football season on two hands, you’d have run out of available fingers in one of the most remarkable hiring and firing cycles we’ve ever seen. There are remarkably few coaches left with legitimate concerns over their employment status, but there are still some for whom the college football hot seat burns.
Heading out of Week 11, which coaches are currently sitting on the college football hot seat, and how quickly could it burn?
Bill O’Brien, Boston College
Bill O’Brien started Week 11 with a fiery tirade against local media covering the Boston College Eagles, proclaiming that no one at the program was “down” about recent performances and results. By the end of the week, and following a pathetic showing against SMU in the annual Red Bandanna Game, the second-year coach of the ACC program looked defeated.
Not for the first time this year, O’Brien accepted the blame for a dire display, reiterating that he’s not doing a good enough job of coaching. His desire not to throw the players under the bus is admirable. Yet, how many careers could you openly say you aren’t good enough for without a hint of concern for your job security?
The Eagles are now 1-9 overall, 0-6 in the ACC, and O’Brien should be firmly considered as being on the college football hot seat. A loss in the season finale to an equally abysmal Syracuse side could be the trigger to clean house on Chestnut Hill, if the Eagles’ head coach even lasts that long.
Mike Locksley, Maryland
While the college football world kept a watchful eye on the Hugh Freeze situation a week ago, a spurious report leaked information that Maryland Terrapins head coach Mike Locksley had been fired in the wake of a shellacking by the Indiana Hoosiers. As the hours ticked by, no official confirmation from the school came forth, and by Monday, it appeared he was safe.
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That won’t stop the calls from fans who are frustrated by another wasted season. After losing to Rutgers on Saturday, the Terrapins have now won just one game outside of September in the past two seasons. The three-season run of bowl wins and successful campaigns feels further away with every passing week, and Locksley remains on the college football hot seat.
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.
At the time of writing, the Bearkats are down by 10 points at the half to an Oregon State Beavers side that fired its head coach earlier in the season and has just two wins prior to Week 11. Longo is meant to be an offensive juggernaut of a coach, but his offense can’t score. Meanwhile, the defense is one of the worst in the country, an absolute crime when you consider the foundation K.C. Keeler established on that side of the ball.
Jeff Choate, Nevada
When the Nevada Wolf Pack knocked off the Troy Trojans and Oregon State last fall, it seemed like Jeff Choate could do no wrong. The latter result, in particular, saw the head coach held aloft as an example of a coach who, when life gave you lemons, could turn those into the world’s most expensive champagne. Yet, the program reeled off six successive losses following that mid-October night, and things haven’t improved since.
Nevada is now 1-8 without a Mountain West win after a completely one-sided loss to the Utah State Aggies in Week 11. Their lone win of this season came in a narrow victory over FCS Sacramento State. Heading into this weekend, they’d averaged just 14.0 points per game, ranking 133rd in the country for scoring offense while allowing the 92nd most points per game.
Choate is now 4-18 as the Nevada head coach, a record in itself that should be worthy of a college football hot seat conversation. Strangely enough, it’s one that the Wolf Pack leader held with local media as his team prepared for a date with the Aggies that could signal the end of his tenure.
“Hey, trust me, I feel it every single day,” Choate said of the pressure. “I’m very well aware that this is a production-based business, and we have not won a lot of football games at the University of Nevada. Nobody should feel sorry for Brian Kelly, and nobody should be sorry for Jeff Choate. This is what we signed up for. I don’t know exactly what the answer is to that.”
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
- Shane Beamer, South Carolina Gamecocks
- Dell McGee, Georgia State Panthers
