College Football Coaching Hot Seat Ratings Including James Franklin

Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football, where throwing the ball in the stands after scoring a touchdown is not a great plan. First Quarter: Here He Comes Again, Somehow.

The season began with promise—some nice wins, some gaudy stats. Now reality has arrived—or, in many cases, resurfaced. Bad feelings are back for a few coaches after Saturday losses. The Dash looks at a few suddenly plummeting approval ratings.

Mike Norvell (11), Florida State

The start: 3–0, ranked as high as No. 8. The reality check: a 46–38 double-overtime loss at Virginia on Friday night. The Seminoles have now lost six straight Atlantic Coast Conference games.

The 2–10 debacle of 2024 appeared to be put to bed with the fast start, which consisted of a great win over Alabama followed by a schedule that might have been too easy—bludgeoning an FCS opponent (East Texas A&M) and the worst FBS program (Kent State). Florida State didn’t look ready for its first road game against an improved Virginia team, giving up season highs in rushing yards (211), total yards (440), yards per play (5.24) and points (46). Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn also might have failed to fully capitalize on the Noles’ superiority in the inside running game, with a season-high 33 pass attempts and a season-low 48 rushes. The Cavaliers seemed to have little answer for Ousmane Kromah and Gavin Sawchuk between the tackles.

Next: Norvell can win everyone back immediately on Saturday at home against No. 3 Miami, in what was looking like a throwback monster matchup between the two until the Charlottesville, Va., flop. It will be the Hurricanes’ turn to go on the road for the first time and show what they’ve got in a hostile atmosphere. If the Hurricanes roll, discontent will escalate in Tallahassee.

Lincoln Riley (12), USC

The start: 4–0, ranked as high as No. 21. The reality check: a 34–32 loss at Illinois, dropping the Trojans to 1–5 in Big Ten road games played two or more time zones East.

Asking its defense to hold a lead on the road has been a doomed request since USC joined the Big Ten. The Trojans fought back from two scores down to take a 32–31 lead with 1:55 left, and what happened thereafter was utterly predictable—the Illini drove for the winning field goal, picking up 39 yards on the ground and 15 by way of a pass interference penalty. Last year, USC gave up an 89-yard winning drive to Michigan; a 75-yard winning drive to Minnesota; a 75-yard tying drive to Penn State (though that one was at home); a 47-yard winning drive to Maryland; and a 39-yard winning drive to Washington.

D’Anton Lynn, Riley’s well-paid defensive coordinator, has improved that unit—but he hasn’t fixed it. The Trojans surrendered 331 passing yards to Illinois and sacked Luke Altmyer only once, a week after Indiana sacked him seven times. Star safety Kamari Ramsey missed the Illinois game with food poisoning, a major blow, but USC’s secondary depth isn’t what it needs to be.

Next: USC plays only two games in October, but they’re both tough—home against No. 20 Michigan and at No. 21 Notre Dame. After that there is one more Midwest trip, to Nebraska, and a road date with No. 2 Oregon. 

James Franklin (13), Penn State

The start: 3–0, ranked as high as No. 2. The reality check: a 30–24 home overtime loss to Oregon, marking Franklin’s 21st loss in 25 games against a Top 10 opponent.

Dash colleague Bryan Fischer chronicled the latest Nittany Lions disappointment, including the money quote from Franklin: “It’s really not a narrative, it’s factual. It’s facts.” The song remains the same until Penn State does something to change the tune.

This was a particularly tough outcome for senior quarterback Drew Allar, who led the Nittany Lions back from a 17–3 deficit to a 24–17 lead, only to throw a game-ending interception in the second overtime. Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman read Allar’s eyes looking for a wheel route to his tight end, and this one ended similarly to Penn State’s playoff loss to Notre Dame.

Next: Penn State plays the two worst teams in the Big Ten, UCLA and Northwestern, before hitting a stretch of Iowa on the road, Ohio State on the road and Indiana at home. Losing to an excellent Oregon team is by no means fatal from a playoff standpoint, but it does keep the big-game cloud hovering over the program.

Kirby Smart (14), Georgia

The start: 3–0, ranked as high as No. 4. The reality check: Alabama did what it does to the Bulldogs, winning 24–21 in Athens, Ga., marking Smart’s seventh loss in eight meetings with the Crimson Tide.

Here is the difference between Smart’s Alabama demon and Franklin’s failings against highly ranked teams—Penn State simply might not be good enough to beat the best, whereas Georgia has been at least the equal of the Tide on several occasions that ended in losses. Smart’s Bulldogs just find ways to lose to Alabama and otherwise beat the daylights out of everyone else. In two defeats against Kalen DeBoer, Georgia’s vaunted defense has been shredded early. Also, in this one, Smart opted not to kick a tying field goal in the fourth quarter and Georgia was stopped on fourth down.

Next: A get-well game against what might be the worst team in the SEC, Kentucky. Then it’s a gauntlet—but the gauntlet doesn’t include Alabama, at least not until a potential SEC championship game rematch.

Hugh Freeze (15), Auburn

The start: 3–0, ranked as high as No. 22. The reality check: Successive losses to Oklahoma and Texas A&M, in which the Tigers scored a total of 27 points.

In an objective vacuum, there is no shame in road losses by a combined 13 points to a pair of undefeated SEC opponents that have also scored major nonconference victories. But how they’ve happened underscores the inconvenient truth: Onetime offensive maestro Freeze can’t get his team in the end zone against quality defenses. Auburn was 14th in the SEC in scoring offense last season in league games, and is 14th thus far this year as well.

Auburn was a futile 0 for 13 on third downs against A&M, and 0 for 2 on fourth downs. Quarterback Jackson Arnold has taken 82 yards in losses in two SEC games, which is partly on the Tigers’ offensive line but also partly on him. Freeze hitching the Auburn wagon to the Oklahoma transfer was a chance proposition to begin with, and it isn’t working out well so far.

Next: After an open date, Auburn hosts Georgia and Missouri. Those are opportunities to turn around the season—or to bury it.

Brian Kelly (16), LSU

The start: 4–0, ranked as high as No. 3. The reality check: a 24–19 loss at Ole Miss, as the Tigers’ offense remains fitful against quality competition.

In games against Clemson, Florida and Ole Miss, LSU averaged 18.7 points. The much-improved LSU defense did enough to make that work against Clemson and the Gators, but not against the Rebels. Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, who was attracting Heisman Trophy and NFL No. 1 pick buzz coming into the season, was the second-best QB on the field Saturday to Ole Miss’s Division II transfer, Trinidad Chambliss. Or at least he was in the second-best scheme, because LSU cannot run the ball sufficiently to balance out its offense.

In Kelly’s first three seasons, he often had to outscore quality opponents to make up for a leaky defense. Now that formula has flipped, despite having a third-year starting quarterback. LSU is 15th in the SEC in passing plays of 30 yards or longer with just four, and tied for 12th in scrimmage plays of 30 yards or longer.

Next: After a needed open date, the Tigers have four ranked opponents remaining on the schedule—three of them on the road. There was an expectation coming into the season that Kelly would make the 12-team playoff; this team will have to improve to do so.

Pat Narduzzi (17), Pittsburgh

The start: 2–0 against light competition. The reality check: come-from-ahead consecutive losses to West Virginia and Louisville.

The Panthers led West Virginia by 10 points midway through the fourth quarter and lost in overtime. Then they led Louisville by 17 points after one quarter and by 10 at halftime and lost in regulation. Pitt threw three interceptions against the Cardinals and completely bungled the punting game, with punter Caleb Junko dropping a snap to set up a Louisville touchdown and returner Kenny Johnson muffing a punt (after a questionable no-call when he was trucked by a Louisville cover man who was—maybe—nudged into the collision). 

Now in his 11th season, Narduzzi’s snug fit at Pitt appears to be fraying. After going 20–7 in 2021 and ’22, he’s been 12–17 since.

Next: In a season that finishes with Notre Dame, Georgia Tech and Miami, Pitt better stack some wins in the next five weeks if it wants to go bowling.

Scott Frost (18), Central Florida

The start: 3–0, highlighted by a thumping of Bill Belichick and North Carolina. The reality check: The Knights were routed on the road by previously disappointing Kansas State, 34–20, in a game that was rarely close.

UCF had the misfortune of catching a healthy Dylan Edwards for the first time this season, and the dynamic running back hit the Knights for 166 rushing yards. But Frost’s quarterbacks also contributed four turnovers to the team’s demise. Hopes for a quick climb up the ranks of the fluid Big 12 in Frost’s return season are now being tempered.

Next: It’s a winnable October, with games against Kansas, Cincinnati and West Virginia. But also losable. Who knows with this league.

Bill O’Brien (19), Boston College

The start: A romp past overmatched FCS opponent Fordham. The reality check: Everything thereafter, as the Eagles have lost a heartbreaker to Michigan State and ACC games to the Bay Area, Stanford and California. (The Cal loss was also a heartbreaker, with BC throwing an interception in the end zone in the final seconds.)

This is a hard job, and the hope was that O’Brien could provide a schematic advantage that evens the playing field a bit in the ACC. Starting this season 0–2 in the league is a disappointment, particularly giving up 30 points to a bad Stanford team. BC has surrendered passing touchdowns of 41, 51 and 69 yards this season, plus a pick-six and the Dylan Lonergan interception in the end zone against the Golden Bears.

Next: Boston College might be favored in only one remaining game, against Connecticut. The Saturday game at Pitt should be a battle of desperate teams.

Brent Brennan (20), Arizona

The start: 3–0, highlighted by a gritty win over Kansas State to begin Big 12 play. The reality check: a 39–14 drubbing at Iowa State in the Wildcats’ first road game. The Cyclones led 22–0 and coasted home in the second half.

Brennan was on the hot seat after a 4–8 debut season with a new athletic director. Beating K-State cooled things off, but that may revert to uncomfortably warm after walking into an ambush in Ames, Iowa.

Next: Arizona plays the worst team in the Big 12, Oklahoma State, but follows that with unbeatens BYU and Houston. Those games could decide whether the Wildcats land in the top or bottom half of the conference.

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