10 college football coaches who need turnarounds to avoid 2017 hot seat

Nov 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly argues a call in the fourth quarter against the USC Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC won 45-27. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly argues a call in the fourth quarter against the USC Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC won 45-27. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 26, 2016; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach David Cutcliffe looks on from the sideline during the second half against Miami Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium. Miami won 40-21. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 26, 2016; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach David Cutcliffe looks on from the sideline during the second half against Miami Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium. Miami won 40-21. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

In some ways, David Cutcliffe is an even stranger selection than Mark Dantonio for this list. After all, Duke is first and foremost a basketball school, and any gridiron success has long been seen as a bonus. But Cutcliffe has also raised expectations in Durham, earning four straight postseason appearances between 2012 and 2015. Once regular postseason appearances become the new normal at a school, any deviation from that norm comes with the threat of the hot seat.

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Regression back to the norm was always to be expected for the Blue Devils, and nobody can reasonably expect that they’ll contend for the ACC Coastal every year. Even the ten-win season of 2013 is probably more than most fans would demand from Cutcliffe. But if Duke fails to reach a bowl game for the second straight year, especially given the glut of opportunities in an ever expanding postseason, calls for change will begin to increase.

Few coaches enjoy either the resilience or the institutional support that Cutcliffe had in his first four seasons of losing records. But once he had his recruits in place and established Duke as a respectable team, that institutional support can only go so far. Another losing record by the Blue Devils could put Cutcliffe’s tenure in jeopardy.