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College Football: 10 coaches on the hottest seats entering 2018

By Patrick Mayhorn

LAWRENCE, KS - NOVEMBER 28: Head coach David Beaty of the Kansas Jayhawks watches from the sidelines during the game against the Kansas State Wildcats at Memorial Stadium on November 28, 2015 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
LAWRENCE, KS - NOVEMBER 28: Head coach David Beaty of the Kansas Jayhawks watches from the sidelines during the game against the Kansas State Wildcats at Memorial Stadium on November 28, 2015 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images)
(Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images) /

8. Major Applewhite

Major Applewhite’s situation at Houston is eerily similar to Orgeron’s at LSU. He’s a former wunderkind, that rose up the coaching ranks with a ton of hype. He’s also a coach with a stigma attached to him from past experience, succeeding one of the best coaches in school history, and trying to keep an extremely anxious fan base happy.

In Applewhite’s case, that stigma comes from his failure as the offensive coordinator at his alma mater, Texas. Those failures have been well publicized, and have made Applewhite a bit infamous in college football circles. Throw that in with him coming right after Tom Herman, and add in a rough first season, and you’ve got the recipe for a hot seat.

Houston’s 7-5 2017 season, wasn’t awful, but it was certainly enough to anger Houston fans and boosters. There’s some context that needs to be looked at with Houston right now. This is a crucial time for the program, for one big reason: realignment. Everyone around the program thinks they have a shot at the Big 12 in the next round of realignment.

That makes winning a huge deal right now. The Cougars want to be an attractive offer for power conferences, and after one season, Applewhite didn’t prove he could do that. Houston fans also like a certain way of playing the game. They like the air raid, and devastating opponent with the passing game.

Houston’s passing game in 2017 was pedestrian at best, and that’s just another issue for Applewhite to fix. He hired to Kendal Briles to help with that, but the Baylor scandal circling Briles has made that hire yet another controversial one.

What does Applewhite need?

He needs to calm everything down. He needs to avoid scandal and get eyes back on the field, and off his off the field antics. If the offense is better in 2018, all will be forgiven, especially if Houston is back to winning AAC titles. It may not take an AAC title to win fans back over, but it will take a step towards that goal.

Nine wins would probably get it done, and that seems realistic enough for this season. With D’Eriq King leading the offense, and Ed Oliver holding the defense together, improvement is likely. However, Applewhite needs to be the firm leader of this team. If he can rally the team and get them to a solid season and a good bowl, his job is safe.

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