5 college football head coaches on the hottest seats heading into spring 2022

Spring is upon us and that means college football is making a temporary return. Which five head coaches have a lot of work to do to avoid the hottest seats?

There were a number of college football coaches on the hot seat last season who kind of had that feeling ahead of spring ball. They got a good feel for their teams during the spring and went into the fall with a sense of urgency.

Coaches like Clay Helton, Matt Wells, Justin Fuente, and Manny Diaz felt their seats borderline steaming and it didn’t take long for these guys to be let go. These weren’t surprising firings.

With the unsurprising coaching changes came some shocking ones such as Gary Patterson and TCU parting ways, Ed Orgeron and LSU doing the same, Dan Mullen went from SEC title game to fired in just one year, and Jimmy Lake was let go after just two years at Washington. No one truly imagined these guys would be searching for new jobs or leaving the sport in 2021.

Along with the coaching changes, some saved their jobs in shocking fashion. Scott Frost was on the hot seat and finished 3-9 but he still kept his job, Jim Harbaugh was being pushed out by Michigan fans but won the Big Ten title and earned an extension, and Chip Kelly was on the verge of being dubbed a “failure” in Los Angeles before leading UCLA to a solid season.

Ahead of spring ball, there are a number of head coaches facing similar situations with warmer seats and these guys need to win big in 2022 or they could be gone.