The end of Week 8 has already spurned a handful of programs around the landscape of college football to make the decision to part ways with a coach, and we're just getting started.
As the temperature cools down in late October through November, the pressure increases, especially for coaches who were already getting backlash from their respective fanbases.
As we head into Week 9 of the college football season, there are several pivotal games that might not mean anything in determining the College Football Playoff race, but they will certainly mean something for the coaches in the matchups who could be seeing their time come to an end if things don't turn around quickly.
Here's a look at five coaches who could be playing for their jobs in Week 9.
The Hugh Freeze experiment at Auburn has not gone as planned so far. Though many Tiger fans had expectations that Freeze would come in and immediately turn things around, that hasn't been the case.
Instead, in his second season, Freeze is staring down a 2-5 season with the potential to go winless in the SEC if they don't pick up a victory over Kentucky in Lexington this weekend, which will be a tall task.
If Freeze loses this one, he'll fall to 8-13 as the head coach of Auburn, and the Tigers will be just 2-6 overall with games against Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, and Alabama remaining. Honestly, even LA-Monroe isn't a given.
If Auburn finishes the year 3-9, the contingent of fans who are already calling for Freeze to be fired will be even louder. This one feels like a game he needs, especially looking at how the rest of 2024 will likely go.
It may be a tall task to ask Dave Aranda to beat a Mike Gundy-led Oklahoma State team that is frustrated and grossly underperforming, looking to avenge a few disappointing losses from earlier this season.
However, isn't that what exactly needs to be done for the Baylor fanbase to get behind him?
Aranda was on the hot seat before this season ever began and sitting at 3-4 and just 1-3 in the Big 12 certainly isn't helping his case. When looking at the remainder of the schedule, Baylor will play TCU, @ West Virginia, @ Houston, and vs. Kansas. If the Bears aren't able to find a way to bowl eligibility, the school of thought is that Baylor will likely move on from Aranda.
So, if it's not this weekend, can you find three more wins on that schedule? Houston certainly looks likely. TCU is beatable. But, are the Bears really going into West Virginia and winning or beating Kansas at the end of the year? If they're going to get to a bowl, it has to start this weekend with a home game against Oklahoma State, the team with the worst record in the Big 12.
After a season ago when he had the Florida State Seminoles in the College Football Playoff race, Mike Norvell has fallen flat on his face in 2024.
Florida State holds an embarrassing 1-6 overall record and it doesn't look promising for the Seminoles down the stretch of the season, either. This weekend, they'll play in-state rival Miami and, honestly, they're likely going to be obliterated.
Florida State's offense can't score enough to keep up with Cam Ward, and the Seminoles defense certainly won't be able to slow the Hurricanes down much. That being said, this could be the game that saves Mike Norvell's career in Tallahassee, if it's ever going to happen.
If you lose this one and are already eliminated from bowl contention, the only thing keeping you around is a crazy $65 million buyout. Florida State fans have already given up and Norvell needs to give them a reason to believe once again. This, honestly, is the only chance for him to do so.
If it's more of the same in Coral Gables on Saturday night and FSU falls to 1-7 on the season, something tells us that Norvell will officially be putting the nails in his own proverbial coffin. However, if he were to somehow find a way to upset Miami on the road, that would give him enough "money in the bank," so to speak, to carry him over into 2025, likely regardless of what happens through the rest of this season.