We have now reached a point in the college football offseason where things have really slowed down. With the transfer portal now closed until mid-April and an end to the coaching carousel, we now have a good idea of what teams will be going into the 2025 season with.
This upcoming year is as important as any for some big names in the sport who have not lived up to expectations as of late.
Here are five college football head coaches who are entering the 2025 season on the hot seat and need to win.
No seat is hotter than Brent Venables’ in Oklahoma as it is just about a sure thing he will be fired if the Sooners cannot get it together in 2025. Through his three years in Norman the Sooners have an overall record of 22-24, and while they have pulled out signature wins over No. 3 Texas in 2023 and No. 7 Alabama in 2024, these got them nowhere in the long run.
As a defensive guy Venables has improved his team on that side of the ball with a top 20 defense a year ago, but other than having Dillon Gabriel in 2023 the Sooners have really struggled on offense.
Knowing this, Venables brought in former Washington State OC Ben Arbuckle along with his QB John Mateer. Arbuckle led some of the most prolific offenses in college football during his two years at WSU and will be heavily relied upon to bring back that high-powered offense that Oklahoma was once known for.
With an SEC schedule that includes games against Texas, at South Carolina, Ole Miss, at Tennessee, at Alabama, and LSU it will be no easy feat, but Venables will need the Sooners at least bowl eligible and possibly in the playoff conversation if he wants to keep his job.
After leading Cincinnati to a College Football Playoff berth, Fickell was the hottest name in the coaching market and was seen as an incredible hire for Wisconsin. Two years later and it is starting to look like a massive disappointment, especially coming off a 5-7 season in 2024.
Under Fickell the Badgers are 0-5 against teams ranked in the top 25. While last year certainly was not easy for his team that dealt with QB injury issues, at least it led them to get rid of OC Phil Longo who ended up being a disaster of a hire.
With the big emphasis that Wiscsonsin has put on NIL, the fans are going to want to see major improvement in 2025 or Fickell could be on his way out the door.
After an undefeated regular season and ACC Championship in 2023, Norvell’s seat was very chilled and there was no thought of him appearing on a list like this anytime soon. Well last year was about as bad as it can get with a 2-10 record and has Norvell right back in a similar spot to where he was entering the 2022 season.
The biggest problem regarding last season was how the coach seemed to have completely lost the locker room and Florida State as a program had fallen to complete irrelevancy in college football.
Norvell has basically cleaned house and the Noles will be looking very different in 2025 led by transfer QB Thomas Castellanos from Boston College. We will get an early look at where this hot seat situation stands when FSU welcomes Alabama in Week 1.
It’s no secret that Sam Pittman will be coaching for his job for the second year in a row at Arkansas and the win at home last season against No. 4 Tennessee is what gave him this extra chance.
The Razorbacks have been stuck in the world of mediocrity in their five seasons with Pittman as head coach and have not had a record better than 9-4. With a strong SEC fanbase, that will only be tolerated for so long and this is likely the do or die trying season.
Talented QB Taylen Green is returning for the 2025 season, but a tough SEC schedule will once again make this year a stressful one for Pittman. I do not think the playoff is a necessity or even a possibility for this team, but if they can get to 8 or 9 wins on the season, it would include a couple wins over big-time programs that would certainly cool his seat.
This one may come as a surprise with a record of 29-11, but Kelly needs to have his team in the Playoff in 2025. Outside of 2022 Kelly’s Tigers really lack any big signature wins and have become known to blow it in games when the lights are brightest.
It also does not help that LSU’s team in 2023 featured a Heisman winner in Jayden Daniels and three players who would become NFL Rookie of the Year finalists, but the best they could do was a ReliaQuest Bowl appearance.
With a favorable schedule in 2025, Kelly’s team has to be one of the 12 to make it into the bracket or the noise surrounding him is going to get extremely loud.