Group of 5 college football coaches on the hot seat heading into 2025

With the 2025 college football season upon us, there are several coaches who have uncertain futures with their respective programs.

Recently, we looked at 10 names from the Power 4 ranks that should be in that position this season. Now, we will name five coaches from the Group of 5 ranks who could be in that same position.

We start in the MAC. Akron has been one of the conference's least successful programs. They've only won one conference title since joining the MAC in 1992. To help the program possibly contend again, Akron hired former Mississippi State head coach Joe Moorhead in 2022. Heading into his fourth year, he hasn't been able to do that so far.

In his first two seasons, Akron went a combined 4-20. Last season, the Zips went 4-8. The two-win improvement is a sign of progress. However, not getting close to posting a .500 record during the regular season is concerning. Coming into this season, there was some optimism that the Zips would finally be able to get over the hump.

Unfortunately, their year has already taken a massive hit. On May 6, the NCAA banned the program from playing in a postseason bowl game. The reason stemmed from the school's multi-year APR scores being below the minimum. Of course, the players will get most of the blame, as they should. for not holding themselves accountable.

However, whenever a team fails to meet the academic standards imposed by the NCAA, that falls on the head coach, too. So, between the previous losing years paired with this, it should be unsurprising to anyone to see Moorhead on the hot seat this year. To avoid conversations about his job security, the Zips have to get close to bowl eligibility at a minimum.

Despite not getting the chance to play in a bowl game, the program needs a reason to believe. Akron needs to see its football program heading in the right direction. Anything less will negate any progress Moorhead has made, and he could get fired if things go extremely badly.

Here is another coach that can be seen as a reach to include on a list of hot seat candidates. Coastal Carolina has been an FBS program only since 2017. Despite being so young in the FBS ranks, the Chanticleers have enjoyed a good amount of success since making the jump. Under Jamey Chadwell, CCU won the 2020 Sun Belt title and has appeared in five bowl games, winning two of them.

Chadwell left to be the head coach of another young FBS program, Liberty. To replace him, CCU went with longtime collegiate assistant Tim Beck. Beck's first year was in 2023, when the Chants went 8-5 and won the Hawaii Bowl against San Jose State. For his first major college head coaching job, that was a great start to his tenure.

Unfortunately, the momentum and euphoria from that season were followed by disappointment. In 2024, Coastal Carolina went a disappointing 6-6 in the regular season. They got an invite to the Myrtle Beach Bowl and proceeded to get destroyed by UTSA, 44-15. In Sun Belt Conference play, CCU posted its first losing record since 2019, going 3-5.

Despite the football program being so young, Coastal Carolina is already used to a standard of winning and success at the FBS level. They would like to keep that going in Conway as they strive to continue to be one of the best Group of 5 teams in the country. Even though their defense took a hit through the portal, CCU is still expected to be one of the league's best squads.

Another losing year wouldn't do Beck any favors. The program hasn't experienced a consecutive losing season since its first three years from 2017 to 2019. The Chants will have a solid squad that could be in contention for the Sun Belt title if everything goes right. They are good enough to make another bowl game. That's the goal for them. If it doesn't happen, Beck might be in some trouble.

Things have been slow at Louisiana Tech under Sonny Cumbie. The former Texas Tech quarterback has done little in his first three years with the Bulldogs. He still hasn't posted a winning season. Last year's trip to the Independence Bowl does little to suggest he's steering this ship in the right direction. Louisiana Tech finished the last regular season with a 5-7 record.

The only reason they were there to begin with was that Marshall withdrew from the game. The Thundering Herd's roster took a gigantic hit as almost all of their key players went to the portal following Charles Huff's leaving for a job with Southern Mississippi. LTU proved they didn't belong, losing to Army, 27-6.

2024 marked the fourth straight losing season for the program, and Cumbie has racked up three of them. The football program has been a far cry from its glory years under Skip Holtz, when the Bulldogs won six consecutive bowl games from 2014 to 2019. The program is looking for some juice that's been needed for the last few years.

Cumbie is entering dangerous territory going into his fourth year. By now, a coach should show clear signs of restoring the winning way of a program that's gone through an overhaul. The offense, which was putrid in 2024, should be stronger and more effective. It shouldn't be that hard to improve when you ranked 111th in the nation in total offense (332.9 YPG) and 118th in scoring offense (20.9 PPG).

This should be the year Cumbie shows the athletic board that he's turning this thing around. If not, it would be hard to imagine the school sticking with him for much longer. His leash should be short.

We move on with another coach who's in a similar situation as Cumbie, Ricky Rahne of Old Dominion. Rahne has been the coach of the Monarchs but has only seen the sideline in four of those years. Remember, some schools sat out the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Old Dominion was one of those teams.

Now, the Monarchs have been in the FBS since 2014. Since that year, they have only experienced one winning season, which was a 10-3 mark in 2016 under Bobby Wilder. Wilder resigned from his position following a putrid 1-11 finish in 2019. Rahne was expected to help the program get better and become a decent program. He has struggled to do so up to this point.

As of now, the Monarchs have only been to two bowl games since their arrival and have never finished a year over .500. So now, the question is, how long will ODU put up with this? If four years have gone by without a winning record, what makes you think the school will keep Rahne if he posts another losing year?

If the school got rid of the man who helped launch the program and gave them their only taste of success, Wilder, they will not be hesitant to make a change if they feel it's necessary. Ricky Rahne is running out of time to prove he can build a winning team in Norfolk, Virginia. He must be feeling some urgency to show signs of improvement. He could be given his walking papers if he fails to do so in 2025.

Finally, we end this list with a name and face that should be familiar to football fans. Trent Dilfer is one of the latest individuals to be on the long list of former players turned coaches. People should be aware of Dilfer for his great career as a quarterback at Fresno State. He was then the sixth overall pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1994 NFL Draft.

He made the Pro Bowl in 1997 and had his most notable moment in 2000, taking over for Tony Banks and leading a struggling offense for the Baltimore Ravens. Thanks to their historically great defense, he has a Super Bowl ring. Now, Dilfer is trying to prove he can be a successful college head coach. Through two seasons, he hasn't been able to do that thus far.

Dilfer was hired by UAB in 2023 after Bryant Vincent left for an offensive coordinator gig at New Mexico, before getting a head coaching job with UL-Monroe last season. Through his first two years, Dilfer has posted a 4-8 record in 2023 and a 3-9 finish in 2024. Last season's 9-loss season included a six-game losing streak from early September to late October.

Questions have swirled around the job security of Dilfer. Pete Nakos of On3, a buyout of the coach's contract sits at around $3.6 million. The school has seemed adamant about retaining Dilfer and has expressed belief in his abilities to turn things around in Birmingham. Athletic director Mark Ingram even put out a press release regarding the matter.

It'll be interesting to see what happens in the future. However, if Dilfer posts another losing season and doesn't increase the win total, questions around his job security will rise again.