In this current era of College Football, there has never been more pressure to win as it's way easier to be competitive on a yearly basis. NIL has given the top tier programs a clear advantage as they can simply pay for the best rosters now. The transfer portal has only fed into that advantage as any hole on the roster can be plugged with an elite player if a coach can lure them to their program. Any underwhelming seasons quickly put a coach on the Hot Seat but, an impressive year heals all wounds.
This was the case for several coaches in College Football last season, namely Ryan Day, James Franklin, and Dabo Swinney. While each coach has done incredible things at their respective programs, their fanbases were wondering if they could ever get their programs back to competing for National Championships. Last offseason, these three coaches were plastered all over hot seat coaching rankings and this season they head into the season among the Top-10 coaches in the Sport.
Here's how Ryan Day, James Franklin, and Dabo Swinney all worked their way off the Hot Seat in one offseason, which gives a clear blueprint to the coaches on the hot seat this season.
The three ways to work your way off of the Hot Seat in College Football
If the mantra "Winning cures everything" is true than Ryan Day is the definition of it. Heading into last season, Ohio State fans had already soured on their Head Coach due to his losing streak to the Michigan Wolverines. At points during the season reaching it's peak after Michigan Ohio State, the Buckeyes faithful wanted Ryan Day fired.
The Buckeyes then went on to cruise through the College Football Playoff winning the National Championship instantly taking Ryan Day off of the hot seat. While Ryan Day will have to get the monkey off of his back this season against Michigan, he's well off the hot seat as a defending National Champion being considered one of the best coaches in the sport.
James Franklin always dealt with the sentiment that he couldn't win the big game and it kept Penn State out of the College Football Playoff every season. The expanded College Football Playoff became the best thing for James Franklin's career as his path to the Playoff has gotten much easier. Franklin isn't totally off of the hook as his Playoff wins came over SMU and Boise State but, as long as the Nittany Lions stay in the Playoff picture, Franklin will have a shot to get his defining win.
Dabo Swinney has the most interesting path onto the hot seat of any College Football coach maybe ever. Under Dabo Swinny, Clemson returned to relevance winning a pair of National Championships and becoming the biggest threat to Nick Saban's dynasty in Tuscaloosa. After his second National Championship, the Tigers lost the National Championship to a loaded LSU team, went 10-3 during the shortened 2020 season followed by an 11-3 season, and one down year at 9-4.
Winning three ACC Championships in a 5 year period and having one season where the team didn't win 10 games wasn't enough for the Clemson fanbase as they started to turn on their coach because he didn't use the transfer portal. This past season as Dabo Swinney won another ACC Championship and made it to the College Football Playoff his way, the Tigers fanbase started to realize he still is that elite coach that started building a dynasty at Clemson.
This offseason, Dabo Swinney even gave in to the fanbase's demands by going out and landing impact playmakers like Will Heldt via the transfer portal. Now heading into the 2025 season, there are no longer questions about whether or not Dabo is the guy for the job but, whether or not he wins his third National Championship this season.
Ahead of the 2025 College Football season when you look at some of the best coaches in the sport on the hot seat they all have clear paths back off of the hot seat. Brian Kelly can get LSU fans off of his back by finally winning a season opener and by fielding a competent defense. Lincoln Riley can quiet his doubters at USC by bouncing back after two disappointing seasons. Billy Napier could go on a run with DJ Lagway to prove that he's building a winner with this program.