Three ACC Coaches Enter 2022 On The Hot Seat

No matter what you can do sometimes, not all jobs are safe. Especially in collegiate sports when huge fan bases are banking on you to lead their team to the promise land.

As the 2022 college football season comes to a start in the coming weeks, Richard Johnson of Sports Illustrated covers coaches finding themselves in the hot seat with their job in jeopardy. Amongst that list, finds three ACC coaches who need to see major improvement this season if they look to keep their jobs.

Whose seat already feels warm as the 2022 season approaches?@RJ_Writes looks at 13 coaching situations in college football https://t.co/iIDlZoGyP5
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) August 19, 2022

Georgia Tech

Geoff Collins’s tenure started with tremendous promise and hype but has not yet materialized into on-field success after three consecutive three-win seasons. Collins is hoping an infusion of 16 transfers (one of the highest numbers nationally) pays off. His buyout stands at more than $10 million until Jan. 1, when it drops to $7.2 million. What is significant is a nonconference schedule that includes Ole Miss, UCF and Georgia. The Jackets’ Vegas over/under is set at 3.5 wins, which speaks to the lack of confidence in them improving, especially without running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who transferred to Alabama.

It's hard to imagine Collins, who will line his team up against Miami on November 12, will have a job after this season, as he would have to pull of a miracle if he's winning more than three games with Tech's tough schedule. As mentioned, the loss of Gibbs eliminates a majority of their offensive production from last season.

Louisville

If Louisville struggles this season under Scott Satterfield, it’ll be a real test of a classic hot-seat-coach life raft: the impending recruiting class. In the past, a good class has been enough to save many coaches whose tenures were in peril. But how much sway does it have in a one-time transfer-portal-happy era? Louisville is punching far above its weight class, anchored by five-star RB Rueben Owens and QB Pierce Clarkson. Coaches acknowledge that high-school recruiting is still the way to sustainably build a roster, so the future looks bright for the Cardinals after a rocky start to the Satterfield era—which included him having to publicly apologize for interviewing at South Carolina during the 2020 season. Satterfield should be able to sell the future, absent a total collapse on the field.

Louisville will need to rely heavy this season on their transfer receivers Dee Wiggins and Tyler Hudson to support Malik Cunningham if they want any chance at making any type of splash. However, a strong recruiting class by Satterfield may buy him time.

Syracuse

Dino Babers’ last extension was three years ago, and the Orange have not had much success since that 10–3 season in 2018. Some believe it’s postseason or bust for the Orange, but athletic director John Wildhack said this in late June: “Dino’s not on the hot seat,” Wildhack said, and then repeated, during a media availability Tuesday afternoon previewing the upcoming athletic year. “I’m really pleased with what we’ve done in the past six months, and I think it is a table setter for what we can accomplish in 2022 and beyond.” Also of note, Babers’s buyout is hefty. ESPN reported it would cost more than $10 million to fire him this year.

Returning one of the best running backs in the country Sean Tucker, a Heisman level campaign might be the only way Tucker can keep Babers in Syracuse. Despite the hefty buyout number, Syracuse may need to act on it if they want to salvage the program.

Miami, who has the No. 2 recruiting class in the conference to date, opens up ACC play October 8 at home against North Carolina.

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