College Football Hot Seat Index: Venables, O’Brien Land on List After Norvell Firing

Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano remains atop the college football coaching hot seat entering Week 10, but pressure spread quickly to Oklahoma and Boston College after Florida State finally moved on from head coach Mike Norvell.

Florida State fired Norvell on Sunday after a 36-24 home loss to Clemson, while Sam Houston dismissed head coach Phil Longo on Oct. 28. USC’s upset of No. 2 Ohio State moves head coach Lincoln Riley out of the top six.

Which coaches have been fired?

Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell watches from the sidelines. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Norvell’s seven seasons peaked with an unbeaten 2023 regular season and an ACC title, then fell apart with a 10-22 record since the start of 2024. The Clemson loss dropped the Seminoles to 3-5, and school president Richard McCullough said Florida State had “made the decision to change the leadership of our football program.” Former Middle Tennessee coach Rick Stockstill is the interim coach.

The price tag is the part every athletic director on this list should study. Norvell finished 41-39, and Florida State is absorbing a buyout reported at roughly $50 million. A big contract delays a firing, but it doesn’t prevent one once the losses pile up.

Sam Houston fired Longo after a 1-7 start, leaving him 3-17 in less than two seasons. They join Maryland’s Mike Locksley, NC State’s Dave Doeren and Baylor’s Dave Aranda among this season’s changes.

Greg Schiano, Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Rutgers Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano reacts during the second half against the Michigan Wolverines | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Rutgers tied Michigan at 21 with 12 minutes left before giving up a fourth-quarter touchdown in a 28-21 home loss. The Scarlet Knights are 2-6 and 1-4 in the Big Ten.

A one-score loss to Michigan shouldn’t move Schiano off the top spot, because the details were worse than the scoreboard. Rutgers completed three passes, none after halftime, and two plays accounted for 134 of its 249 yards. The announced crowd of 39,540 was the smallest for a non-COVID Big Ten game at SHI Stadium in Schiano’s second tenure.

“I thought our guys battled their guts out,” Schiano said after playing without his starting quarterback.

Rutgers has to win its last four games to reach six wins, starting at Wisconsin. Schiano would be owed about $18.5 million if fired after this season, and that figure drops to $11.7 million after 2027. For a department carrying a large deficit, that money is the strongest argument for keeping him. The football argument for keeping him is the weakest of any coach on this list, which is why he stays No. 1.

Sonny Dykes, TCU Horned Frogs

TCU Horned Frogs head coach Sonny Dykes during a timeout against the Baylor Bears | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Dykes' week was the best of anyone in the top six. TCU trailed Kansas 13-0 at halftime, scored on Max Carroll’s 60-yard interception return and won 22-16 on quarterback Jaden Craig’s 17-yard run with 1:11 left. It was the Horned Frogs’ first one-score win after four one-score losses.

“A heroic effort by our defense. Really proud of what they did,” Dykes said.

The defense deserved the credit, and that’s the concern. A week after TCU fired co-offensive coordinator A.J. Ricker, the offense was shut out in the first half and Kansas outgained the Horned Frogs 451-286. Dykes’ April extension and back-to-back 9-4 seasons still protect him, but at 4-4, TCU needs more than one comeback before the offensive questions go away. The Horned Frogs play at Arizona on Friday.

Brent Key, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key looks on against the Pittsburgh Panthers | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

No coach on this list had a worse two weeks than Key. One week after Boston College ran for 399 yards in Atlanta, Pittsburgh, which entered on a three-game losing streak, ran for nearly 300 in a 34-11 win. Georgia Tech averaged 3.1 yards per play and fell to 2-6 and 1-4 in the ACC.

“The program needs a total top-to-bottom look in,” Key said after the loss.

When a head coach says that in his fourth full season, the next question is who conducts the review. Georgia Tech has lost 10 of 13 since starting 8-0 last season, and Jason Semore is Key’s fourth defensive coordinator in four years. Key signed a new five-year contract after last season’s 9-3 regular season, and there’s still little reporting about an actual move. But the slide now spans two seasons, and the Yellow Jackets would have to win out just to finish 6-6.

Deion Sanders, Colorado Buffaloes

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders before the game against the Kansas State Wildcats | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Colorado ended its five-game losing streak with a 27-24 overtime win over Kansas State, Coach Prime’s first Big 12 win of the season. Running back Richard Young, who had never carried 10 times in a college game, ran 24 times for 120 yards and two touchdowns as the Buffaloes piled up 222 rushing yards.

The Buffaloes still nearly lost. Colorado punted when one first down would have ended the game, and Kansas State tied it with two seconds left.

“The game should have been finished. It should’ve never gone into overtime,” Sanders said.

At 3-5 and 1-4 in league play, Colorado needs three wins in its last four games for a bowl. The Florida State opening has put Sanders’ name back on candidate lists because of his ties to his alma mater, though KOA’s Benjamin Allbright reported he isn’t on the Seminoles’ short list. Colorado’s inability to finance his $26 million buyout remains the biggest obstacle to any change.

Brent Venables, Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables shouts during a college football game against the South Carolina Gamecocks | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Venables is the newest name on the list and the most expensive one. Oklahoma lost 42-25 at home to South Carolina, a game in which quarterback John Mateer threw for 25 yards in the first half and the defense allowed 521 yards, its most since joining the SEC. The Sooners are 4-4 and 2-3 in the SEC one year after a College Football Playoff appearance.

Venables didn’t soften the message for his locker room. “If you’re gonna be here on Monday, you better square your jaw up and tighten your screws,” he said.

His buyout was $52.5 million as of Oct. 31 after a six-year, $63 million extension signed before this season. That cost and last year’s playoff run keep him at No. 5 instead of higher. Still, Florida State just showed what a school will pay once patience runs out, and Oklahoma needs two wins against Florida, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Missouri to keep a bowl streak that dates to 1999.

Bill O’Brien, Boston College Eagles

Boston College Eagles head coach Bill O'Brien looks on during the second half against the Pittsburgh Panthers | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

O’Brien is the most tentative pick in the top six, but a 47-2 loss is hard to leave off. One week after a 49-27 win at Georgia Tech, Boston College’s only points at Duke came on Carter Davis’ 100-yard return of a blocked extra point. The Eagles committed 15 penalties for 132 yards, and their first-half penalty yards nearly matched their total offense.

“I did not do a good enough job of getting them prepared to play,” O’Brien said.

At 4-4 and 2-3 in the ACC, Boston College’s record is better than everyone else’s in this group. But the Eagles need two wins against Florida State, Notre Dame, Syracuse and Miami for a bowl, and a home loss to a Florida State team playing its first game under an interim coach would move O’Brien up this list.

Who joins the watch list?

Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule walks off the bus before the game against the Washington Huskies | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Nebraska’s Matt Rhule is the strongest name outside the top six. The Huskers started 5-0 and have since lost three straight games after leading entering the fourth quarter. Against Washington, Nebraska led 7-3 with under two minutes left before giving up two touchdowns in 22 seconds in a 17-10 home loss.

“That play is 100% on me,” Rhule said of a corner blitz call that set up Washington’s go-ahead score. A 5-3 record keeps him out of the top six for now.

Kansas’ Lance Leipold also returns to the watch list. The Jayhawks blew a 13-0 halftime lead at TCU despite outgaining the Horned Frogs by 165 yards and fell to 3-5, one week after a win over Baylor eased the pressure.

Why did Lincoln Riley drop off?

USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley walks the sideline during the college football game against the Ohio State Buckeyes | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

USC’s 30-18 win over No. 2 Ohio State was the biggest of Riley’s five seasons and the Trojans’ first win over an AP top-10 opponent since 2019. USC is 7-2, and its playoff hopes are intact one week after a 24-7 loss at Wisconsin.

Riley closed his postgame news conference with a prepared statement. “This program is built on internal joy, not external applause,” he said.

The win doesn’t settle every question about Riley’s future, and his roughly $70 million buyout still shapes that conversation. But a 7-2 coach with a top-10 win doesn’t belong next to coaches with losing records and blowout losses.

Clemson’s Dabo Swinney also cooled off with the 36-24 win at Florida State that ended Norvell’s tenure, and South Carolina’s Shane Beamer has won three straight to reach 5-3. Stockstill’s first game as Florida State’s interim coach comes Saturday at noon ET on ACC Network at Boston College.

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