College football head coaches on the hot seat in 2025

College football's coaching carousel isn't just a frantic period of weeks after the end of the season.

It's a constant grind for coaches to prove themselves worthy of the investment schools make in them that goes on 365 days a year, and the 2025 college football season will only add to the pressure.

This offseason, 30 schools changed their football coach, bringing the tally up to 155 total coaching changes in the last five seasons.

That's a lot of money going to the wrong places, and with dollars getting tighter in the future in the revenue-sharing era, schools will have to be far more cautious in their decisions.

Although, among the activity, we saw just six changes at the head coach position among Power Four schools: North Carolina, UCF, West Virginia, Purdue, Wake Forest, and Stanford.

Here's a rundown of the schools that could be regretting their investments heading into this season.

College football head coaches on the hot seat in 2025

Lincoln Riley, USC

College football coaches on the hot seat in 2025 — Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Riley’s record: 26-14 (17-10 Pac-12/Big Ten)

It seemed like a Hollywood beginning when Riley stepped into the top role with the Trojans, going 11-3 with quarterback Caleb Williams winning the Heisman Trophy, but the team’s porous defense sabotaged what seemed like an imminent playoff berth.

What has followed hasn’t warmed Riley to the Southern Cal faithful, an 8-3 stumble in 2023 and a dismal 7-6 mark last season that included five losses to Big Ten opponents by a single possession.

Riley may not be coaching for his job given USC’s investment, but his grace period is clearly over and the meter is running.

Luke Fickell, Wisconsin

Fickell’s record: 13-13 (8-10 Big Ten)

Fickell won 57 games over six years at Cincinnati, and even led the Group of Five school to a College Football Playoff appearance, but his tenure in the Big Ten has not come close to matching that success, going 5-7 last season following his 7-6 debut in 2023.

Injured players, sketchy quarterback play, and some tough opponents have conspired against the Badgers in Fickell’s time as he sought to change the identity of the team away from its traditional ground-and-pound style, and this year the schedule-makers are against him, too.

Wisconsin faces off against Alabama on the road, Michigan in the Big House, and at Oregon out west in a raucous Autzen Stadium. It gets Ohio State, too, but at home.

Sam Pittman, Arkansas

Pittman’s record: 30-31 (14-28 SEC)

It’s been a while since Pittman’s fantastic second season with the Razorbacks, going 9-4 and winning a bowl game with a finish inside the AP top 25 poll.

But over the following three years, the Hogs stumbled to a 7-17 record in SEC play and are two games under .500 overall. Those aren’t the kind of numbers that allow coaches to hang around for long in this conference.

Arkansas plays another tough slate, including against Memphis in the first month, with a date at Ole Miss and at home against CFP runner-up Notre Dame. Then comes six opponents currently ranked in the AP top 25, including back-to-backs against LSU and Texas.

Mike Locksley, Maryland

Locksley’s record: 33-41 (16-40 Big Ten)

Maryland completed winning seasons and won three straight bowl games from 2021-23, but finished in 17th place in the Big Ten and won just one conference game last season.

That was after a solid 3-1 start, but the Terrapins’ defense evaporated and they lost seven of the last eight, scoring just 10 points in a loss to lowly Northwestern.

The thing Locksley has going for him? Everybody at Maryland really likes him, and he’s built up some good rapport around the school that it could wait things out and see how well he can turn things around in another couple seasons.

Hugh Freeze, Auburn

Freeze’s record: 11-14 (5-11 SEC)

Freeze inherited an Auburn program that went 11-14 over the previous two seasons only to also go 11-14 in two seasons.

Coming out of the Bryan Harsin experience, Freeze seemed like a clear-cut choice, someone who was familiar with the SEC, but that hope faded after losses to New Mexico State, Cal, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.

He’s put himself in position to improve this team’s standing in 2025, building one of the SEC’s most promising wide receiver corps, and bringing on former five-star quarterback Jackson Arnold to man the offense. This has to be a winning season, or else.

Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State

Gundy’s record: 169-88 (102-72 Big 12)

Twenty years into leading his alma mater, Gundy finished with his first-ever winless campaign against Big 12 opponents and a 3-9 mark that was the lowest win total of his career.

Gundy is OSU’s all-time winningest coach, but his Cowboys stumbled to some historically-low lows after emerging as a favorite to win the conference.

In the aftermath, it genuinely appeared Gundy might be out, but he agreed to a pay cut, reworked his contract, and did major surgery on his coaching staff heading into 2025.

With that reprieve, the Cowboys remain one of college football’s big questions, debuting a roster in transition with a basically new defense. Anything seems possible in the Big 12, and Gundy could be in position to take advantage, or not.

Brian Kelly, LSU

Kelly’s record: 29-11 (17-7 SEC)

Brian Kelly, really? Okay, maybe it’s not technically a “hot” seat underneath the fourth-year LSU head coach, but the pressure is mounting and his tenure might be heading in the wrong direction.

After winning 10 games in each of his first two seasons, that win total fell to nine games and included a forgettable 5-3 record against SEC competition, with an ugly beatdown at the hands of Alabama followed by a surprising upset against unranked Florida.

Kelly has never won a season opener at LSU, losing to Florida State twice and USC last season, and this year his Tigers open on the road against ACC favorite Clemson.

A loss there will increase the grumbling, which will only get louder if LSU falters in a home game against Florida soon after. One thing in Kelly’s favor is a $50 million buyout that the school is unlikely to want to splurge unless a complete catastrophe emerges.

It’s unlikely such a disaster is imminent, given the improvements to the roster Kelly made through the transfer portal, but his defense has to improve as LSU looks ahead to a schedule that includes games against seven teams currently ranked in the AP poll.

Who else is on the hot seat, or at least getting warm?

— Tony Elliott at Virginia, who is 11-23 overall and only 6-17 in ACC play, but coming into this season with arguably his most promising roster.

— Brent Pry at Virginia Tech, who is 16-21 in three years, but a hideout 1-12 in games decided by a touchdown or less.

— Scott Satterfield at Cincinnati, who is 8-16 overall and 4-14 against Big 12 opponents.

— Sonny Cumbie at Louisiana Tech, yet to win six games in a season and 8-16 in Conference USA play.

— Billy Napier at Florida, kind of. He got the benefit of the doubt after a 4-5 midseason start in 2024, and his team responded, winning four straight games to end the year, including against ranked LSU and Ole Miss, ending both those teams’ playoff hopes. He faces another tough schedule in 2025, though.

College football head coaches on the hot seat in 2025

Lincoln Riley, USC

Luke Fickell, Wisconsin

Sam Pittman, Arkansas

Mike Locksley, Maryland

Hugh Freeze, Auburn

Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State

Brian Kelly, LSU

Who else is on the hot seat, or at least getting warm?

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