The coldest statements in college football often reveal the hottest seats.
When an athletic director or university president issues a public comment intended to extinguish speculation about a coaching change, it’s a clue the situation is actually quite fragile.
When that public comment comes after the head coach’s first season, the seat underneath is scorching.
Such is the situation in Tucson, where Brent Brennan’s first season was ghastly enough to warrant a statement of support from athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois in early December.
“Coach Brennan deserves a fair chance to be successful,” Reed-Francois told the Arizona Daily Star. “So, yes, he is coming back next year.”
Fresh off a 10-win season and ranked 21st in the AP preseason poll, the Wildcats suffered an all-systems failure. Attrition, injuries and subpar quarterback play conspired to produce a four-win season that ended with a blowout loss to Arizona State.
So, too, did poor coaching.
Brennan didn’t fire himself when the ashes settled. But with his job clearly on the line in 2025, he overhauled the coaching staff.
Dino Babers was let go as offensive coordinator, with Seth Doege brought in from Marshall.
Duane Akina was stripped of his defensive coordinator duties (but will remain on staff); assistant Danny Gonzalez was elevated to the post.
Joe Salave’a, an Arizona legend, was hired to coach the defensive line.
Matt Adkins, the passing game coordinator, was let go.
The moves reflected a head coach attempting to correct mistakes made under difficult circumstances.
Brennan’s appointment last winter came late in the hiring cycle, the fourth in a series of moves that began with the retirement of Alabama coach Nick Saban. He was replaced by Washington’s Kalen DeBoer, who was replaced in Seattle by Arizona’s Jedd Fisch.
The Wildcats introduced Brennan on Jan. 17, with the gates to the transfer portal wide open.
“First-year coaches can get stuck when they are late additions,” said CBS Sports studio analyst Rick Neuheisel, who coached Brennan at UCLA in the early 1990s. “You have to try to hang onto your roster, and you want to find the coaches who can help.
“Brent knew there would be changes.”
Are the staff changes, when combined with more than 40 new players (freshmen and transfers), enough to change Arizona’s trajectory and save Brennan’s job?
Rarely are coaches fired after two seasons. Then again, athletic directors don’t usually feel compelled to offer public shows of support after just 12 games.
For that reason, Brennan enters the 2025 season with one of the hottest seats in the sport.
Here’s a look at four more coaches facing critical years (listed alphabetically).
Oregon State’s Trent Bray
Few first-year coaches have ever faced challenges as steep as those Bray confronted when he took charge of his alma mater in Nov. 2023, following Jonathan Smith’s departure for Michigan State, with key players flocking to the portal and the Beavers adrift in conference realignment. Not surprisingly, the 2024 season did not go well. After a fast start, OSU dropped six of its last seven and missed the postseason. We don’t view Bray as being on the Hot Seat in the traditional sense — his job isn’t in jeopardy. But another losing season could spark doubts about the broad direction of the program under his leadership. And those doubts could adversely impact player retention and acquisition.
USC’s Lincoln Riley
We expected Riley’s tenure to start slowly as he retooled the roster left behind by Clay Helton, then gain momentum in Years 2 and 3. Instead, his tenure produced a dynamic debut that raised expectations, followed by two substandard seasons. USC’s anticipated move into the Big Ten was a flop competitively, with losses to Maryland and Minnesota. The fans are apoplectic, the Trojans have changed athletic directors (from Mike Bohn to Jen Cohen), and president Carol Folt, who hired Riley, is stepping down this summer — all of which suggests significant seat heat. That said, Riley’s buyout this winter exceeded $75 million. Does the price drop in 12 months? And if so, by how much?
Stanford’s Troy Taylor
Two seasons into his tenure, Taylor has just six victories and is 0-2 against Cal. Then again, the Cardinal isn’t exactly built to thrive in the age of transfers, revenue sharing and NIL. Responsibility for getting Taylor the resources required to build a competitive roster falls on Andrew Luck, the former Stanford quarterback hired in late November as the football program’s general manager. Taylor deserves a fair chance to succeed, and Luck’s appointment suggests new president Jonathan Levin recognizes the need for additional support. We would be surprised if the 2025 season is Taylor’s last, unless Stanford collapses completely.
Utah’s Kyle Whittingham
To be clear: Utah isn’t another poor season away from firing Whittingham because Utah will never fire Whittingham. He’ll leave when he wants to leave. After mulling retirement immediately following a five-win season, he opted to return for 2025 thoroughly committed to revamping the offense, maximizing the transfer portal and returning the program to its place of prominence. But if the Utes struggle again, Whittingham will be seen as a coach who stayed too long and didn’t adjust quickly enough to the new era. In other words, the public perception of his stewardship is at stake next fall.
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