The pressures and rigors of a college football season weigh on every coach in the nation: the early mornings and late nights at the facility, plus the scrutiny that comes with being in the public eye.
What makes the difficulties easier is simply winning football games — but as is the nature of sports, there are winners and losers. In Division I college football, coaches who consistently lose are often shown the door quickly.
As part of our preseason coverage of the upcoming college football season, here’s our list of coaches who are on the hot seat entering the 2025 campaign. We begin with an SEC head coach who staved off being fired last season but is still feeling the heat.
Billy Napier, Florida Gators
Hired in 2022 to resurrect a program that had stumbled to a 6-7 season in 2021 under Dan Mullen, Billy Napier’s first two seasons at the helm for the Florida Gators were underwhelming, to say the least.
He matched their 2021 record in his first season, barely reaching bowl eligibility before getting demolished in the Las Vegas Bowl by the Oregon State Beavers. 2023 was even worse, as the Gators finished 5-7 thanks to a four-game losing streak to finish the season.
At that point, there were already murmurs of Napier potentially losing his job. But athletic director Scott Stricklin stuck with Napier in what seemed to be a mistake midway through last season.
A loss to the Texas Longhorns on Dec. 9 dropped the Gators to 4-5, and another lost season appeared on the docket. Napier’s seat was red-hot, and more rumors swirled that his days on the job were numbered.
But the switch to true freshman quarterback DJ Lagway did wonders for Napier’s coaching status, as the team finished with three consecutive wins to finish the regular season — including ranked victories over the LSU Tigers (No. 22) and Ole Miss Rebels (No. 9) — before dismantling the Tulane Green Wave in the Gasparilla Bowl.
The 8-5 campaign and positive finish to the season offered hope to Florida’s decision-makers that Napier can continue with another uptick in wins. Now, with Lagway as the catalyst, the Gators are ranked No. 16 in the preseason AP Poll, marking the first time that’s happened in Napier’s four-year tenure.
The bar is higher than it’s ever been for Napier during his time with Florida, creating two relatively easy situations that may play out: the Gators excel and Napier secures his job for one more year or the team matches — or worse, regresses — in 2025 and has to look for a new head coach after letting Napier go. I don’t see it happening any other way.
Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State Cowboys
Mike Gundy is the longest-tenured head coach in the Big 12, having held the Oklahoma State Cowboys job since 2005. In that time, he’s compiled a 169-88 record, including eight double-digit winning seasons. He’s also led the Cowboys to a 12-6 mark in bowl games.
But the issue for Gundy is what transpired a season ago.
Coming off a 2023 season in which Oklahoma State reached the Big 12 title game and finished the season 10-4 after a victory in the Texas Bowl, expectations were high in Stillwater. They were set to return quarterback Alan Bowmen, running back Ollie Gordon II, top receiver Brennan Presley, and a slew of top defenders.
They were projected by many to contend for a conference championship. And on Sept. 14, after a win over Tulsa brought their record to 3-0, that looked to be the case — until it all went downhill. The Cowboys continued to lose the season’s final nine games, falling way short of expectations on all (team and individual) fronts.
Entering 2025, the Cowboys have a quarterback competition to figure out, with neither player throwing a pass at the collegiate level. They’ll replace all but one starter on offense and welcome roughly 65 new players onto the roster.
It’s a massive opportunity for Gundy to prove his coaching chops: does he still have it in him to turn around the Oklahoma State program, or will they disappoint again and look in a different direction?
Hugh Freeze, Auburn Tigers
It’s time for Hugh Freeze to prove it. The former Ole Miss Rebels coach from 2012-2016 rebuilt his career as a head coach during a four-year stint with the Liberty Flames, finishing with a 34-15 record, including three bowl victories.
He was brought back to the SEC in 2023 to lead the Auburn Tigers, who haven’t had a 10-win season since 2017 and haven’t won more than six games in a single season since 2019. That will not cut it at Auburn, as Gus Malzahn and Bryan Harsin found out.
Freeze is also on the verge of finding out, as the Tigers went 6-7 in his debut campaign before posting a 5-7 record last season. While Auburn was projected to be near the bottom of the conference standings from a roster standpoint, missing a bowl game altogether is unacceptable.
It gets even worse when you consider how the Cal Bears came into Jordan-Hare Stadium in Week 3 of last season and pushed around the Tigers on their way to a 21-14 victory. If you’re Freeze and you want to keep your job security, a mid-tier ACC team coming into your house and doing that to you can’t happen.
The quarterback position should be better this season, as they welcome dynamic dual-threat former five-star Jackson Arnold to lead the way after he flamed out with the Oklahoma Sooners. He’ll have a top target in Eric Singleton Jr. to throw to, who’s impressed in two seasons with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
The pressure’s on for Freeze, a prime candidate to be let go midseason if the Tigers look to be in for another five- or six-win season.
Tim Lester, Iowa Hawkeyes
The leash should be short for any Iowa Hawkeyes offensive coordinator in this program era. For nearly two decades now, the Hawkeyes’ offense has been abysmal, at best finishing average, and at worst looking downright unwatchable.
Lester was hired in January of 2024 to bring the Iowa offense to life — to which he, sort of, did. The offensive line and running game were excellent, amassing 194.7 rushing yards per game, good for 22nd in the country. Running back Kaleb Johnson was especially impressive, as he ran for 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns.
But that’s it as far as positives.
The passing offense was terrible, finishing with just 121.6 passing yards per game. That was the 131st best mark nationally — only ahead of all three service academies.
While that was the case through the air, the Hawkeyes scored a respectable 67th in the nation, putting 26.7 points on the board per game. That allowed Lester to keep his job and enter a second fall in Iowa.
Tim Lester on what a healthy Mark Gronowski can unlock for Iowa’s offense schematically: “I think the biggest thing, when you have a quarterback that can consistently provide positive football plays. That’s a big word: Positive football plays. Especially when you’re calling it… pic.twitter.com/2FO3awkz91
— Tyler Tachman (@Tyler_T15) April 23, 2025
Last season, the quarterback room combined to throw just 10 touchdowns versus eight interceptions. In 2025, that position will be taken over by former South Dakota State Jackrabbits starter Mark Gronowski, who was nothing short of prolific in his first four years. He’s scored 130 total touchdowns and just 20 interceptions.
Expectations are as high as they’ve been in recent memory offensively for the Hawkeyes, and it’ll all fall on Lester if it doesn’t work out.
Justin Wilcox, Cal Bears
While Justin Wilcox has been a steady hand at the helm of the Cal Bears through their switch from the Pac-12 to the ACC, he hasn’t produced much, if any, consistency in the form of wins. Wilcox has posted a 42-50 record in his eight seasons as the head coach.
Aside from the COVID-shortened season in 2020, in which the Bears went 1-3, Cal is averaging 5.8 wins per season under Wilcox. For whatever reason, that seems to be enough for the decision-makers. But in this era of college football, it shouldn’t be.
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Just this offseason, Wilcox oversaw the departure of quarterback Fernando Mendoza and running back Jaydn Ott, arguably the team’s top players from a season ago. Even Ott’s backup, Jaivian Thomas, who led the team in rushing yards and touchdowns in Ott’s absence, transferred. In all, nearly every running back departed via the transfer portal.
The outlook for the Bears this season looks as bleak as it’s been in Wilcox’s eight seasons. Is this a make-or-break season for Wilcox, or is Cal okay settling with a steady leader of men but someone who hasn’t shown the ability to build a winner? Only they know, but in nearly every other situation in college football, the head coach would already be out the door.
