This year is bringing the heat. With many teams completely revamping their rosters and many aiming to become the best, the 2024 season of college football has managed to put multiple coaches on the hot seat. With the universities and the fans sweating hard for all the different reasons. This year we will see some names getting washed away from the scene because the invincible scales of the athletic budget have to be maintained. The 2023 season saw 5 different coaches being removed from their teams for various reasons. Lord knows how many it will be this year.

However, if you ask us, we do have some names in mind. Starting on top would be Gators HC Billy Napier. His hot seat is already heating up, with firing rumors spreading like wildfire online. With amazing financial backing, tradition, and recruitment which has given rise to 3 Heisman winners, it’s sad to see the mess Napier has turned the 3x National Champions into. With players missing out because of injuries to solid stars getting benched and freshmen being allowed to play, Napier is actively digging his own grave. The 2024 schedule for Gators was rough and if Napier had any chance of surviving against teams like Bulldogs or Longhorns, he would need key players like Cormani McClain, DJ Lagway, and Kahlil Jackson on the turf. But here we are with a sub-par roster and a freshman QB Graham Mertz leading the charge.

Following him close would be a surprise pick; Ryan Day from the Buckeyes. Using a $10 million NIL budget to formulate the top class for 2024, Day has got the ‘go big or go broke’ roster this year. While their Week 1 run has been solid with 2 massive back-to-back wins, the main concern right now is Buckeyes fans want the national championship. If Day fails to deliver, then it’s bye-bye’ for him.

Next would be Clark Lea from the Commodores. Let’s be honest, this ain’t the conference for this roster. The 2023 season saw the team losing 10 games. However, this time around, they did manage to grab a season opener win against Alcorn State. Now for the big “But”. Check the schedule, they going against giants like Alabama, Texas, and Missouri. No matter how much the Commodores fans want to cherish some wins, it probably ain’t happening this year as well.

It’s time for the Trojans now. Lincoln Riley was branded as having the “worst coaching job” during the 2o23 season by Paul Finebaum. However, Riley sure has managed to turn things around. The 2024 season has started on a different note, with the Trojans grabbing back-to-back wins in Week 1. We saw how good the entire defense has been and their QB Miller Moss has finally stepped up. Looks like the entire Caleb Williams era is going to be recreated, but still, this is all wishful thinking. Riley still has to do a better job than the 2023 season and probably has to cultivate another Heisman contender or his coaching job could be at risk.

Finally, it’s the Bears. The last time Baylor truly showed some promise was during the 2022 Sugar Bowl win. After that, it was all downhill. So, naturally, Dave Aranda decided to revamp the team by switching up the offense and defense. With Jake Spavital onboard, the team did look like it was in a good spot. However, their 2024 season run begs to differ. The Bears did start strong with a 45-3 win over Tarleton St. However, the momentum was lost against Utah but then it was back up again during the Air Force game. From what we saw, the team is all over the place and them serving this schedule and making it to the playoffs feels like a distant dream. Well, at least they are doing better than what they did back in 2023.

While we did talk about coaches losing their jobs, we also gotta keep in mind the money that is at stake. So, let’s reverse our gears and look at the contracts that each of these coaches is currently enjoying.

College football coaching contracts

Starting with our top contender in terms of getting fired; Billy Napier. Napier currently enjoys a 7-year-long contract which stands at a massive $51.8 million. The contract is valid till 2028 and if he is fired before the contract ends, then UF is going to have to hand him 85% of the total promised amount, yikes. Ryan Day is next on the list with a 5-year contract length that pays out $47.5 million. Also fun fact, Day enjoys something known as a ‘retention bonus’ (around $250,000) if he manages to stay the HC of the Buckeyes after Jan. 31, 2024.

Clark Lea is getting paid a modest $3 million per year. The contract is going to last till 2029 but we don’t know if Lea is going to last as the HC for that long. Now, Lincoln Riley. He is playing in the big league people. $110 million for 10 years is what Riley’s contract looks like. No wonder he is one of the highest-paid CFB coaches out there.

Finally, for Dave Aranda, we don’t have that much information. Baylor is a private school so the records are not available publicly. However, Aranda did get a payout of $3.8 million back in 2023, so that is a good sum to go off of. So, let us know who you think would be kicking the dirt this time around.