Tuesday, October 11, 2011

On The Hot Seat: Week 6

1. Neil Callaway—The Blazers are 0-5 after six weeks of football, with two of the losses being in conference games. Callaway is now 15-38 at UAB. The Blazers’ 2011 campaign will likely be their seventh losing season. I do not see how Callaway will be retained as head coach. Look for him to be canned in the next couple weeks.

2. Paul Wulff—The Cougars defeated Colorado on the road and lost to UCLA narrowly on the road over the past two weeks. The Cougars, now 3-2, are looking better than they have been the last three seasons, but Wulff is still 8-34 (.190) in three and a half years. He has won only three conference games as the Cougars head coach, and three of his other victories were over 1AA programs.

3. Mike Riley—The Beavers are 1-4 after six weeks of football. Oregon State finally ended a six-game losing streak dating back to last year by beating Arizona 37-27 October 8th. Mike Stoops was canned as a result of Mike Riley’s good fortune, but Riley might also be out of a job if things keep going the way they are in Corvallis.

4. Bob Toledo—Tulane was humiliated 45-6 by Army October 1st and played Syracuse tight in a loss at home on October 8th. Bob Toledo is 15-39 in his fifth season. Tulane is 2-4 this season. Trying to be positive, the Green Wave has seven games left to make something happen in 2011: six conference dates and a season finale at Hawaii.

5. Frank Spaziani—Boston College is 1-5, their only win coming over 1AA UMass. Four of Boston College’s last six games will be on the road. Things are not looking up for the Eagles. Spaziani just might have a chance at returning for another year if he can pull a few upsets. I hear Jeff Jagodzinski is available for interviews.

6. Robb Akey—So far the highlight of the season for Robb Akey’s 1-5 Vandals was taking Virginia to overtime on October 1st, losing the game trying to steal a victory by going for a two-point conversion instead of kicking a PAT to force a second overtime. Idaho’s only win was over 1AA North Dakota. Idaho does have some winnable WAC games coming up, but they likely won’t get close to bowl eligibility.

7. David Bailiff—The Owls are at 1-1 in Conference USA play and 2-3 overall. Rice walked over Memphis like a doormat last Saturday, but got doubled up by Southern Mississippi 48-24 on October 1st. The Owls will need to become bowl eligible for Bailiff to have any chance of returning for another season. If Rice cannot win four more games, David Bailiff will have four losing seasons in five years.

8. Rick Neuheisel—Rick Neuheisel has the Bruins sitting at 3-3 with a 2-1 conference record. The good news is that the Bruins have the better part of two weeks to prepare for a 1-5 Arizona team that just lost their coach. If Neuheisel can get his team to a bowl-eligible and win a bowl game, I think he will remove any doubt about his leadership.

9. Houston Nutt—Ole Miss was able to get a win over Fresno State on the first Saturday of the month, but the 2-3 Rebels have otherwise looked sad this season. Mississippi has AAA the next three weeks: Alabama, Arkansas, and Auburn. If the Rebels keep playing the way they have, they could easily go 0-3 over this stretch and Nutt could be sent packing.

10. Mike Price—The Miners are sitting at 2-3. UTEP's defense gave up 101 points in the last two games to South Florida and Houston. Price needs to get some momentum going in El Paso or he will have his sixth straight losing season.

Waiting list: DeWayne Walker, Danny Hope, Steve Fairchild
Fired: Mike Stoops

We will revisit On The Hot Seat after Week 8.

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