ACC football hot seat temperature check

This has been the coolest the Miami Hurricanes head coach’s seat has been in a few years. The Athletic Director is in place, the head coach, and Miami is already working on facilities upgrades to boot. But how does the rest of the Atlantic Coast Conference match up?

The head coaches around the ACC have varying degrees of temperature under their ass cheeks heading into the ‘22 season.

Cooler than being cool...

Mario Cristobal, Miami- Let’s get The U’s Cristobal out of the way first. Mario Cristobal could have a disastrous first season in Coral Gables and he’s 100% secure as the head man.

Dabo Swinney, Clemson- Dabo ain’t goin’ no where. I don’t care if Clemson has another ‘down’ year of only 10 wins and no College Football Playoff appearance. Swinney has earned the patience at Clemson and has two new coordinators and a potential QB controversy on his hands.

Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh- Kenny Pickett is a Pittsburgh Steeler and Mark Whipple will be a Grumpy Gus in Lincoln this year. Narduzzi’s offense might take a step back without Pickett and Jordan Addison but the Panthers won’t slip below .500. Narduzzi is safe after a recent contract extension.

Dave Clawson, Wake Forest- The Clawfence has won 10+ games at four schools in a row now and their staff continues to innovate and do more with less. An 11-3 season bought Clawson even more time to continue to build.

Duncan Robinson degrees of cold

Jeff Hafley, Boston College- I can’t imagine anything forcing BC’s Jeff Hafley out any time soon. If anything, Hafley could upgrade from BC to somewhere like Penn State in the near future. Eagles fans have to know their squad is better than 6-6 if Phil Jurcovek doesn’t get injured in ‘21.

Dave Doeren, NCSU- Doeren is heading into his 10th season in Raleigh with a record of 64-49 (34-40 in the ACC). The Wolfpack had hiccups in ‘13 and ‘19 but Doeren has consistently won 7-9 games a year at NC State. Doeren recently signed both an extension and received a raise after nine wins in ‘21.

The HR paperwork takes too long to do this all again this soon

Mike Elko, Duke- Elko is taking over a dumpster fire in Durham that needs time to replace how far behind David Cutcliffe allowed things like S&C, recruiting and facilities to get at Duke. They’re not doing this again so soon.

Tony Elliott, Virginia- Elliott is regarded as one of the ‘good guys’ of college football. Maybe he’s too nice for the business, but I would like to think UVA will give him time to push the Cavaliers into the future.

Brent Pry, Virginia Tech- Pry is a former Virginia Tech GA that has spent time building his resume. Pry will be given 4-5 seasons to straighten out the Justin Fuente mistake.

McBain’s partner days from retirement

Mack Brown, UNC- Mack isn’t getting fired, but this could be the underachieving season where the UNC brass and Brown work together to find his predecessor. Is it Tar Heels OC Phil Longo? Is it someone in-state like Dave Clawson? How about paying to get a big name like Matt Campbell? UNC certainly won’t slip back after Brown, they see what having a competitive football program is worth to the university.

‘Flames around the dog’ meme

Mike Norvell, FSU- The Seminoles haven’t had a winning season since 2017. As much as we bagged on Manny Diaz, even he had winning seasons. Norvell lost his longtime sidekick in Kenny Dillingham and will have to finish above .500 and in a bowl game in order to keep his job. Who replaces Norvell? What about a name like Deion Sanders?

Geoff Collins, Georgia Tech- Collins demoted his DC and fired his OC in order to save his own hide from being singed off. Collins hired Chip Long and around coaching Long’s reputation is anything but positive. One FBS coach called him an, ‘Internal team killer.” Collins will finish out the ‘22 season but with their schedule I can’t see more than four wins now that Jahmyr Gibbs is in Tuscaloosa. Could the next Yellow Jackets head coach be a fun name like Jamey Chadwell? Or will the GT brass go with a boring hire like Butch Jones?

Scott Satterfield, Louisville- Satterfield left App State to wind up in football purgatory in the ACC. For all of the Cards success in the lowly Big East, the ACC hasn’t been kind to Papa John’s favorite squad. Louisville is 18-19 under Coach Satt and with Cincinnati and Kentucky improved the recruiting isn’t coming as easily. Is this the hire when Jeff Brohm finally comes home?

Dino Babers, Syracuse- I was excited about Dino at ‘Cuse, and they even won 10 games in 2018, but they’ve fallen off since and this could be the end of the Babers Era with the Orange. It’s hard to recruit up there and you’d need someone with experience in the northeast to make it work. Would Lance Leipold want to return to the cold NY winters?

Poll

Which of these head coaches is most likely to be fired first in ‘22? Comment below with who you can see replacing them at their current school.