Greetings, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) sports fans – hope you are having a great spring day wherever you are in the world!! @TalkinACCSports and I have many @AllSportsDACC ACC podcasts coming up this spring and summer – we’ll give you your college football fix until the first game of the year.
It has been a while since I checked in on the @CoachesHotSeat blog – they rate the job security of each NCAA Division I college football coach. They use a three-tier system ranking for job security, including “the hot seat, the edge of the hot seat, and safe for now.” As we blog about the ACC here at All Sports Discussion, we take interest in where the conference’s coaches are at in this ranking. Turns out, there are five ACC football coaches on the hot seat – and one right on the edge of the hot seat. Specifically:
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Miami’s Al Golden has the hottest seat in the ACC. He comes in with the fourth hottest seat nationally. Golden has had recruiting class after recruiting class in the top 10-15 while at Miami and first round draft picks – yet churns out mediocre records year after year (Al Golden has a career record of 55 – 56, including 28-22 at Miami. Most analysts think he absolutely must get his team to the ACC Championship game this year – that said, I don’t think Miami fires him if he underachieves this year (Miami won’t pay the buyout).
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Virginia’s Mike London (with a career record of 47-43, including 23-38 at Virginia – that’s a 38% winning percentage) has the second hottest seat in the ACC (and eleventh nationally). If it were me, I’d rank London higher on the hot seat than Golden. I think it’s a foregone conclusion that this year is London’s swan song – but I can see the argument for Golden with the hottest seat (the Hurricanes have never made the ACC championship game in his tenure). London’s teams have never won a game vs. rival Virginia Tech – and can’t seem to find success vs. Duke (in fact, it is fair to say that David Cutcliffe has owned Virginia).
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North Carolina’s Larry Fedora has the third hottest seat in the ACC (and 24th nationally). Fedora’s record at North Carolina is 21-17 (I think East Carolina scored again while I typed that). Time is running out for Fedora – and he’s going to have to get the Tar Heels into the ACC Championship Game in the next two years.
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Syracuse’s Scott Shafer has the fourth hottest seat in the ACC (and 28th nationally). While head coach of the Orange, Shafer’s record is 10-15. The Orange had quite a time of it last year with Villanova – and Shafer can’t have too many more of these games.
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Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly – someone we talk about from time to time as the ACC has a scheduling agreement with the Irish – comes in at fifth on this list (and 30th nationally). At most schools, a 45-20 record over five years would be acceptable – that’s an average of 9 wins per season. Notre Dame fans seem to have expectations of yesteryear. Is that fair? Maybe so – maybe not – but this is where Kelly comes in on these rankings.
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Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer has the fifth hottest seat in the ACC (and sixth on this list) – and comes in at #32 nationally (which puts him on the edge of the hot seat in these rankings). Beamer is legend – Virginia Tech was the ACC’s elite program for many years. However, there has been a drop off with some recruiting misses and injuries the last three seasons with records of 7-6, 8-5. and 7-6. Here’s thinking Virginia Tech will be better this year than last year. If not, Frank Beamer could move higher in the @CoachesHotSeat rankings next year.
We will be watching this more as the season progresses. Have a great Saturday and weekend!!
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