7) David Bailiff, Rice
A few short years ago, Bailiff was consistently leading Rice to bowl games, but those days are gone now. He’s suffered three consecutive losing seasons, each one worse than the previous one. He’s just 1-6 in 2017, and there have been growing calls for his head since the end of last season.
Bailiff is in his 11th season with the Owls, so it may be time for new leadership in the program — especially when you consider the trajectory that they appear to be on under their current coach.
6) Jim McElwain, Florida
How patient are the Gators feeling? McElwain is less than a year removed from leading Florida to an Outback Bowl victory and a top 15 end-of-season ranking in the polls, but the Gators are now listless at 3-3. Adding to the chaos is a locker room that has been awash with off-field issues and distractions, which falls in part on the coach.
A good finish to the season — in addition to his two strong seasons to start his Gators tenure — may save him, but mediocrity like this won’t be tolerated at Florida for long.
5) David Beaty, Kansas
Kansas ended the 2016 season — a year that saw them win two games, which was still an improvement from their winless 2015 — by handing Beaty a lengthy contract extension through 2021 that pays him $1.6 million a year. For that price tag, the Jayhawks have received a 1-6 season and a squad still waiting for its first Big 12 win. Kansas is simply stalled out under Beaty, and he hasn’t shown any evidence that he’s the man to turn around this long-struggling program that hasn’t won more than three games in a season since Mark Mangino’s final year in 2009.
4) Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech
It’s never a good sign when there’s a fan movement to get you fired, but that’s where Texas Tech is at.
Kingsbury got a shot across the bow during the offseason when there was some legitimate doubt as to whether he’d return, which was a clear warning that things needed to change with the Red Raiders. That hasn’t happened. The team is 4-3, but 1-3 in Big 12 play, with Kingsbury’s typically porous defense (ranked 95th out of 130 in points allowed per game) struggling again.
His seat gets hotter and hotter with each loss, and a good portion of the team’s fanbase wants him gone.
3) Mike Riley, Nebraska
Riley’s days look numbered at Nebraska despite a 9-4 season last year. The athletic director who hired him is gone now, and Riley’s fate has seemed sealed ever since the team’s shocking home loss to Northern Illinois in September.
Riley has two Big Ten wins this season, but they’re against lowly Rutgers and Illinois. Ohio State eviscerated them at home, showing just far behind expectations they are. Riley feels like a goner, especially with a new athletic director who may want a clean slate.
2) Bret Bielema, Arkansas
The Razorbacks are not paying Bielema over $4 million per season to go .500. They are definitely not paying him that much to go 0-4 in SEC play, which is exactly what he has done so far in 2017 — especially in his fifth season at the helm of the program.
Bielema now has a losing record overall as Arkansas head coach, and his 10-26 record against SEC opponents is, quite frankly, an abomination. He’ll be lucky to last until the end of the season, and Hogs fans won’t be sorry to see him go.
1) Butch Jones, Tennessee
Jones once infamously said that his senior class had won the “championship of life,” and it sure looks like that’s the only title he’ll be able to claim in Tennessee. He’s off to an 0-4 start in SEC play, bringing his conference record to 14-22 during his tenure with the Volunteers. He’s never been able to meet the high expectations placed upon him after some encouraging seasons, and things have gone particularly poorly for him in 2017. That 41-0 home loss to Georgia may end up proving the beginning of the end.
Vols fans are fed up with Jones, and it doesn’t look like he’ll get another chance to turn things around in 2018.
