Went to the site Coaches Hot Seat to check out how hot the seats of Sun Belt coaches are getting. Here's how they stacked:

15. Shawn Elliot-Ga State
28. Steve Campbell-S. Alabama
53. Jake Spavital-Texas State
63. Matt Viator-ULM
79. Billy Napier-ULL
97. Chip Lindsey-Troy
115. Blake Anderson-Arkie State
117. Chad Lunsford-Ga Southern
121. Eli Drinkwitz-App State

New Coastal head coach Jamey Chadwell was not listed.

The only two seats from the Sun Belt currently listed as hot are those of Elliot and Campbell although Spavital's ranking of 53 (though not hot) is high for a first year coach. FWIW, Scott Satterfield is right behind Spavital at 54 on the Hot Seat rankings.

Really surprised to see Anderson that low on the list. I'd put him in the 50's at least.

True dat. After we beat the Arkies last year, I went to their board and was surprised at all the negativity directed towards Blake Anderson. A lot of them were hoping Gus Malzahn would get fired at Auburn so they could take him back at Jonesboro. Didn't get it myself. Anderson has stayed loyal to Ark State and has built a decent program (even though last year was an underachievement).

I am surprised Satterfield isn't higher up on the list, those Cardinals are not a patient or realistic bunch

NattyBumppo'sRevenge wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 30, 2019 11:04 am

Really surprised to see Anderson that low on the list. I'd put him in the 50's at least.

I think his wife's health situation is playing a role in keeping his seat cool for the time being.

54 is pretty high for a first year coach. I suspect his hot seat rating will be higher this time next year unless he sets the woods on fire in his rookie season.

Spavital could have taken an NFL job. He seemed to do a great job at WVU and sought after. I think its a great hire for Tx. Not like they have much recent history of success. Surprised to see him that high up.
Satterfield, I get. He has a long road to rebuild, and I don't see patience being a virtue now at UL.

Elliott had 1 good year that exceeded expectations, and 1 disappointing year that didn't meet expectations. Looks like he has made quite a few moves in the off season. It may or may not help, but he is trying to shake things up and compete.

The Rock wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 30, 2019 11:20 am

Spavital could have taken an NFL job. He seemed to do a great job at WVU and sought after. I think its a great hire for Tx. Not like they have much recent history of success. Surprised to see him that high up.
Satterfield, I get. He has a long road to rebuild, and I don't see patience being a virtue now at UL.

I agree that Spavital looks like a good hire for TSU but so did Withers on paper. I think his hot seat rating being that high is a combination of poor tradition and very little patience at the school. Withers only got three years before getting the axe.

Its interesting to me that, while most of the new coaches are clumped together in the middle, Coach Drink is not only the most secure first year coach on the list, but is among the 10 safest in all of FBS.

Not sure why a first year coach should even be listed??

appfanz wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 30, 2019 1:51 pm

Not sure why a first year coach should even be listed??

That's why I think most of the new coaches are clumped together in the middle - with the ones with more pressure to win right away closer to the top of that clump. They aren't in danger of being fired anytime soon, but their job isn't secured for years to come either.

Some of these seem to be really odd. I wonder if Elliot's seat is actually hot or if that's just an assumption that these rating people make based on this past season. Turning GSU into a winner is a long term assignment, so it looks like he is being penalized for over achieving in his first year. I think most of the first year coaches would be safe at this point unless they mean "hot" in that there are big expectation, in which case Drink is too low. The list looks like it's pretty poorly researched in general to me.

The list is pretty good as far as the coaches on the hot seat go and as far as the ones like Saban and Dabo who are totally safe. It's the ones in the middle who can be shuffled around. You could probably move Drink up about 20 positions and be just as accurate. Same with Lunsford at GSU. Should they drop to 7-5/6-6 next season his seat in the Stink is going to get scorching hot. That's been shown with past coaches down there.