10 college football head coaches who could save their jobs by winning a bowl game

While achieving bowl eligibility is a great accomplishment for some college football programs, it is merely the expectation for others. In the wake of Wisconsin's two-decade long bowl streak come to an end over Luke Fickell actually believing the Air Raid could work in Madison's climate, he enters next season on the hot seat. Frankly, if any head coaches I am about to mention do lose, so would they.

Even though the Group of Five is running absolutely wild when it comes to moving on from its head coaches, the Power Four has been a bit more tempered. We did not see the first Power Four post become available until Bubba Cunningham forced Mack Brown out at North Carolina. Over the last week, we have seen the UCF, Purdue and West Virginia jobs all become available in the Power Four.

So what I want to do today is take a look at 10 bowl-bound college coaches who probably need to win this holiday season to either save their job or take some much-needed pressure off them. As more and more teams try to figure out what they want to do heading into next season, I would not be the least bit shocked if any of these 10 coaches I am about to rattle off are fired after a bowl defeat.

Let's start with a guy who may be under far more pressure than we could ever hope to realize here.

10. Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule

Just when you thought Matt Rhule was safe, think again... Nebraska took its sweet time to get to a previously unreachable sixth victory on the season. The Cornhuskers are finally going bowling, but Rhule expects for 30 or so of his players to hit the transfer portal. He is also losing his hotshot defensive coordinator Tony White to the Florida State post. Rhule is starting to lose his grip on things.

Should the Huskers get blown out in their bowl game because Dylan Raiola and the offense cannot score hardly any points at all, I wonder if that would be enough for Troy Dannen to move on from Rhule? I doubt it, but Rhule's honeymoon phase has long been over. He is a lot of bark and no bite, sucking all the air out of the room whenever possible. Rhule has been exhausting to follow and cover.

While he should get a third year, possibly even a fourth, Rhule needs to win about nine games in 2025.

9. Toledo Rockets head coach Jason Candle

This feels weird too, but hear me out. Jason Candle has been leading Toledo for as long as Matt Campbell has been leading Iowa State, mostly because he replaced him. For as much respect Campbell has in the industry, Candle seems to be benefiting from the fact that Toledo is the best resourced program in the MAC. After losing the MAC last year and going 7-5 this season, I'm worried.

I mean, the Rockets just lost to Akron, which is a program on the other end of the resource spectrum in the MAC. While firing Candle after a bowl game loss may be a tad harsh, that would be three defeats in a row for the perennial contender in the Group of Five that is never quite good enough to be in serious conversations about winning the Group of Five. In a way, I think Toledo can do better.

If Toledo were to open up, that would be the job to get in the Group of Five for anyone who wants one.

8. Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables

For financial reasons, Brent Venables is probably safe at Oklahoma for at least another season. Then again, what have we seen out of the OU head coach in the last three seasons that leads us to believe that anything is going to change for the better under his guidance? If Joe Castiglione did not moronically extend the guy, Venables would be so incredibly toast if he were to have a losing season.

It would have to be an unmitigated disaster of a bowl game showing for Castiglione to fire Venables. I don't think he will, but if there was ever a time for the university to go in a different direction as an athletic department, this could be it. This was a bad hire made by Castiglione. After making one of the best ones ever with Bob Stoops, the arrogance of Lincoln Riley rubbed off on him on the way out.

A seventh win would do just enough to quiet the screams of the Sooner faithful wanting Venables out.

7. USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley

Look who we have here! Everyone's favorite visor masquerading as a college football coach. I don't care what his buyout is. Jennifer Cohen needs to seriously evaluate if Lincoln Riley is the right man to lead the USC Trojans going forward heading into next year. If not for Nebraska throwing up all over itself in Los Angeles, the Trojans would not even be going bowling. Riley is not the answer for USC.

In time, more and more people will come to the realization that I have in that Riley is just Kliff Kingsbury who interviews better. If the Trojans were to lose their bowl game to finish the season at 6-7, we may very well see USC move on from its underperforming head coach. Once again, Jennifer Cohen did not hire him. Mike Bohn did, and he did not even know what alumni were on USC's payroll!

The dollars and cents don't make sense, but everything else does when it comes to punting on Riley.

6. California Golden Bears head coach Justin Wilcox

Life should not be this hard for Justin Wilcox. He has been faithful to the bay, but the bay has never really been faithful to him. For Pro Football Hall of Fame father reasons, Wilcox has continued to do all he can to field a competitive, but under-resourced Cal team. I am afraid that if he were to lose a lower-tiered bowl game Cal's administration may just move on from him anyway. Wilcox deserves better...

To get Cal to a bowl game in the Golden Bears' first season in the ACC with all that absolutely ridiculous travel, Berkeley should build that man a statue at the top of Tightwad Hill rather than firing him. This is a good head coach, one that most people in the know totally agree on. I just feel that he has been put in an impossible situation more times than not, but keeps doing just enough to survive.

If I were a bad team in need of a culture shifter, I would consider trying to poach Wilcox away from Cal.

5. North Carolina State Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren

No, I would not fire Dave Doeren if I was the North Carolina State Wolfpack, but I could understand the logic behind doing so. NC State was expected to be a serious contender to come out of the ACC to make the College Football Playoff, and they went 6-6. If not for North Carolina pulling the rug out from under Mack Brown, this team may not have even gone to a bowl game. I do have real concerns.

The Grayson McCall transfer portal acquisition was a mistake. Robert Anae does not need to be this team's offensive coordinator next year. I would say that Doeren has done enough good, but not great for long enough in Raleigh to get another season to redeem himself. However, this was the year for NC State to take advantage of the ACC being in a period of transition and the Wolfpack totally blew it.

What difference does it make if NC State beat UNC and then backed it up with a bowl game defeat?

4. Virginia Tech Hokies head coach Brent Pry

Brent Pry is in somewhat of a similar situation at Virginia Tech as Dave Doeren is at North Carolina State. Both ACC schools needed to beat their instate rival in the final week of the season to achieve bowl eligibility. A loss in December could be bad news for the head coach who underperformed in a year where both teams had serious ACC title aspirations. There is one difference between the two...

While Dave Doeren has a proven track record of stability at NC State, Pry is only in his third season on the job at Virginia Tech. He was thought to be a catalyst for change in Blacksburg because he can recruit in the Tidewater region. All I know is anytime I watched Virginia Tech play this season, they always came up short in a winnable game in key moments. Could Virginia Tech do better than Pry?

It might be a tad premature to move on from him, but Pry should enter next season on the hot seat.

3. Fresno State Bulldogs interim head coach Tim Skipper

If there is any head coach to root for during bowl season, it has to be Tim Skipper leading his alma mater of Fresno State in the interim. While the Mountain West was largely bottom heavy this season, Skipper did lead the Bulldogs to a bowl game in the abbreviated wake left by Jeff Tedford's abrupt retirement. My thought is if Skipper wins this bowl game, he should have his interim tag removed.

It is a feel-good story, but one that I could definitely get behind. Fresno State is a good Group of Five program, but one that can fluctuate if the wrong man is running point. Fresno State needs stability after losing Kalen DeBoer to Washington a few years ago and then one of their own in Tedford to retirement. I can only hope that the Fresno State administration does right by Skipper this winter.

Unfortunately, we did see Wisconsin do wrong by Jim Leonhard in the hot pursuit of one Luke Fickell...

2. North Texas Mean Green head coach Eric Morris

To be quite honest, I don't think there is a coach under more pressure to win a bowl game than Eric Morris at North Texas. Firing Seth Littrell was a tad controversial. Morris was hired off Jake Dickert's Washington State staff the same week that Morris' mentor Mike Leach passed away. After having fired his defensive coordinator in Matt Caponi, the Mean Green still do not play a lick of defense.

Given how turbulent the coaching market has been in the Group of Five up to this point, it would not shock me if UNT was to move on from Morris after a bad bowl game loss. It may be a tinge late in the cycle, but North Texas really struggled down the stretch in AAC play. The league was in a state of flux, and the Mean Green did not take advantage of its opportunities. This team must be more balanced.

Timing is everything, but if Morris is out, then I could see a situation in which UNT is the last job filled.

1. Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day

Had Arkansas not said that Sam Pittman was coming back, he would have been No. 1 with a bullet on this list. While I think it is way more likely that North Texas moves on from Eric Morris with a bowl-game defeat, what do you think would happen to Ryan Day at Ohio State if the Buckeyes ended the season on a two-game losing streak? A loss to Michigan, then probably a first-round playoff defeat.

Admittedly, Ohio State is more of a playoff lock than I give the Buckeyes credit for, but they should be playing in Indianapolis over Penn State. Let's say Ohio State gets to play in the No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchup against a team like Tennessee. The game could be in Columbus, Knoxville or on the moon, it does not matter. All I know is if Ohio State were to lose to anyone in the first round that Day will be out.

No coach had more unrealistic pressure entering this year, and no coach has more leaving it than Day.