College Football Week 13 spells the end for these 3 coaches
These three struggling head coaches will likely be dismissed next weekend following the end of the regular season.
The college football coaching carousel is already in full swing, and is only going to heat up more following the conclusion of rivalry week.
Florida got a head start on the rest of the nation by firing Jim McElwain near the end of October following a beatdown at the hands of rival Georgia. Weeks later, Tennessee finally did the inevitable by putting the Butch Jones era out of its misery with coaching rumors about both programs already swirling.
More changes are sure to come, particularly in the SEC with Arkansas and Texas A&M struggling. As always, there will be a few surprises, and programs in need of a head coach will have a number of intriguing candidates to choose from including Chip Kelly, Scott Frost and Matt Campbell.
Several head coaches enter all-important rivalry week on the hot seat potentially needing a win to save their jobs. These three head coaches won’t be able to get it done before being fired at the conclusion of week 13.
Mike Riley
Moving on from a head coach after three seasons usually isn’t advisable, but it’s clear that Riley isn’t a good fit in Lincoln, and the program is already gearing up to move on.
After dismissing relatively successful head coach Bo Pelini in part due to his on-field demeanor, the Cornhuskers brought in one of the most mild-mannered head coaches in the nation in Riley ahead of the 2015 season. Riley did a terrific job with limited resources at Oregon State, leading the Beavers to a 93-80 record over 14 seasons with several legendary upsets.
The Nebraska job is a whole different world, and Riley is struggling with a record of 19-17 nearing the end of his third season. Nebraska has been routinely blown out by ranked teams and is heading in the wrong direction after peaking at 9-4 last season.
This year has been particularly bad at 4-6, as Nebraska is likely to miss a bowl game for the first time in a decade. The Cornhuskers have already dismissed athletic director Shawn Eichorst, and it’s not hard to predict what direction they might go in with Frost, a former Cornhusker quarterback, quickly rising through the coaching ranks.
Nebraska has been struggling to recover since firing Frank Solich in 2003, and Riley isn’t the coach to get the Cornhuskers back to national contender status.