Find someone who loves you as much as the University of Wisconsin bureaucracy loves it some Luke Fickell. Week by week, game after game, Fickell has shown no remote clue how to be a quality Power Four head coach in this era of modern college football. Just because he won prolifically at Cincinnati a few years ago never guaranteed success for him in Madison. Wisconsin bought itself a lemon, y'all.
As one of their own tears it up in Albuquerque in New Mexico Lobos head coach Jason Eck, the Badgers continue to circle the drain with their current regime in place. Fickell is clueless, Chris McIntosh is feckless, and Jennifer Mnookin remains so blissfully uninformed. No thoughts, no headaches for this academic. All the while, Wisconsin has devolved into something unforeseen.
With eight Power Four head coaches having bit the dust since the start of the year with Hugh Freeze joining the ranks of DeShaun Foster, Brent Pry, Mike Gundy, Sam Pittman, James Franklin, Billy Napier and Brian Kelly in the unemployment line, we have to wonder if Wisconsin is actually going to keep Fickell around after what looks to be a disastrous 2-10 (0-9) season for the Badgers. Let's hope not...
So without further ado, let's take a look at who all finds themselves on the hot seat with Luke Fickell.
5. Maryland Terrapins head coach Mike Locksley
Hash tag turtle up. All the Maryland Terrapins do is lose, lose, lose, no matter what, once the calendar flips from September to October. Terrapins are cold-blooded, land-dwelling creatures. While they can be a fun team to watch at times because of the offense Mike Locksley puts forth, Maryland rarely ever plays a lick of defense. Locksley should have been fired last year but he was allowed to continue.
Having claimed to have had a his own personal come to Jesus moment last year after having reportedly lost the Maryland locker room, Locksley seems to be doing it again. Malik Washington is a talented quarterback, but he is only a true freshman. With four games left, Maryland may need to split them and achieve bowl eligibility to afford Locksley another year. He has that Wisconsin stink on him.
Keep in mind that the former Maryland head coach in waiting is now available in one James Franklin...
4. Boston College Eagles head coach Bill O'Brien
If apathy has set in when it comes to Wisconsin football, how can we even begin to describe what is going on at Boston College? There are few teams in the Power Four who are definitively worse than Wisconsin, and the Eagles are chief among them. Outside of maybe Oklahoma State in the Big 12 and Purdue in the Big Ten, this is the worst team competing at this level. Bill O'Brien probably needs to go.
Unfortunately, Boston College no longer seems to care about having a good athletics department. When was the last time BC was good at basketball? Yes, they have had their moments on the college football gridiron, but Boston College has not won a game since Week 1. That came against Fordham. Boston College is 1-8 on the season and may not win another game. If only the university even cared.
O'Brien stands a halfway decent chance of keeping his job because Boston College is so apathetic.
3. Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell
Luke Fickell finds himself in the awful middle of the Hot Seat Watch column he has become synonymous with. Fickell's hot seat is a porcelain throne the University of Wisconsin has thrust him upon. He is nobody's god, outside of McIntosh, Mnookin and other Wisconsinites who love to live on taxpayer money. Fickell is coming off a bye, but his team score one touchdown in over a month's time.
With games home vs. Washington, at Indiana, home vs. Illinois, and at arch rival Minnesota, we are staring at a very real possibility that Wisconsin losses out to finish 2-10 overall and 0-9 in conference play. This team is not beating Washington or Indiana. It may have a puncher's chance if Illinois chooses to sleep in. It may all come down to the game with the Golden Gophers over in Minneapolis.
Expect for Paul Bunyan's Axe to act as a guillotine in the event that Fickell and Wisconsin do lose out.
2. Michigan State Spartans head coach Jonathan Smith
This has taken a turn for the worse far earlier than expected. Nearly two years into the Jonathan Smith era in East Lansing, and the former Oregon State head coach may not get a third. If not for beating a terrible Boston College team in the non-conference, the Michigan State Spartans have not beaten a Power Four opponent all year long. They are currently 3-6 overall and 0-6 in Big Ten play.
In a way, Smith always felt like a total mismatch at a place like Michigan State. He is one of those head coaches who seems to be at his best in a place with limited resources. It affords him opportunities to be more innovative. Would it shock you if Smith was either fired at the end of the season or abruptly resigns to go back to his alma mater in Corvallis? At least he knows how to win over in Beav-town...
Michigan State should not be living in the same neighborhood as Purdue and Wisconsin right now.
1. Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney
When the game passes you by, it passes you by in a hurry. Dabo Swinney lost the plot years ago at Clemson. Yes, he may have had the Tigers in the College Football Playoff last year, but that was a 10-3 team that needed a dead-cat bounce to beat SMU in Charlotte. This team is 3-5 after losing by a single point at home vs. Duke. The Tigers were a serious candidate by some to win the national title.
Instead, quarterback Cade Klubnik has taken on the role of a complainer when he is not injured or playing terrible quarterback for the Tigers. Apparently, Swinney's inability to hire great assistants has rendered him useless. He cannot call plays. He is a former wide receivers coach. As his former offensive coordinator Tony Elliott is thriving in Charlottesville at Virginia, Swinney is totally drowning.
Clemson got a dynastic run out of Swinney, but it might be time for them to look for another option.