It's that time again - I can tell from the searches that are leading to this blog - to start talking about the college basketball coaches on the hot seat. Many of the coaches on this list were pretty much on the hot seat from the beginning of the year. And some who should be on the hot seat are no longer... because they've already been fired.
The number of midseason firings have seemed high. Even though all of the coaches were losing and losing handily, the schools are cutting bait quickly, handing the job over to some hungry coach who will tend to lose a lot of games and have no chance of getting the permanent job:
Jerry Wainwright, DePaul (Big East): fired after more losses, including to Florida Gulf Coast, 1.11.10
Dereck Whittingham, Fordham (A-10): fired after extreme losing record and spate of transfers, including star Jio Fontan who tried leaving earlier, 12.3.09
Benny Moss, UNC-Wilmington (CAA): fired, possibly under pressure by UNC-W boosters, 1.28.10
Terry Dunn, Dartmouth (Ivy): resigned after players threatened to not play another game for him, 1.8.10 (players deny allegations)
Glen Miller, U Pennsylvania (Ivy): fired after striking the wrong chord with alums (or not understanding Quaker basketball culture + scrutiny), 12.14.09
That's a lot of firing.
Ken Pomeroy makes a case that keeping a coach who is going to be fired (a "dead man walking" is inhumane and injurious to his prospects. I think it's a burden on the remaining staff, and possibly the players. That said, usually everyone knows the axe is coming, and the people around the program are using the language of execution: "the axe," "dead man walking," "a goner", "falling off the rainbow road" (ok, not the last, a MarioKart reference).
Additionally, it allows the school - who does have the power to keep paying the paycheck or not - to start putting out feelers for coaches, put together their evaluations of what the team needs, and to be able to jump on the candidates during NCAA Tournament play.
What's done is done. There are a number of other coaches whose tenure at their schools might be coming to a swift end.
Fred Hill, Rutgers (Big East)
- Years at school: 4
- Record at school: 46-72 overall, 12-53 Big East
- Current team record: 14-12, 4-9 Big East
- Pomeroy rank as of today: 136
- Article on his hot seat: How many games does Fred Hill Jr. have to win to save his job at Rutgers?
Norm Roberts, St. John's (Big East):
- Years at school: 6
- Record at school: 78-95 overall, 30-66 Big East
- Current team record: 14-10, 4-8 Big East
- Pomeroy rank as of today: 81
- Article on his hot seat: From this blog: When It's Time to Change
Ernie Kent, Oregon (Pac-10)
- Years at school: 13
- Record at school: 231-169 overall, 106-122 Pac-10
- Current team record: 12-12, 4-8
- Pomeroy rank as of today: 126
- Article on his hot seat: Pac-10 Insider: If Oregon fires Ernie Kent, Cal and Arizona State offer turnaround lessons
Jeff Lebo, Auburn (SEC)
- Years at school: 6
- Record at school: 93-89 overall, 31-58 SEC
- Current team record: 12-13, 3-7 SEC
- Pomeroy rank as of today: 104
- Article on his hot seat: Lebo's future uncertain after tough losses; Lebo does it again against Alabama, but he's not getting it done overall
Pat Kennedy, Towson (CAA):
- Years at school: 6
- Record at school: 64-116 overall, 34-72 Colonial
- Current team record: 7-19, 4-12
- Pomeroy rank as of today: 266
- Article on his hot seat: Explore Howard (blog): Kennedy tries to get comfortable with ‘hot seat’
Sidney Lowe, North Carolina State (ACC)
- Years at school: 4
- Record at school: 65-58 overall, 17-42 conference
- Current team record: 14-12, 2-9
- Pomeroy rank as of today: 84
- Article on his hot seat: Fowler gives Lowe vote of confidence (the dreaded vote of confidence)
Ed DeChellis, Penn State (Big-10):
- Years at school:
- Record at school: 92-119 overall, 29-83 Big Ten
- Current team record: 8-16, 0-12
- Pomeroy rank as of today: 116
- Article on his hot seat: State of the Program (by Battle Does it Again blog)
Matt Doherty, SMU (C-USA):
- Years at school: 4
- Record at school: 44-71 overall, 14-44 Conference USA
- Current team record: 11-13, 4-6
- Pomeroy rank as of today: 119
- Article on his hot seat: Despite Its Big-Time Coach, SMU Basketball Remains Small-Time
Todd Lickliter, Iowa (Big-10):
- Years at school: 3
- Record at school: 36-49 overall, 13-32 Big Ten
- Current team record: 9-18, 3-11
- Pomeroy rank as of today: 142
- Article on his hot seat: Iowa Basketball preview
Bob Nash, Hawai'i (WAC):
- Years at school: 3
- Record at school: 33-52 overall, 14-30 Western Athletic
- Current team record: 9-16, 2-10
- Pomeroy rank as of today: 232
- Article on his hot seat: Beleaguered Nash deserves 1 more year
Who have I missed? Chime in in the comments.