New money in college football means ‘hot seat’ arrives quicker for coaches

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00:00We're just two weeks into the 2025 college football season and the coaching hot seat

00:04is already burning up. The pressure to win now in the pay-for-play era

00:09has been turned up on even the longest tenured bosses.

00:15The House vs. NCAA settlement approved in June allows universities to pay players directly

00:20for the first time in college athletics. Add in the outside money from booster collectives

00:26and other corporate deals and the big business of college football, which funds many athletic

00:31departments, is now even bigger. Schools want the payoff for all those payments.

00:37At the top of the hot seat list is Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy, who is the winningest coach

00:42in school history after 20 years in charge. Last season, though, things hit rock bottom.

00:47Oklahoma State finished 3-9 with a 52-0 loss to Colorado. It was the worst defeat and the

00:54worst season of Gundy's career. Then came Saturday's 69-3 drubbing at Oregon.

01:01Just days after the coach expressed frustration about the investments the Ducks have made with

01:06the help of Nike CEO Phil Knight. He said they paid a lot of money for their team.

01:12When I made that comment, I was complimenting Oregon for what they had done. The second thing

01:16is, which I said later in the week, we've made commitments also. But we have to be better

01:25and fundamentally sound and execute. That's really what it comes down to. And then, as

01:29I said, sometimes you're going to play people that have the ability to run away from you.

01:34Okay, well then we've got to look at that and see where we're at.

01:36Billy Napier is right alongside Gundy after losing on Saturday to unranked South Florida

01:4118-16. The Gators were an 18-point favorite at home. Napier has a 20-20 record in his fourth

01:49season at Gainesville, unacceptable in SEC country. He would receive a buyout of $19 million should

01:56he be fired this year. Early rumors are also circling around Virginia Tech's Brent Prye and UCLA's

02:02Sean Foster, who have both started the season 0-2. And there's pressure on Northwestern's

02:07David Braun to turn things around after a 1-1 start, ahead of the opening of the new $850

02:14million Ryan Field in 2026. The Wildcats are 28-point underdogs to Oregon this Saturday.

02:22And then there's Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer, who's in his second season in Tuscaloosa.

02:27He has the unenviable task of replacing the legendary Nick Saban. DeBoer went 9-3,

02:32in 2024 and failed to make the college football playoff. They opened this season with a stunning

02:37loss to Florida State and dropped 13 spots to 21st in the AP poll. The Tide has Wisconsin

02:45this week. Another stumble would turn the heat up immensely, even though the team is still

02:50adjusting. A lot of young guys got some experience that I think was really good. Guys are understanding

02:55their roles and need to continue to move forward with that and have a big week here. Play again,

03:00Brian Denny Stadium. It was good to be at home. Guys really could feel the juice and the energy

03:04from the fans. Those fans, however, have already turned on Coach DeBoer. If he doesn't fix things

03:10and is let go, the university will owe him a $70 million buyout. Not to mention the possibility

03:16of spending another $100 million on a new head coach. For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis.