This is the last place college basketball coaches want to find themselves just days before the start of a new season — on a so-called hot seat list with the implication being that they need to have a nice next few months to avoid losing their jobs in March, if not sooner.
It’s pressure on top of pressure. It doesn’t normally end well.
But hopefully it does!
Because — and I hope it goes without saying, but if it doesn’t, please let me say it — I derive no pleasure from this exercise. Speculating about other people’s job status isn’t fun. It’s awkward. But trying to identify what jobs could open during or after this season has forever been a part of the preseason content. So, here we are again with a list of five men who clearly need a good year to ensure they get a next year.
Brad Brownell, Clemson
Brownell was on this list last November but survived by finishing tied for third in the ACC after being picked No. 11 in the preseason. Still, his Tigers did not make the NCAA Tournament, which means Brownell has only made the Field of 68 three times in 13 years and advanced past the Round of 64 just once. Can he really miss the NCAA Tournament again and survive again? Maybe. But I wouldn’t suggest he try it.
Johnny Dawkins, UCF
Dawkins has made just one NCAA Tournament in seven years at UCF — and that was while the Knights were in the very-manageable American Athletic Conference. UCF is now in the much-tougher Big 12 and was recently picked to finish last. Simply put, it defies logic to think a UCF program that had an average finish of sixth in the AAC under Dawkins will do anything other than consistently get buried in the Big 12. Eventually, that’ll cost Dawkins his job, perhaps as soon as next March.
Mike Hopkins, Washington
Hopkins got off to a nice start at Washington. He won 21 games in his first season and advanced to the second round of the NIT, then won an outright Pac-12 title in his second…
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