After weeks of speculation, Auburn fired head football coach Bryan Harsin on Monday.
Following the move, a Twitter user asked Late Kick‘s Josh Pate which coach is most likely to get ousted next. Pate identified Neal Brown as the coach with the hottest seat, saying there’s “a lot of smoke” on a move happening by the end of the year.
“Things have gone awry at West Virginia this year… It just hasn’t gone according to plan,” Pate said. “There were a lot of people willing to give [the] benefit of the doubt, but even if the losses are close, that’s one thing. It just seems like the program is trending in the wrong direction.”
While he doesn’t think any other Power Five coaches will get dismissed this season, Pate believes some prominent ones must show “radical improvement” next year. He said Jimbo Fisher, Steve Sarkisian, and Mel Tucker could end up on the hot seat if their teams continue to struggle.
The Mountaineers are 3-5, with their last four losses each coming by double digits. They got destroyed, 48-10, by Texas Tech before falling 41-31 to TCU.
Brown is 20-23 since taking over as West Virginia’s coach in 2019. Only Iowa State is currently lower in the Big Ten standings.
If Pate is right, Brown must lead the Mountaineers to some victories this month to save his job. They play at Iowa State this Saturday afternoon before closing the season against Oklahoma, No. 13 Kansas State, and No. 18 Oklahoma State.