Pete Thamel debates how current openings will impact remaining hot seats

There are eight head coach openings at Power Four programs and it’s not even November yet. Further, there are plenty of fans across the country who are desperate for their programs to follow suit. On Monday, ESPN’s Pete Thamel explained how the influx of job openings in October will affect other programs that are considering making a change.

“As we move on now, the calculus of whether or not to dismiss your coach has to look at the competition for market,” Thamel said. “If you are a very good program that does not have the budget of LSU, Florida, Penn State, you are already on the second tier of hiring. You are you are already there… If you’re Florida State and Auburn right now, you are not one of the top three jobs open on the market.”

Florida State and Auburn fans are far from the only ones growing frustrated with their team’s leadership. Programs like Kentucky and Wisconsin are also facing backlash for their respective team’s lack of success.

Nonetheless, these schools may be less likely to make a move with so many openings currently on the market. After all, on another year, programs like Auburn could be the most coveted landing spot for coaching candidates.

Schools will only be enticed by the fact that if they wait another year, their current coach’s buyout will decrease. Nonetheless, they must weigh the financial cost of making a change versus the sacrifice of losing their fanbase’s support.

After all, it isn’t always easy to gain back a fanbase’s support in college football. Of all the programs with a coach on the hot seat, Thamel seems to understand Florida State’s situation best.

“There’s a lot of discontent down there. Florida State, if you read through the lines of what they said, they want to keep [Mike] Norvell. They want him to win,” Thamel said. “[But] if you’re not winning league games at a league you threw a temper tantrum to try to leave and took to court, It’s a problem.

“But, they think a lot of Mike Norvell. He was just 13-0 not that long ago. He’s a good football coach. They want it to work there, but those are gonna be some tough conversations.”

With four weeks remaining in the regular season, the college football coaching carousel is far from done spinning. Coaches on the hot seat will look to save their jobs in the home stretch of the season.