By David Asbury
If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen
Just like the player rosters, there has been a lot of turnover for the coaches in the Sun Belt. So much turnover that ODU's Ricky Rahne is now the longest tenured coach in the Sun Belt even though he is entering just his fifth season. A lot of it is that quality coaches like Kurt Cignetti and Jon Sumrall get poached by teams with bigger pocket books while struggling coaches get shown the door. Then there's the strange case of Charles Huff taking a lateral move to USM despite an amazing season with Marshall. With so many new faces and contracts with higher buyouts (because the contracts are so new) the seats are just not as hot in the Sun Belt as they have been. It is a good thing for some stability but there are still high expectations to go around and at least one hot seat that is definitely worth talking about.
These rankings are the opinion of Monarchist David Asbury. These rankings do not represent the view of the Pride of ODU Collective or the (other) Monarchists.
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Mike and Aaron talk with David about this article in their first-ever companion podcast.
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Tier 1 - Hot Hot Hot!
Ricky Rahne, Old Dominion.
Coach Rahne is a very good coach that has been dealt a very tough hand. The Sun Belt East is a stout G5 league and the non-conference schedule has been brutal for ODU, filled with P4 teams and top G5 teams and too often had no easy FCS teams. He took over a team that went 1-11 in 2019 and then canceled the 2020 season. Despite all of that, he rebuilt the team to be competitive in the Sun Belt and went bowling twice in four seasons. He has been good but not great. Rahne still has not brought home a winning record. Old Dominion fans have been patient enough. Rahne must to do it this year or he may not make it to the final year of his contract in 2026. On the other hand, he has the best quarterback room he has ever had. A lot of talent returns and has been brought in through the portal and JuCo ranks. Although still tough, the schedule is slightly easier than years past. The team is still trending in the right direction. If Rahne can finally have a stellar winning season, he could get extended in the offseason. It's do-or-die time in Norfolk.
Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography
EXTRA, Brent Pry, Virginia Tech.
Yeah yeah yeah, I know. Virginia Tech is not a Sun Belt team. But ODU fans should be aware that the Hokies have a coach on the pretty fiery hot seat. The Hokies were set up for success in 2024 but severely underperformed going 6-7 with a bowl loss. Currently, Pry sports a 16-21 record after three seasons. He needs to have a stellar 2025 season or else he will not be there for 2026. Between Pry and Fuente, the post-Frank Beamer era has disappointed Tech fans. There is still hope. Quarterback Kyron Drones returns but there is still a lot of turnover on the roster with over 30 new players. Pry has also completely revamped his coaching staff. Can Pry save his job this season? Will he get fired mid-season if the Monarchs beat the Hokies in Blacksburg? Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z!
Tier 2 - Sitting on a butt warmer
Tim Beck, Coastal Carolina
Tim Beck was freezing his ass off after the successful 2023 season but the team does not seem to be going in the right direction after getting throttled at home in the Myrtle Beach Bowl. Quarterback Ethan Vasko along with 36 others jumped into the winter portal which is a lot of turnover for a team keeping their head coach. Beck fired both coordinators and made good replacements but it is unclear if that is enough to lower the degrees on his seat. There is a relatively low chance of movement after only his third season but a bad 2025 will could mean a hot seat in 2026.
Gerard Parker, Troy
It is way too early to say that Gerard Parker is on the hot seat yet. It was his very first season with a completely new roster and his starting quarterback Goose Crowder missed most of the season due to injury. That all calls for giving him a giant mulligan for 2024. But Troy is a program that won the Sun Belt twice in recent years. The team has high expectations and is located in a rich recruiting area. It has been a top program in recent years and they expect to get back to success sooner rather than later.
Tier 3- Not hot, but not cold either
Dell McGee, Georgia State
Like Parker, McGee's 3-9 first season should not be counted against him. State hired him late in the process and Shawn Elliot did not leave him with much of a roster to begin with. It should count as a mulligan as he needed more time to build his team. But 2025 absolutely counts against him and if he goes 3-9 or worse, his booty will be blistering. McGee needs the team to at least look like it is heading in the right direction and look much improved by the time it travels to Norfolk for the last regular season game.
Clay Helton, Georgia Southern
Helton finally secured a winning season and finally beat rival App. State, and even got an extension in the offseason. But the team did fumble the SBC East race again and also lost their bowl game to CUSA's Sam Houston State. Helton has not won a bowl game at Ga. So. and his ability to coach a defense is also in serious question. His seat will get warmer if the defense cannot get any improvement and they expect to compete for the SBC East. Such high expectations come with warmer seats.
Photo Courtesy of CB Sports Photography
Butch Jones, Ark. State
Ark. State just had their first winning season and bowl victory since 2019 after Jones rebuilt the program. So they extended him through the 2029 season which actually seems a little excessive given his limited success and poor defenses. But then again, maybe the Red Wolves are just happy to be back to winning records and who is to fault them for that. It may also just make sense to allow him to keep building "brick by brick" as he says.
Major Applewhite, South Alabama
South Alabama was a top-tier Sun Belt team but lost their coach and most of their roster. In 2024, most thought of it as a rebuilding year for first-year head coach Major Applewhite. Applewhite did not see it that way though and he brought the Jaguars a winning season and bowl victory against Hayden Wolff's Western Michigan. They are ahead of schedule of the rebuild and [heading into this offseason] they appeared ready to start competing for the Belt itself.
NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND! But before we consider the Jags contenders for the West we have to consider the Spring Portal. Star quarterback Gio Lopez entered the portal to get paid by UNC. Their expectations should be severely tempered by that key loss and he was not the only one to leave. If Applewhite can still find success then maybe his seat stays cold. If he cannot, well he may climb this list.
Bob Chesney, James Madison
9-4 with a quickly rebuilt roster and first bowl victory is a huge success. For most SBC teams, that would be an incredible feat. Unfortunately for Chesney, JMU fans expect championships. They have been a juggernaut in the FCS and in the SBC East before he arrived. A loud minority of fans see an 8-4 regular season as a failure but those fans might fail to see that they are among peers now where every team expects championships. So, due to the high expectations Chesney's seat is not quite freezing.
Michael Desormeaux, Louisiana
Desormeaux got Louisiana back on top of the SBC West as the UL fan base expect to be. The base may be pretty grouchy for getting stomped on by Marshall at home in the SBC Championship Game and then getting throttled by TCU in their bowl game. However, winning the West is still a very successful season and back to where UL fans expect them to be. 2025 will be a big test though after losing a lot of top players from last year's roster including their top two quarterbacks.
Tier 4 - Freezing their Tails off
Bryant Vincent, ULM
Going 5-7 and missing a bowl in your first year is not objectively successful. However, it is still ULM's best season in a good long while and much better than their very low 1.5-win preseason expectations. They have not been to a bowl game in over a decade and have been a perennial bottom feeder in the conference. So, for ULM, we will count 2024 as a huge successful season in the right direction. The school clearly agrees by giving Vincent a raise. His seat is still very safe right now. But can he break this 5-7 glass ceiling and go to a bowl game-- the first ULM bowl game since 2012? Or will ULM tumble back to their own mean?
GJ Kinne, Texas State
Texas State fell short of their goal of winning the division, but 2024 was still their second best season since moving up to FBS. Of their two best seasons, GJ Kinne has been the head coach. This is why they gave him a seven-year contract extension to continue to lead the Bobcat football program through the 2031 season and turn him into the highest paid coach in the entire conference. In fact, his recent success may even launch Texas State to the Pac-12 which means even more money for the school. Kinne is their best coach in their short history and they will just not let go of him anytime soon.
Photo Courtesy of CB Sports Photography
Tier -5 - New Hires
Tony Gibson, Marshall
Most brand new coaches are safe in their first year. Expectations are usually tempered because the coach needs time to build his team and the buyout is usually very high after just one season. However, of the new hires Tony Gibson's seat is likely the "hottest" due to the departure of AD Christian Spears. As I right this they have not named a replacement, but whoever the replacement is he or she may want to hire their own man for the job. That is exacerbated by the fact that Marshall was decimated in the portal in the wake of Huff's departure. Marshall has high expectations and losing seasons will not be tolerated even under such conditions. Gibson will have a very hard task before him but one that he is capable of climbing. So the "hottest seat" among the new hires (if you can even call it that) is probably Gibson's.
Dowell Loggains, App. State
For App. State's Dowell Loggains, he definitely needs some time after the significant roster turnover in Boone. Having said that, the Mountaineers did pretty good in the portal and likely will have a good Sun Belt roster. The Mountaineers are used to winning championships though so his seat will not stay cold for long if he does not produce.
Charles Huff, Southern Miss
It has been a while since the Golden Eagles were truly competitive to win their conference. They have not won their conference division since the CUSA days where they won the CUSA East in 2011 (they were in CUSA West from 2014-2021). That was before ODU was even a CUSA member or part of the FBS. So expectations in Hattiesburg are not very high for first-year head coach Charles Huff. However, USM fans know Huff's capabilities. Indeed, he brought fellow Sun Belt team Marshall to four straight bowl seasons and a SBC Championship victory. They will give him as much time as he tells them he needs to rebuild this program. If Southern Miss. continues to struggle, it will not be because of the coaching.
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