Now that we are in November, seats begin to get warm and even hot for many coaches around college football. There have already been a number of head coaches fired, and more are sure to follow as the end of the season draws near.
At the time of this writing, no Mountain West or Pac-12 head coaches have been relieved of their duties, but that is sure to change between now and December. Here’s a look at the coaches who have the hottest seats over the final month of the 2026 football season.
Jim Mora (Colorado State)
First-year
head coaches are usually not on the hot seat, even if they are having terrible years (Kirby Moore at Washington State, for example). In order to not make it past the first season of a contract, things would have to be troublesome beyond the on-field results.
Jim Mora is venturing deeper into that territory with every passing week. The 3-6 record is bad, but there are signs of better things to come with a competitive offense. The defense, however, is statistically the worst in all of the FBS in many categories. But there are other signs the wheels are falling off. There was the very public firing/resigning of defensive coordinator Tyson Summers in the middle of a football game. Then the press conference comments about the new DC sleeping in his office and the rant about a growing list of players who won’t be allowed back on the team next season. Things got worse this weekend, as an assistant coach and player got into an altercation heading into halftime.
While the latter isn’t directly about Mora, it is under his watch and may be a sign of him losing the team or his staff. The issues may be stacking up too high for Mora at the end of his first season.
Timmy Chang (Hawaii)
Things have not gone according to plan for the adoptive son of the Rainbow Warriors. Most figured that Coach Chang would have some growing pains as a young head coach with no coordinator experience at the FBS level. He has certainly restored the culture to the Hawaii program, which was sorely needed following the Graham tenure.
Now in his fifth season, Chang has only had one winning season, and a lone bowl appearance (and win) along with it. Last year’s nine wins appeared to be a turning point and expectations were high in 2026. However, with the program sitting at 2-6 at the time of his writing, 2025 looks more like an anomaly than a step forward. Perhaps even more alarming is the lack of a dynamic offense despite the famed Run-and-Shoot system. Here are the team’s offensive ppg and FBS rankings during the Chang era:
- 2022: 19.8 ppg (115)
- 2023: 21.4 ppg (108)
- 2024: 22.3 ppg (111)
- 2025: 29 ppg (57)
- 2026: 20.3 ppg (118)
It’s problematic that a coach and team known for its high-powered offenses have been unable to put up points on a consistent basis. It would sting for everyone to have to fire Chang, and it’s hard to win on the islands, but it seems like Hawaii is not reaching its full potential.
Jeff Choate (Nevada)
Choate finally had something going for his struggling program entering the season: continuity. They returned their starting quarterback, one of their key running backs, their two best offensive lineman, and the best player in their top edge rusher. It seemed like the right ingredients to be more competitive this year, even if they weren’t expected to be a top MW team.
None of that has come to fruition. The team has struggled mightily once again, looking flat in many games, and continuing to lose one-score contests when they do play someone in their own talent range.
Coach Choate has gotten three wins in each of his first full seasons and is at three wins again, so he can still eclipse that mark in 2026. However, that appears to be the only thing they are fighting for the rest of the season, so pulling the plug would be something to consider.
Sean Lewis (San Diego State)
What a difference a year can make. Last year, Coach Lewis and the Aztecs were riding high, with a strong season that saw them get to 9 wins and a bowl game, even if they lost. Fast forward to this season, and they are scuffling, with a 4-5 record.
Lewis is in his third year, and two of his three seasons haven’t looked good. He’s recruiting well, but it’s not translating well to the field. His “Aztec Fast” offensive philosophy hasn’t materialized, and despite being known as a bright offensive mind, he hasn’t been able to find a difference-maker at quarterback.
Coach Lewis may deserve one more season to produce more meaningful results, but there’s no sugarcoating: his tenure thus far has been a disappointment.
Ken Niumatalolo (San Jose State)
San Jose State will have to decide this offseason whether they can live with the pros and cons of the Niumatalolo era, or find someone better in their salary pool.
He got off to a strong start in 2024, reaching 7 wins and a bowl game thanks to a dynamic passing attack with the best wide receiver in the country. Unfortunately, that formula has returned diminishing results each of the past two seasons. Their portal adds haven’t been quite as productive, and the Spartans’ win totals sank to 3 in 2025 and have balanced out to 5 so far this year.
Coach Niumatalolo isn’t doing a bad job by any means, but his ceiling may be a bit lower than hoped for, and SJSU may be missing an opportunity to compete at the top of the new-look Mountain West if the past two years are any indication.
Scotty Walden (UTEP)
Coach Walden seems well liked at UTEP. And the university isn’t known for football success, so it’s difficult to tell how warm his seat actually is.
Objectively, the results aren’t there. In his third season, the win totals are going in the wrong direction. A 3-9 initial season saw a 2-10 campaign in the Conference USA last season. Everyone expected the move to the Mountain West to be tough sledding, and so far, that has been the case, as their lone win of the season is against an FCS school.
The Miners could definitely do worse than Walden, and he arguably should get a pass anyway due to being in the new conference, but things aren’t going well in El Paso.
Your turn: Which coaches do you think are on the hot seat to finish the season?
