A site built for sports schadenfreude, Coaches Hot Seat has become a little hard to ignore if you like your college football with a side of snark.
That was enough to send me digging into how it had the Big Ten slotted when Rutgers and Maryland had just finished playing the league’s two worst teams. The answer, at least for that stretch, was Mike Locksley at No. 1 and Greg Schiano at No. 2 in the national rankings.
For Locksley, the write-up did not exactly pull punches: “Last week the athletic director said he and Locksley are “aligned.” I’m sure they are. So is a car with three flat tires.
He stays No. 1. At this rate they ought to retire the spot.”
Schiano’s note was lighter, but still very much in the same spirit: “Greg Schiano had the week off, and Rutgers didn’t lose. Best weekend they’ve had in a month.”
The site is built around that kind of hot take, and it’s clearly designed to be read with a raised eyebrow. Still, it’s an interesting enough angle to keep an eye on, especially with the way it tracks coaches across the country.
Going into Week 7, October 9-10, there were seven Big Ten coaches in the top 18 spots. Some of them were there despite winning records, which is part of what makes the list worth a glance.
Jedd Fisch at Washington was No. 3 at 4-3, Luke Fickell at Wisconsin was No. 8 at 4-2, and Lincoln Riley at USC checked in at No. 9 at 6-1. Matt Campbell at Penn State was No. 13 at 3-4, and Barry Odom at Purdue was No. 14 at 3-4.
The other end of the spectrum was just as odd. Among the 138 FBS coaches, the “safest” Big Ten names were Ryan Day at 105, Bret Bielema at 109, Dan Lanning at 111 and Curt Cignetti at 133. Of the five coaches ranked safer than Cignetti, only Wake Forest’s Jake Dickert came from a Power 4 conference.
Coaches Hot Seat says it updates weekly with its own scoring system, and it lays out the factors it uses: “Every coach gets scored across eight signals. Wins versus expectations.
Performance against AP Top-25 opponents. Performance against primary rivals.
Three-year trend. Fan sentiment.
Fan heat. Salary pressure.
Tenure. Then we apply the same rigor to coach #138 that we apply to coach #1.”
That “fan sentiment” and “fan heat” part is obviously where some of the mystery lives. The site doesn’t spell out every detail, but it does lean on categories like “wins against expectations” and “three year trend.” It also uses a “rising” direction to indicate a hotter seat, which is a little counterintuitive at first glance.
By Week 8, October 16-17, the top four Big Ten coaches in the rankings hadn’t moved. Locksley stayed at the top after a loss.
Schiano remained No. 2 after a win, which tells you the site doesn’t hand out much credit for beating the coach who owns the hottest seat. Fisch stayed at No. 3 after beating Purdue on the road, and Mike Norvell, who kept Florida State close against Miami, still took the loss and stayed in the same neighborhood in the rankings.
Within the Big Ten, the list barely budged. The same names kept circling the top, and the results from the previous week mostly held.
A couple of coaches did draw more heat. Matt Campbell, even as a first-year coach at his school, doesn’t seem to be getting much slack in Happy Valley, and he moved two spots hotter from the week before.
Matt Rhule is feeling it too, despite the fast start. In his fourth year, Nebraska fans want consistency now.
Schiano’s Week 8 note summed up the whole thing neatly: “Last week: No. 2 | Scorching
Greg Schiano went into College Park and beat the No. 1 coach in these rankings, and he’s still No. 2.
I know, Greg. Life isn’t fair.”
Rutgers was down 10 at halftime, then flipped the game after the break and beat Maryland 37-30. The Scarlet Knights outscored the Terrapins 24-7 in the second half for their first win over an FBS team this season. KJ Duff had nine catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns, including one snagged with one hand.
Rutgers is now 2-4 and 1-2 in the Big Ten. Two of those four losses came against UMass and Boston College, and this ranking system clearly hasn’t forgotten.
Next comes a trip to Northwestern, fresh off a 21-point win over Penn State. For Schiano, the note may be brief, but the temperature is unmistakable: enjoy the win. It may have to last a while.
In Other News...
Rutgers Win At Maryland Leaves Fans With One Huge Question
Rutgers finally has an FBS win to point to this fall, and it came in a game that asked the offense to answer some uncomfortable questions before the night was over. The Scarlet Knights erased a halftime deficit at Maryland, then leaned on a more varied attack and a series of in-game tweaks to pull through, with Dylan Lonergan turning in his sharpest outing of the season and the passing game finding a rhythm that had been missing earlier in the year.
Even so, the game never felt fully settled, which is why the lingering conversation after the final whistle is less about the result than how Rutgers got there. The offense showed enough depth to change the tone of the season, but the late wobble underlined that the margin for error is still thin, and the details up front will matter just as much as the scoreboard if this team wants to build on the breakthrough. [Read more 🡒]
Rutgers Suddenly Has A Secondary Problem Schiano Must Solve
Rutgers secondary took a hit this week when Greg Schiano said Kaj Sanders and Zahmir Dawud will miss the rest of the 2026 season because of injuries, a development that leaves the Scarlet Knights thinner in a spot where experience matters. Sanders had been a regular presence for the defense, starting four games this fall after starting all 12 last year, while Dawud had seen action in two games this season.
The timing makes the blow even sharper, because Rutgers has already had to adjust once in Sanders absence. Sage Clawges stepped into the lineup against Maryland and handled the opportunity well, giving the staff at least one encouraging sign as it tries to piece together the back end of the defense. Even so, Schiano now has to find a way to keep the rotation steady with another defender gone for good this season. [Read more 🡒]
Rutgers Faces A Northwestern Problem That Just Got Much Bigger
Rutgers already knew Northwestern could be a tricky matchup, but the challenge looks a lot different now than it did in the preseason. The Wildcats are off to a 5-1 start and have pushed their way into the Associated Press poll at No. 24, a sign that this is not just a pesky Big Ten opponent but a team playing with real momentum on the offensive side of the ball.
Chip Kellys arrival as offensive coordinator has brought new schemes and a sharper, more efficient attack, and quarterback Aidan Chiles has been a big part of that jump after a rougher stretch last season at Michigan State. Rutgers now has to prepare for a Northwestern offense that is producing more yardage and playing with confidence, which makes an already uncomfortable roadblock feel even more formidable. [Read more 🡒]