2011 Hot Seat Ratings: Coach by coach
Below is a list of the College Football Hot Seat Ratings for the 2011-12 season. Only one coach got the dreaded "5" rating -- Washington State's Paul Wulff, who has a record of 5-32 at the school. New Mexico's Mike Locksley has a 4.5, while Illinois' Ron Zook, Tulane's Bob Toledo and UCLA's Rick Neuheisel all have ratings of 4.
| Hot Seat Key Rating | ||
| Rating | What it means | Coaches |
| 0-0.5 | Don't even think it -- can't be touched | 32 |
| 1-1.5 | Very safe -- change highly unlikely | 40 |
| 2-2.5 | Safe -- solid position | 33 |
| 3-3.5 | On the bubble -- you never know | 10 |
| 4-4.5 | Warm seat -- feeling the pressure | 4 |
| 5 | On the hot seat -- it's time to win now | 1 |
Note: The number of years in the chart below includes the upcoming season.
| Team | Coach | Years | Record | Rating |
| Air Force | Troy Calhoun | 5 | 34-18 | 0.5 |
| Akron | Rob Ianello | 2 | 1-11 | 2.0 |
| Alabama | Nick Saban | 5 | 38-11 | 0.0 |
| Arizona | Mike Stoops | 8 | 40-45 | 2.5 |
| Arizona State | Dennis Erickson | 5 | 25-24 | 3.5 |
| Arkansas | Bobby Petrino | 4 | 23-15 | 1.0 |
| Arkansas State | Hugh Freeze | 1 | 0-0 | 1.5 |
| Army | Rich Ellerson | 3 | 12-13 | 0.5 |
| Auburn | Gene Chizik | 3 | 22-5 | 0.0 |
| Ball State | Pete Lembo | 1 | 0-0 | 1.0 |
| Baylor | Art Briles | 4 | 15-22 | 2.0 |
| Boise State | Chris Petersen | 6 | 61-5 | 0.5 |
| Boston College | Frank Spaziani | 3 | 16-11 | 1.5 |
| Bowling Green | Dave Clawson | 3 | 9-16 | 2.5 |
| Buffalo | Jeff Quinn | 2 | 2-10 | 2.5 |
| BYU | Bronco Mendenhall | 7 | 56-21 | 1.0 |
| California | Jeff Tedford | 10 | 72-42 | 2.0 |
| Central Michigan | Dan Enos | 2 | 3-9 | 2.0 |
| Cincinnati | Butch Jones | 2 | 4-8 | 2.5 |
| Clemson | Dabo Swinney | 4 | 19-15 | 2.5 |
| Colorado | Jon Embree | 1 | 0-0 | 1.0 |
| Colorado State | Steve Fairchild | 4 | 13-24 | 3.5 |
| Connecticut | Paul Pasqualoni | 1 | 0-0 | 1.0 |
| Duke | David Cutcliffe | 4 | 12-24 | 2.5 |
| East Carolina | Ruffin McNeill | 2 | 6-7 | 2.0 |
| Eastern Michigan | Ron English | 3 | 2-22 | 2.5 |
| Florida | Will Muschamp | 1 | 0-0 | 0.5 |
| Florida Atlantic | Howard Schnellenberger | 11 | 57-63 | 2.5 |
| Florida International | Mario Cristobal | 4 | 16-33 | 0.5 |
| Florida State | Jimbo Fisher | 2 | 10-4 | 0.5 |
| Fresno State | Pat Hill | 15 | 108-71 | 1.5 |
| Georgia | Mark Richt | 11 | 96-34 | 3.5 |
| Georgia Tech | Paul Johnson | 4 | 26-14 | 1.0 |
| Hawaii | Greg McMackin | 4 | 23-18 | 1.5 |
| Houston | Kevin Sumlin | 4 | 23-16 | 1.0 |
| Idaho | Robb Akey | 5 | 17-33 | 1.0 |
| Illinois | Ron Zook | 7 | 28-45 | 4.0 |
| Indiana | Kevin Wilson | 1 | 0-0 | 2.0 |
| Iowa | Kirk Ferentz | 13 | 89-60 | 0.5 |
| Iowa State | Paul Rhoads | 3 | 12-13 | 1.0 |
| Kansas | Turner Gill | 2 | 3-9 | 3.5 |
| Kansas State | Bill Snyder | 20 | 149-80-1 | 0.5 |
| Kent State | Darrell Hazel | 1 | 0-0 | 1.0 |
| Kentucky | Joker Phillips | 2 | 6-7 | 1.5 |
| Louisiana-Lafayette | Mark Hudspeth | 1 | 0-0 | 1.5 |
| Louisiana-Monroe | Todd Berry | 1 | 5-7 | 1.0 |
| LSU | Les Miles | 7 | 62-17 | 2.5 |
| Louisiana Tech | Sonny Dykes | 1 | 5-7 | 1.5 |
| Louisville | Charlie Strong | 2 | 7-6 | 0.5 |
| Marshall | Doc Holliday | 2 | 5-7 | 1.5 |
| Maryland | Randy Edsall | 1 | 0-0 | 2.0 |
| Memphis | Larry Porter | 2 | 1-11 | 3.0 |
| Miami (Fla.) | Al Golden | 1 | 0-0 | 1.5 |
| Miami (Ohio) | Don Treadwell | 1 | 0-0 | 1.0 |
| Michigan | Brady Hoke | 1 | 0-0 | 1.0 |
| Michigan State | Mark Dantonio | 5 | 33-19 | 0.5 |
| Middle Tennessee | Rick Stockstill | 6 | 33-30 | 2.0 |
| Minnesota | Jerry Kill | 1 | 0-0 | 0.5 |
| Mississippi | Houston Nutt | 4 | 22-16 | 3.0 |
| Mississippi State | Dan Mullen | 3 | 14-11 | 0.0 |
| Missouri | Gary Pinkel | 11 | 77-49 | 1.0 |
| Navy | Ken Niumatalolo | 5 | 27-14 | 0.5 |
| Nebraska | Bo Pelini | 5 | 30-12 | 0.5 |
| Nevada | Chris Ault | 27 | 219-97-1 | 0.0 |
| New Mexico | Mike Locksley | 3 | 2-22 | 4.5 |
| New Mexico State | DeWayne Walker | 3 | 5-20 | 2.5 |
| North Carolina | Butch Davis | 5 | 28-23 | 3.0 |
| N.C. State | Tom O'Brien | 5 | 25-25 | 2.0 |
| North Texas | Dan McCarney | 1 | 0-0 | 0.5 |
| Northern Illinois | Dave Doeren | 1 | 0-0 | 0.5 |
| Northwestern | Pat Fitzgerald | 6 | 34-29 | 0.0 |
| Notre Dame | Brian Kelly | 2 | 8-5 | 1.0 |
| Ohio | Frank Solich | 7 | 40-36 | 1.5 |
| Ohio State | Luke Fickell | 1 | 0-0 | 3.5 |
| Oklahoma | Bob Stoops | 13 | 129-31 | 0.0 |
| Oklahoma State | Mike Gundy | 7 | 47-29 | 1.0 |
| Oregon | Chip Kelly | 3 | 22-4 | 0.0 |
| Oregon State | Mike Riley | 11 | 69-54 | 1.0 |
| Penn State | Joe Paterno | 46 | 401-135-3 | 2.0 |
| Pittsburgh | Todd Graham | 1 | 0-0 | 1.0 |
| Purdue | Danny Hope | 3 | 9-15 | 2.0 |
| Rice | David Bailiff | 5 | 19-30 | 2.5 |
| Rutgers | Greg Schiano | 11 | 59-63 | 1.5 |
| San Diego State | Rocky Long | 2 | 13-12 | 2.5 |
| San Jose State | Mike MacIntyre | 2 | 1-12 | 2.0 |
| South Carolina | Steve Spurrier | 7 | 44-33 | 0.0 |
| South Florida | Skip Holtz | 2 | 8-5 | 1.0 |
| Southern California | Lane Kiffin | 2 | 8-5 | 2.0 |
| Southern Mississippi | Larry Fedora | 4 | 22-17 | 0.5 |
| SMU | June Jones | 4 | 16-23 | 0.0 |
| Stanford | David Shaw | 1 | 0-0 | 1.5 |
| Syracuse | Doug Marrone | 3 | 12-13 | 0.5 |
| Temple | Steve Addazio | 1 | 0-0 | 1.5 |
| Tennessee | Derek Dooley | 2 | 6-7 | 3.0 |
| Texas | Mack Brown | 14 | 133-34 | 2.0 |
| Texas A&M | Mike Sherman | 4 | 19-19 | 2.0 |
| Texas Christian | Gary Patterson | 12 | 98-28 | 0.0 |
| Texas-El Paso | Mike Price | 7 | 40-45 | 2.5 |
| Texas Tech | Tommy Tuberville | 2 | 8-5 | 1.5 |
| Toledo | Tim Beckman | 3 | 13-12 | 1.0 |
| Troy | Larry Blakeney | 21 | 161-82-1 | 0.0 |
| Tulane | Bob Toledo | 5 | 13-35 | 4.0 |
| Tulsa | Bill Blankenship | 1 | 0-0 | 1.0 |
| UAB | Neil Callaway | 5 | 15-33 | 3.0 |
| UCF | George O'Leary | 8 | 45-44 | 1.5 |
| UCLA | Rick Neuheisel | 4 | 15-22 | 4.0 |
| UNLV | Bobby Hauck | 2 | 2-11 | 2.5 |
| Utah | Kyle Whittingham | 7 | 57-20 | 0.0 |
| Utah State | Gary Anderson | 3 | 8-16 | 2.5 |
| Vanderbilt | James Franklin | 1 | 0-0 | 2.0 |
| Virginia | Mike London | 2 | 4-8 | 1.5 |
| Virginia Tech | Frank Beamer | 25 | 198-95-2 | 0.0 |
| Wake Forest | Jim Grobe | 11 | 62-60 | 1.5 |
| Washington | Steve Sarkisian | 3 | 12-13 | 0.5 |
| Washington State | Paul Wulff | 4 | 5-32 | 5.0 |
| West Virginia | Dana Holgorsen | 1 | 0-0 | 1.5 |
| Western Kentucky | Willie Taggart | 2 | 2-10 | 2.0 |
| Western Michigan | Bill Cubit | 7 | 40-33 | 1.5 |
| Wisconsin | Bret Bielema | 6 | 49-16 | 0.0 |
| Wyoming | Dave Christensen | 3 | 10-15 | 2.5 |
