Big Ten Football Hot Seat Index: Sherrone Moore's Unbelievable Week Has His Seat Ice-Cold

Will any other Big Ten head coaches follow Ryan Walters out the door? Plus, Sherrone Moore's week for the ages. Check out the Hot Seat Index below.

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore holds up four fingers in celebration of the Wolverines' fourth straight win over Ohio State. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Welcome back to the Big Ten Head Coach Hot Seat Index.

The regular season is now complete, and the Big Ten has a wide range of coaches who are in very different circumstances. A few head coaches are heading to the playoffs, while others are barely hanging on. Let’s take the temperature of every Big Ten head coach after the regular season came to an end.

Torched: Ryan Walters (Purdue)

After losing the season finale to Indiana 66–0, Walters was fired by Purdue. He had spent weeks on the hottest section of the heat index, and now he has finally been relieved of his duties. Purdue badly needed to go in a different direction, and now it looks like they will. 

Hot: Lincoln Riley (USC), Mike Locksley (Maryland)

Riley’s Trojans finished the season 6–6. A very disappointing result for a program with standards as high as USC. The Trojans have regressed every single year under Riley so far. Something has to change in 2025, or there will be some uncomfortable conversations in Los Angeles.

Locksley’s Terrapins finished the season 4–8. Their last memory of the 2024 season will be their 44–7 loss to Penn State. Locksley has been the coach of Maryland since 2019, but after a lack of recent success, he may be running out of time to fix their problems. 

Warm: Ryan Day (Ohio State), DeShaun Foster (UCLA), David Braun (Northwestern)

It may be hard to believe that a coach with as much success as Day is on the hot seat. But after a stunning fourth straight loss to Michigan, he has to be. No fan base in America is more angry right now than Buckeye fans who are sick and tired of losing to Michigan. This home loss to a middling Michigan team could end up costing Ohio State a home playoff game. Despite all of the successful seasons that he has had, there is a growing number of Ohio State fans who are tired of Day’s inability to beat their biggest rival. 

Foster’s Bruins were able to pick up a victory over Fresno State to close out the regular season. However, yet another losing season has fans in Los Angeles anxious. UCLA is a program that is still starved for winning. 

Northwestern ended its abysmal 4–8 season with a loss to Illinois. Braun will likely be given another chance next season, but the pressure is mounting for him to win sooner rather than later.

Room Temperature: Greg Schiano (Rutgers), P.J. Fleck (Minnesota), Matt Rhule (Nebraska), Kirk Ferentz (Iowa), James Franklin (Penn State), Bret Bielema (Illinois)

Rutgers closed its season the right way with a dominating 41–14 victory over Michigan State. A 7–5 record may not be the best result that they could've hoped for since Schiano has been there for a few years now, but it is a result that will likely keep him safe from too much scrutiny in the off-season. 

Minnesota got a convincing 24–7 victory over Wisconsin to end the year. The Golden Gophers, led by Fleck, finished 7–5, but they did show flashes of greatness this season. They will need to build on those flashes to have a better 2025 season.

Rhule and Nebraska fell back down to earth offensively after exploding for 40+ points against Wisconsin. Nebraska lost in heartbreaking fashion to Iowa to end an uneven and disappointing season. However, the Huskers are going to a bowl game for the first time since 2016.

Ferentz finished the season 8–4 after beating Nebraska on a walk-off field goal. Iowa is still a pillar of consistency and toughness even this deep into Ferentz’s coaching tenure.

Franklin and Penn State will have a chance to prove they can finally win the big game as they face Oregon for the Big Ten championship. Unless they knock off the Ducks, there will still be strong doubt from the outsiders about the Nittany Lions’ ability to get it done when it counts.

Bielema and Illinois capped a successful 9–3 season with a 38–28 victory over Northwestern. It was a better season than most thought the Fighting Illini would have. Illinois is showing signs of improvement as Bielema’s tenure goes on. 

Ice-Cold: Dan Lanning (Oregon), Curt Cignetti (Indiana), Jonathan Smith (Michigan State), Luke Fickell (Wisconsin), Jedd Fisch (Washington), Sherrone Moore (Michigan)

These coaches are sitting comfortably for now.

Lanning and Oregon are in a better position than anyone else in college football right now. If they win the Big Ten championship, then they will be the top overall seed in the playoffs. If they lose, they will be the No. 5 seed and have one of the easiest paths to the semifinals. 

Cignetti and Indiana are also firmly in the playoffs after finishing 11-1. Cignetti will get a long look as a potential winner of the National Coach of the Year award. What he has done at Indiana this season is remarkable.

Smith and Fickell both had disappointing 5-7 seasons. However, both are still safe and will be given time to build their programs. Wisconsin’s loss Friday ended a streak of the Badgers going to a bowl game every year since 2001. Meanwhile, Fisch and Washington were blown out by Oregon to finish his first year as coach there. Despite a disappointing follow-up to last season's national runner-up team, Washington showed some good things in Fisch’s first year. 

Moore went from the hot seat to one of the coldest seats in the country in just one week after Michigan's monumental upset of Ohio State. He is now 2-0 as a head coach over the Buckeyes, counting last season's victory when he was the interim coach. Couple that upset victory with the signing of five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood, and Moore had one of the best weeks a head coach could possibly have.

Stay tuned: The Hot Seat Index will return for bowl season.

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