Big 12 Head Coach Hot Seat Index: It's Always Sonny in Fort Worth

Some of the warmer seats cooled off a little after some important wins.

Oct 4, 2024; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; TCU Horned Frogs head coach Sonny Dykes talks to an official during a timeout in the game against the Houston Cougars at Amon G. Carter Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-Imagn Images / Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

Welcome back to the Big 12 Head Coach Hot Seat Index. 

Week 8 saw some surprising victories from some of the coaches who were in the most danger. It is a cooler group of coaches all around this week after the temperature has been rising recently for several of them. Some of the guys on the warmest parts of the index may have bought themselves some time.

Here is a look at the Hot Seat Index for the Big 12 head coaches after Week 8.

Big 12 Head Coach Hot Seat Index - Week 8

Scorching: Dave Aranda (Baylor) 

Aranda remains in the scorching section despite a huge 59-35 victory over Texas Tech. It was a win that his program badly needed, and it came in an unexpected way. No one saw this offensive explosion coming from the Bears. However, Aranda will have to string together a few more victories before he finds himself moving down the heat index. His job is still not safe yet.

Hot: Lance Leipold (Kansas), Sonny Dykes (TCU), Gus Malzahn (UCF)

Both Leipold and Dykes picked up huge wins this past weekend, but their teams looked very different while doing so. TCU struggled to a 13–7 victory over Utah, picking up a badly needed victory. Meanwhile, Leipold’s Jayhawks destroyed Houston. Both of these coaches still have pressure on them to continue to win, but they did themselves a huge favor this past weekend.  

UCF has now lost four games in a row. At least this time, they fought valiantly against a far superior team. Even though the Knights played one of their best games of the year against Iowa State, their late collapse in the fourth quarter is not going to instill a lot of confidence in the fan base. Malzahn needs a victory badly, or he will move up to the scorching section with Aranda.

Warming up: Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State), Willie Fritz (Houston), Neal Brown (West Virginia), Brent Brennan (Arizona)

Gundy’s Cowboys are now a miserable 0-4 in the conference after losing a heartbreaker to BYU on Friday night. Oklahoma State looked like they had the game won before collapsing on defense and giving up a game-winning touchdown with little time remaining. The Cowboys’ season is now all but over, the only question that remains is how hot Gundy’s seat can get amidst all this losing.

Fritz is in his first season and will likely be given a longer leash, but all these losses are not helping his case. The Cougars were blown out by Kansas and dropped to 2-5 on the season. Things need to turn around in Houston sooner rather than later if Fritz wants to cool his seat down in his debut year.

Brown’s seat is getting warmer after a blowout loss to Kansas State. It seems like the Mountaineers are regressing after last year’s surprising result. He also angered some of the Mountaineers' fan base with comments he made after a loss to Iowa State. Suggesting that having a 'good time' is the most important thing for fans to focus on, instead of winning, is not a recipe for success. Next week against Arizona is an important game for both coaches, as Brennan also finds his seat a little warmer after getting blown out by Colorado.

Room temperature: Scott Satterfield (Cincinnati), Joey McGuire (Texas Tech), Kenny Dillingham (Arizona State)

Satterfield keeps moving away from the warmer parts of this index by winning games. His Bearcats just got a 24-14 victory over Arizona State to improve to 5-2 on the season. No 5-2 coach is in danger of losing his job (unless he coaches for Alabama).

McGuire’s Red Raiders took an unexpected loss to Baylor on Saturday. Texas Tech is still 5–2 and has a chance to right the ship against TCU this week. Dillingham dropped a game against Cincinnati and then went viral for his rant about how his team has no kicker. It was not the best week for the Sun Devils’ head coach.

Ice cold: Kalani Sitake (BYU), Matt Campbell (Iowa State), Kyle Whittingham (Utah), Chris Klieman (Kansas State), Deion Sanders (Colorado)

Sitake and Campbell are both undefeated after Week 8. Their seats are as ice cold as it gets. Whittingham and the Utes are having a rough season, but his job security is still as secure as any coach in this conference. 

Klieman also got a big win this week over West Virginia to keep his Wildcats in the conference championship hunt. Sanders is in the coolest section for the first time this year after a dominant victory over Arizona. The Buffaloes look like they have improved significantly from last year, a testament to Sanders’ growth as a head coach.

The Big 12 Head Coach Hot Seat Index will continue to change as the season continues. Some seats will get hotter, while some seats may cool down. Stay tuned. We will update the index next week.