If I were to categorize the job-security of the nation's many "coaches on the hot seat," the three referenced above -- Nebraska's Bill Callahan, Texas A&M's Dennis Franchione and Arkansas' Houston Nutt -- would all fall into the most severe category: "Dead Men Walking." They are what Larry Coker and John Bunting were this time a year ago. And joining them on that list is fifth-year Washington State coach Bill Doba.
It's these egregious crimes that separate those four from guys like UCLA's Karl Dorrell, Clemson's Tommy Bowden, Arizona's Mike Stoops, SMU's Phil Bennett, Duke's Ted Roof and Marshall's Mark Snyder, all of whom are also hanging by a thin thread but could still theoretically save themselves (as Bowden has done countless times before). We'll put them in the "One Foot Out the Door" category. (Michigan's Lloyd Carr could re-join this group as well if his now-resurgent team were to suddenly cool off.)
Then there are a whole bunch of guys who are sitting on the brink of trouble but would need to perform pretty badly over the second half of the season to actually lose their jobs. They fall into the more mild "Roasty Bottoms" category. I'm speaking of you, Syracuse's Greg Robinson (whose AD, Daryl Gross, is essentially the East Coast version of Steve Pederson, and isn't likely to pull the plug on his grand hire after just three seasons), Baylor's Guy Morriss, Mississippi State's Sylvester Croom and Ole Miss' Ed Orgeron.
