The Big 12 is about to go through a big change for the second year in a row. Last year, the conference added four teams, UCF, BYU, Houston, and Cincinnati, resulting in the conference going from 10 teams to 14. This summer the conference will go from 14 teams to 12 losing Texas and Oklahoma, then to 16 adding Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, and Colorado.
There is going to be a lot of talent in the Big 12, but there are also a lot of coaches who are in their first or second year with their current program. The question is, can these coaches already be on the hot seat? How long of a grace period should these coaches get?
So going forward looking at the new Big 12, which coaches have the possibility of being on the hot seat. Don't worry Kansas State fans though, Chris Klieman will not appear on this list due to his ability to have successful seasons during his tenure, but stick around to see which programs might lose their leader.
Neal Brown has been with the Mountaineers for four seasons and it wasn't until the 2023 season he had a winning record. While Brown cooled his hot seat down a little with a 9-4 record in 2023, now he has to show he can keep his winning ways sustainable.
Brown also needs to show that he can produce wins throughout the entire season. In 2023, the Mountaineers made the push at the end of the season to be 9-4, but that was after a rough start to the season.
After a good season, if West Virginia falls back into their losing record ways or even takes a step back from last season, Brown could be on the hot seat. He needs to finish near the top of the conference to secure his spot, anything less might result in the Mountaineers going in a different direction.
Now yes, Scott Satterfield has only been with Cincinnati for one season and is heading into his second, but the Bearcats were awful in 2023. Cincinnati finished 3-9 in 2023 winning just one game in Big 12 play.
Yes, the Bearcats were in a news conference in 2023, but so were BYU, Houston, and UCF and they all got multiple wins in the Big 12, and UCF, who some say is the Bearcats' new rival, even was bowl-eligible.
Satterfield has experience coaching in a power conference spending four seasons at Louisville where he went 25-24. He might have a short grace period with the Bearcats and if he has a season like he did in 2023, especially with another loss to new rival UCF, Satterfield could really feel his seat heating up.
Dave Aranda is going into his fifth season at Baylor, and while he went 12-2 in 2021, that season seems like more and more of an anomaly. Ever since that 2021 season, the Bears have gone downhill coming to a conference worse 3-9 record in 2023.
The Bears have also not beaten their biggest rival TCU since 2019, before Aranda was hired. So not only has Aranda had only one solid winning season, but he also has not been able to beat the most bitter rival of the Bears.
Aranda needs to have a winning record in 2024 if he wants to save his job. He is already on the hot seat going into the season, but his seat could get much hotter if the Bears start off slow and can't finally get a win over their rivals for the fifth straight year.