Hot Seat Rankings: We were destined to do this forever

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FIRED

Billy Napier - Florida

Billy Napier's firing makes me feel like Batman without a Joker. How am I to continue as the Dark Knight of niche college football writing without the clown prince of clock mismanagement roaming the sidelines in Gainesville? I'll be honest: I'm sad knowing this is the last time I get to mention Napier in the rankings. I still hold a flicker of hope that he and his staff of coaches –who spend more time defending themselves on their burner Twitter accounts than fixing their team's issues– will be back in the Sun Belt next year, though. Until then - godspeed, Billy. If I ever make a 2StripesCPD Hot Seat Rankings Hall of Fame, you'll be its first inductee.

Jay Norvell - Colorado State

Talk about a swing and miss! I took Norvell out of the top ten last week after CSU's big home win over Fresno State. They promptly followed that up by losing to Hawaii and Norvell was shown the door. I'm not sure this is just a "results on the field" decision:

With nine coaches already fired this season –plus one back in March– we might not be able to compile a full 1-10 ranking by mid-November. The good news is we still have some returning –and new– names to fill the void for now. ON TO THE RANKINGS!

1. Luke Fickell - Wisconsin (2-5) (Last week: 2)

I get Wisconsin's logic in not firing Luke Fickell days before they play No. 6 Oregon on the road. Putting an interim coach through that experience doesn't feel like the right thing to do. Also: if that's a move you're making, you might as well wait until after the game when you have a bye week coming up. I'll also give Fickell credit for his team not quitting on him. Wisconsin could've packed it in against Ohio State, but they fought for the whole game, and they'll do the same against the Ducks. I'll concede to understanding why Fickell's still employed, even if I think it's a waste of program time and resources.

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What I understand less is Wisconsin AD Chris McIntosh putting out a statement this week in support of Fickell, while subtly asking the fans for more money at the same time:

It's tone deaf enough for McIntosh to put that out after five-straight losses in which the Badgers have been outscored 190-34. It's next level to do it coming off consecutive home shutouts - something that hadn't happened to Wisconsin even once since 1980 prior to the past two weeks.

We see ADs fire guys all the time after publicly supporting them, so I'm probably making a stink out of nothing. I just have a creeping feeling that as much as Fickell needs to go, the people above him should be in the same boat.

2. Bill Belichick - North Carolina (2-4) (Last week: 3)

North Carolina actually looked competent against Cal. You could even say they should've won! The football gods had other ideas:

I call this the, “player-to-be-named-later in the Bill Belichick vs. Marshawn Lynch end-of-game team goal line turnovers" trade that took ten years to complete.

3. Mike Norvell - Florida State (3-4) (Last week: 5)