Wasson: Hot seat? Yes, but Billy Napier, Hugh Freeze and Sam Pittman can still save their job

We are about to reach one of the most cherished times on the annual college football calendar.

Coaching carousel season.

But because we here at SDS like to be creative and different, we won’t be predicting what Southeastern Conference coaches will be departing after the 2024 season. Oh no, that’s too easy. Because it doesn’t take a genius to see that Florida’s Billy Napier, Auburn’s Hugh Freeze and Arkansas’ Sam Pittman are on rather warm seats as these words are being typed.

Instead, it is time to explore what Napier, Freeze and Pittman could do the rest of their season to save their jobs.

Let’s start with Napier, who is in his third season in Gainesville and at 15-17 is still 2 games under .500. Three weeks into the season, there was a distinct possibility that Napier wasn’t going to make it to Halloween after a disastrous start that included an opening home loss to Miami and another home loss at 2 weeks later to Texas A&M.

Napier was given some rope, at least publicly, and a variety of factors could have changed the minds of those manning the fire/don’t fire switch. For starters, Miami is straight-up great – so losing to the Canes continues to be contextually easier to swallow. Ditto with Texas A&M, which is on the verge of a Top 10 ranking of its own.

More vitally for Napier, though, it has been how his Gators have responded from that 1-2 start. The seat was set to broil during a trip to Mississippi State, which Florida handled with ease 45-28. The Gators then shut down a testy UCF offense in a 24-13 victory, and took No. 8 Tennessee to the limit before falling 23-17 in overtime. Even in the face of losing to the Vols, Florida rebounded by pasting Kentucky 48-20.

Losing starting quarterback Graham Mertz wasn’t ideal. But highly touted freshman DJ Lagway has taken over and continues to wow while learning on the fly. And freshman running back Jadan Baugh turned in a 5-touchdown effort against the Wildcats, further showing that the future looks somewhat bright.

But what does Napier have to do moving forward to survive? For starters, somehow navigating an insane closing stretch that includes No. 2 Georgia, No. 5 Texas, No. 8 LSU and No. 18 Ole Miss in successive by maybe going 2-2? That feels stretchy, but knocking off 2 of those programs – and adding a win against rival Florida State in the finale – could keep Napier from calling his realtor.

Auburn’s Freeze is quickly running out of excuses on The Plains, as last year’s 6-7 record was written off as a result earned without his own players onboard. Now, with Auburn at 2-5 and riding a 4-game losing streak into this weekend’s game at Kentucky?

Nothing written in the last paragraph makes the Auburn Family happy, and Freeze’s act is on precipitous ice at the moment. Again, simply getting into the win column this week against Kentucky would go a long way – as would a home victory over No. 25 Vanderbilt in 2 weeks.

But Freeze and Auburn don’t end on a cupcake note, as 14th-ranked Texas A&M heads to the Loveliest Village on Nov. 23 and then a date up the road at No. 15 Alabama looms. Way I see it, Freeze has to go 3-2 in his final 5 games to have a prayer of wearing Auburn colors next season. His buyout is $20.3 million, by the way, if he’s fired before Dec. 1.

Pittman at Arkansas is even tougher to figure out. The Razorbacks are 4-3, and it could be even better had the chips fallen a different way in a 39-31 loss at No. 16 Oklahoma State and a 21-17 home setback to Texas A&M.

But “coulda and shoulda” aren’t a backfield combo, and Arkansas need to find a way to turn losable games into winnable ones down the stretch – starting at Mississippi State this weekend. The Hogs’ final slate is also a challenge, with home dates against No. 18 Ole Miss and No. 5 Texas along with the season-ender at No. 21 Missouri.

For Pittman to earn a 2025 job in Fayetteville, the Razorbacks must eliminate the turnover woes that have beset them in recent weeks, as well as turn field goals into touchdowns in the red zone with more regularity. Still, we love us some Taylen Green at quarterback – and we believe Pittman might still be a year from the chopping block, even though he has the most reasonable buyout of the trio.

David Wasson

An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.