Head coaching jobs are never safe. Even if you win a national title, like Ed Orgeron and Gene Chizik, a few bad seasons can lead you to being fired. On the flip side, a good season can take you from the hot seat to being safe, as was the case with Dana Holgorsen and to a certain extent Jeff Brohm. This week, I’ll take a look at two coaches who can pull a Dana and save themselves from the hot seat and propel themselves to security. 

Scott Satterfield — Louisville:

Part of this is due to Louisville firing its men’s basketball coach Chris Mack, but I do believe that Scott Satterfield can last at Louisville for the foreseeable future. The good news is that Louisville has more stability with its roster this season compared to last, as the Cardinals had over 40 new faces to their 2021 team. With the reduced turnover, keeping stars such as Malik Cunningham and adding talent such as MoMo Sanogo and Tiyon Evans puts Louisville in a much better position in 2022. Louisville also added to its coaching staff with former Florida safeties coach Wesley McGriff coming on as co-defensive coordinator. 

The only downside is the schedule. Louisville finishes off the season with Clemson, NC State, and Kentucky, with the Clemson and Kentucky games on the road. The good news with the schedule is that Louisville has Pitt and Wake Forest at home, which should make things easier. An eight-win season can help Satterfield keep his job for the foreseeable future. It would show progress and a commitment to the program that was clearly lacking in past seasons. 

Scott Frost — Nebraska:

This is mainly due to two things. First, the addition of former Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Mark Whipple to the same position will help Nebraska offensively. With one of Casey Thompson, Chubba Purdy, or Logan Smothers taking over for Adrian Martinez after Martinez left the program, Nebraska can see growth in the passing game. Whipple’s offenses at Pitt improved each year, going from second to last in the ACC in scoring during his first year in 2019, to the third-highest scoring offense in the nation during his last year in 2021. This tremendous growth that Pitt showed under Whipple bodes well for Nebraska, who should have a higher floor of talent to start with. 

The second reason is due to Nebraska’s schedule. Nebraska does fall under the same Louisville trap, where its hardest games are at the end of the season. The Cornhuskers finish the season with Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa in a three-week span, with the Michigan and Iowa games on the road. The good news is that Nebraska starts off the season with an easier slate of Northwestern, North Dakota, and Georgia Southern. The Cornhuskers should be 3-0, where they will then likely lose to Oklahoma. After their bye, they have a five-game stretch of Indiana, Rutgers, Purdue, Illinois, and Minnesota. If they can go 3-2 or 4-1, Frost saves his job. If they somehow go undefeated during that stretch, he will get an extension. This is possible, as the only road trips are to Rutgers and Purdue. Nebraska isn’t good enough to be ranked either, so it will not fall into the Purdue trap. 

I’m calling it now — Nebraska goes 8-4, and Scott Frost gets an extension. 

Featured Image Credit: Scott Utterback / Courier Journal