Tim Beckman — a guy who couldn't be bothered with the proper pronunciation of recruit Darron Lee's first name — is a coach whose skillset ranges anywhere from "decidedly mediocre" to "bad." If he were employed by a school that gave two piles of baby shit about football, he would've been fired by now.
Illinois could've fired him last season — Illinois finished 6-7, making it 33-41 overall and 4-20 in B1G play under Beckman — and made a play for Tom Herman. Instead, they made the cheap play and brought him back as if things would be different.
Spoiler: It's not different.
From Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com, who ranked the hottest coaching seats in collegiate football:
1. Tim Beckman, Illinois (5 -- Win or be fired!): Beckman probably sealed his fate afterallegations of player abuse surfaced. The Illini did make a bowl in Beckman's third season, but the former Toledo coach is 4-20 in the Big Ten. Clearly he wasn't ready for the step up in competition in the Big Ten. If an external investigation clears Beckman he'll need another bowl season -- seven wins, at least --- to keep his job.
2. Mike London, Virginia (5): It can be argued that a sizable buyout is keeping London employed. London is a regular on any hot seat list going 11-25 since at 8-5 season in 2011. Last year's 5-7 mark was a tease. Sure it was an improvement from 2-10 in ‘13. Sure, the Cavaliers opened 4-2. But they then lost five of their last six, including an 11th straight to Virginia Tech.
3. Mike MacIntyre, Colorado (4 -- Warm, better start winning): Things have to improve dramatically in Boulder where Mac is 6-18 in two seasons. The Buffs are highly entertaining on offense but have finished 114th and 108th in total defense. Colorado should never be this bad.
Illinois is nothing but rubble underneath the feet of my favorite football team, so I don't care what they do, but it's clear they must #FireTimBeckman if they ever want to prosper.
Paul Haynes, a former assistant at Ohio State who now coaches Kent State, made Dodd's list at No. 9
