Bill King, who does an excellent job with his Junkyard Blawg for The AJC, has had quite enough of media guys (like me) talking about Mark Richt being on the hot seat.
In his view, there’s no way Richt will be fired this year, “So let’s can all this ‘hot seat’ talk.”
Fair enough. Saying someone is on the hot seat can mean a couple of different things:
a) The man on the hot seat is about to be fired
b) The man on the hot seat is facing a whole lot of pressure, more than anyone else.
I, for one, don’t think there’s any way that Richt will be fired, either. In fact, I think the amount of panic going on inside the state of Georgia over a 4-4 team that lost two mega-stars early to the pros is downright amazing.
However, there are some ways to tell if your coach is on the hot seat:
a) If you do a Google search of your coach’s name and the words “hot seat” and “fire” appear in numerous entries… your coach might be on the hot seat.
b) If something as silly as your coach’s demeanor is becoming a major negative for him… your coach might be on the hot seat.
c) If the athletic director of your school has to make TWO statements of support for your coach during the season… your coach might be on the hot seat.
d) If fans and media believe the coach will HAVE to fire one or more assistants from his staff in the offseason… your coach might be on the hot seat.
e) If your coach has to remind angry fans on his radio show of his excellent resume and record… your coach might be on the hot seat.
So let’s see… a, b, c, d, e… yep, Richt is on the hot seat.
Or put it another way: What SEC coach is taking more guff and facing more fan anger than Richt right now?
That would be no one.
Richt won’t be fired this year. (He shouldn’t even be in trouble, if you ask me.) But he’ll need to have a good year next year.
And that’s the definition of a hot seat.
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