As the craziness of the transfer portal winds down, we begin to look towards the season. Summer practices are starting and teams are beginning to welcome their new personnel. Now is the perfect time to see which ACC coaches will be on the hot seat this year.
One coach who may find himself on the hot seat this season is Mike Young of Virginia Tech. In two of Young’s first three seasons as head coach, the Hokies made the NCAA tournament, losing in the first round both times. He even won the ACC Conference Tournament in the 2021-2022 season.
Since then, the Hokies have regressed. They have missed the NCAA Tournament and finished in both seasons’ bottom half of the conference. This season does not appear to be much better. The Hokies don’t bring in a particularly strong high school or transfer class this offseason. If they miss the NCAA tournament for a third year in a row, there is an outside chance that Young is out at Virginia Tech.
You may be wondering why Kevin Keatts is on this list. Well, it’s complicated. Before the Wolfpack made its historic run in March, many considered Keatts to be a dead man walking. NC State was going to miss the NCAA tournament for the fifth time in six years. But on the back of the great DJ Burns, the Wolfpack kept winning games. They won the ACC Tournament and then made it all the way to the Final Four.
Now this makes things complicated. This run triggered extensions in Keatts’ contract that increase his potential buyout if NC State were to fire him. But, it is unknown if Keatts can keep up this level of success. If the Wolfpack went back to another disappointing season, some tough decisions will be on the table.
The final ACC coach that may be on the hot seat this season is Clemson’s Brad Brownell. This situation is similar to Keatts’ situation, to a lesser extent. Brownell has had an up-and-down tenure at Clemson. Before this season, the Tigers had missed four out of the last five NCAA Tournaments. Many fans were calling for the firing of Brownell after a bad showing in the ACC tournament last season. But, they went on a run and made it to the Elite Eight. Now there is a question of whether or not he should stay.
Brownell has been at Clemson since 2010, which makes the decision a bit more difficult. One the one hand, his time at Clemson has been successful. On the other hand, he has never won a conference title and had minimal NCAA Tournament success until last season. This season, Clemson brings in a rather weak recruiting class. No big time transfers or high school recruits have been brought in. This formula likely does not instill optimism in Clemson fans for this season. If Brownell turns out another poor season, his future may be in jeopardy.
