Two levels of heat surround college football assistant coaches: The bad kind, for those facing pressure to keep their jobs; and the good kind, for those improving their chances of becoming head coaches.
Every college football season produces a new group of hot assistants, who find themselves on the radar of athletic directors and search firms looking for new head coaches.
And things move quickly in college football. In 2021, Garrett Riley was SMU's offensive coordinator. He spent the 2022 season as TCU's offensive coordinator, helping the Horned Frogs to an improbable run to the national title game, while winning the Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant.