loading...
League Logo
CBB
League Logo
CBB
League Logo
NBA
League Logo
MLB
League Logo
NHL
All
    loading...

    First Big Ten football coach fired 2021 odds: Nebraska's Scott Frost, Michigan's Jim Harbaugh on hottest seats

    At least one Big Ten football coach is fired pretty much every year and there are two leading candidates for this coming season.
    Hero Image

    Scott Frost is trending on social media amid reports that Frost and the underachieving Nebraska football program are under NCAA investigation for improper use of analysts and consultants during practices and games. With that news, it's as good a time as ever for SportsLine to release odds on the first Big Ten football coach fired/to leave his position this coming season. Frost is the betting favorite followed by Michigan's Jim Harbaugh.

    Frost of course was a former star quarterback at Nebraska in the 1990s and was supposed to resurrect that program to greatness when he was hired as head coach following/during a 2017 unbeaten season as coach at Central Florida. Alas, the Huskers are an ugly 12-20 in his three seasons. Frost is winless in eight tries against teams that finished in the AP Top 25 and 3-14 against teams with a winning record.

    In addition to the alleged improper use of analysts and consultants, Nebraska is accused of last year relocating its strength workouts to an undisclosed off-campus location to avoid detection by non-football school officials. The NCAA for obvious reasons had prohibited organized athletic activities because of the pandemic.

    It's way too early to determine if this investigation could lead to firing Frost with cause as happened at Tennessee this offseason with Jeremy Pruitt due to breaking NCAA rules. However, 247Sports' Chris Hummer reported today that if Frost were fired without cause, he would be due a whopping $20 million buyout. Nebraska does have a new athletic director in another former star player, Trev Alberts. So he has no ties to hiring Frost.

    "The University of Nebraska Athletic Department has been working collaboratively with the NCAA to review a matter concerning our football program," Alberts said in a statement Wednesday. "We appreciate the dialogue we have had with the NCAA and cannot comment further on specifics of this matter."

    In Dennis Dodd's annual Hot Seat rankings in college football published last month on CBS Sports, Frost was one of three coaches given a grade of 5, which means "win or be fired." Joining him on the list were Virginia Tech's Justin Fuente and UConn's Randy Edsall.

    Nebraska is given an Over/Under of 6.5 wins this season at Caesars Sportsbook, and going Under that probably ends Frost's tenure. The Huskers are currently 7-point favorites for their season and Big Ten opener on Aug. 28 at Illinois ā€“ which has a new head coach in Bret Bielema.

    The Illini's Lovie Smith was the betting favorite this time last year on First Big Ten Coach to be Fired and was. That was the only firing in the Big Ten, although Michigan State's Mark Dantonio ended up walking away and was replaced by Mel Tucker.

    CBS Sports' Dodd ranked Michigan's Harbaugh as a 4 on its Hot Seat grading scale, which means "start improving now." He was a 3 entering 2020 and the Wolverines imploded to a 2-4 record that probably would have been 3-6 if not for games canceled vs. Maryland, Ohio State and Iowa.

    Of course, Harbaugh has yet to beat Ohio State, much less even win a Big Ten division title. He did get a contract extension this offseason, but Harbaugh actually took a pay cut and it's very incentive-laden ā€“ i.e., it wouldn't be cost-prohibitive for Michigan to fire him, but more likely the sides mutually split and Harbaugh goes to the NFL if things don't go well this year. Michigan has an Over/Under of 7.5 wins and is an early 17-point favorite for its season and home opener Sept. 4 vs. Western Michigan.

    Keep in mind this prop isn't just to be fired but also leave a school "mutually," retire or jump to another program or the NFL. Penn State's James Franklin, for example, has been rumored as a possible candidate at USC.

    Via SportsLine oddsmakers: Favorites to be first Big Ten football coach fired/leave position

    • Scott Frost +150
    • Jim Harbaugh +300
    • Jeff Brohm +400
    • Mike Locksley +700
    • Kirk Ferentz +1000
    • James Franklin +1200
    • Mel Tucker +1500

    Which Fantasy Football sleepers, breakouts and busts should you target and fade? And which QB shocks the NFL with a top-five performance? Join SportsLine now to get 2021 Fantasy Football cheat sheets for every single position, all from the model that called Josh Allen's huge season.

    Matt SeveranceSeverance Pays

    Share This Story