Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

The first firing of the college football season came Sunday. Idaho let go of Robb Akey in a move that was not unexpected.

With a little more than a month to go, there are other axes to fall. It's safe to say Arkansas will not be signing up for another year of the John L. Smith experience.

Here are 10 more coaches who could be bracing for bad news.

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— Gene Chizik, Auburn

Two years removed from a national championship, Chizik is in trouble. No team had ever started a season 1-6 two years after finishing No. 1 in the AP poll — until the Tigers. It'll cost $7.5 million for Auburn to buyout Chizik as of Dec. 1, but if the Iron Bowl gets really ugly, money might not be an issue. "I'm the head coach at Auburn," Chizik said. "It's really not about me. It's about everybody else, and everybody else's expectations. I don't take that lightly. I feel a very, very high sense of responsibility."

— Jeff Tedford, California

The Bears' 21-3 loss to archrival Stanford at their newly remodeled stadium (cost: $321 million) felt like the final blow. Tedford has been at Cal for 11 years and won 82 games. He'll leave the program in far better shape than when he arrived, but it has slipped over the past few years.

— Frank Spaziani, Boston College

The Eagles have been moving backward in four years under the former longtime BC assistant. Boston College was 4-8 last year and is 1-6 this season, with its only victory coming against Maine. This seems a more a matter of when then if.

— Joker Phillips, Kentucky

Phillips is only in his third season as Rich Brooks' successor, but each season has gotten worse. The Wildcats (1-7) have been hammered by injuries, but they are staring at a winless SEC season, and even at a basketball school, that's hard abide.