The coaching carousel was rather tame this offseason. There were some interesting jobs that opened, but nothing like last offseason, when there were 13 Power Five openings including some of college football's heavyweight programs.

A lot of coaches at high-profile programs will be closely scrutinized this coming season and it could be their last chance to turn things around or be sent packing.

Maybe no coach is on a hotter seat than USC’s Clay Helton, who after some coaching turmoil brought in new offensive coordinator Graham Harrell to change the offense to a spread look so the bevy of playmakers there could make things happen.

Auburn’s Gus Malzahn has a huge buyout, but the Tigers were 8-5 overall, 3-5 in the SEC last season – and they’re in a division that is getting drastically more competitive. New offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham has arrived, but Malzahn is expected to own play-calling duties. In six seasons at Auburn, Malzahn is 28-20 in conference play.

It might be way too early to send Florida State coach Willie Taggart, Arkansas’ Chad Morris or Arizona’s Kevin Sumlin to the hot seat, but all three had major struggles in their first seasons. Losing – especially in Tallahassee – is not accepted. Despite his rebuilding efforts at Western Kentucky and South Florida, Taggart still only has one 10-win season and is 52-57 as a head coach. Another 5-7 season at FSU and things will get hot really quickly.

Boston College’s Steve Addazio, Rutgers’ Chris Ash, Illinois’ Lovie Smith and Ole Miss’ Matt Luke are four others who cannot be incredibly comfortable in their positions right now.

We ask Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell – on a positive note – which coach on the hot seat or getting into that territory does he see turning around his program this season and solidifying his position at that school for years to come?

“It’s going to be Gus at Auburn. Despite the ups and downs, he’s a very good coach with a lot of talent at his disposal. And he is in a good situation. I’m not saying he wins the West and beats Nick Saban, but I think he has a winning season, finds his quarterback and brings Auburn back into the competition in a tough division. That’s my call.”