The 2020 college football season has the chance to be a pivotal one for a number of head coaches. For some, they likely need to turn in a good performance in order to save their jobs. For others, the schedule, roster construction, and conference competition seems to be aligning in a rare way, providing an opportunity which must be cased in on. And for others still, they really need to step it up to prove that the rebuild they have undertaken is on the right track.

To be clear, this is NOT a “hot seat” list. This is a list of coaches for whom the 2020 season could be pivotal in their tenure at their current schools, and thus their career.

Scott Frost, Nebraska

Native son Scott Frost has gone 9-15 so far at Nebraska, showing minimal improvement of one win from Year 1 to Year 2. The Cornhuskers have finished fifth in the Big Ten West division both seasons. The Nebraska administration has tremendous patience for Frost, having just extended his contract by two seasons. While Frost is likely safe as long as Nebraska manages to get back to a bowl, there could be a lack of momentum which could stifle recruiting and begin to erode support. Nebraska draws Ohio State and Penn State from the East this season, but it will be important for the Cornhuskers to fare better against their Western Division foes.

Tom Herman, Texas

A commonly held belief in college football is that coaches typically do not get to fire their staffs twice, but they can do it once. Tom Herman played that card this offseason, and it needs to work this year. Texas AD Chris Del Conte has already stated that Herman will not have a second bite at the apple. There is opportunity within the Big 12 with Oklahoma losing QB Jalen Hurts and the Longhorns returning Sam Ehlinger. The Longhorns get two road games to the state of Kansas this year, and get a retooling and presumably weakened LSU team in the non-conference. Some media overhyped Texas for 2019, ignoring the personnel losses it suffered from the 2018 team, and that the 2018 squad was somewhat lucky to get to 10 wins. I have had my eyes on 2020 for Texas since the 2018 Sugar Bowl.

If Texas does not take a major step forward this year, the questions about whether it ever will will grow louder. Can Herman's Horns become consistent? Can they bring it every week and not just in the games they perceive as big-time?

Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M

Jimbo Fisher’s first two years at the helm of Texas A&M have been better than Kevin Sumlin’s last two in College Station. The Aggies have reeled in two excellent recruiting classes well.

But, Texas A&M isn’t paying Fisher a guaranteed $75M over a decade to go 5-3 or 4-4 in the SEC. It wants more. So far, A&M is 1-5 against the three West heavyweights Alabama, Auburn, and LSU.

With Alabama losing Tua Tagovailoa and LSU losing Joe Burrow (and a ton of other starters), the SEC West seems wide-open. The non-conference schedule is as soft as can be, with an FCS foe and three FBS squads which failed to make bowls in 2019. Additionally, the cross-divisional draw is the easiest it can be under the current alignment, with the Aggies facing Vanderbilt and South Carolina. Oh, and the three West bottom feeders all made coaching changes in the offseason.

Given that slate, plus 19 starters returning including QB Kellen Mond, 2020 looks like a year that the Aggies need to take a step forward. Anything short of 10 wins against this schedule would be looked at as a missed opportunity.

Half of the Pac-12 South: Clay Helton, USC | Chip Kelly, UCLA | Kevin Sumlin, Arizona

It still amazes that Clay Helton remains the coach at USC after the last two seasons on the field and the recruiting trail. Helton is just 13-12 in the last two seasons. The Trojans are coming off an embarrassing bowl loss to Iowa, and must open the season with Alabama.

However, this could be the best USC team in quite a while, so expectations are relatively high. If football results determine Clay Helton’s future employment, it is fair to say that this is a pivotal year. The Pac-12 South and to some extent the league as a whole look open. If Clay Helton is going to find success at USC long term, it almost has to start this year.

A similar story exists for Chip Kelly at UCLA. While Kelly has had a better career than Helton, he has not had any success so far in Los Angeles.

Kelly is 7-17 with the Bruins. Thirteen of those losses have come by multiple scores. The Bruins have looked noncompetitive and uninspired. And UCLA’s recruiting improved from Year 1 to Year 2 under Kelly, but it is certainly not lighting the recruiting world on fire.

UCLA’s non-conference schedule is a manageable trio of New Mexico State, at Hawaii, and at San Diego State. If the Bruins cannot make it back to a bowl and stop getting blown out so often, people will start to wonder if Chip Kelly’s return to college football is still a slam dunk.

Arizona enters the 2020 season on a seven-game losing streak under coach Kevin Sumlin, all by two or more scores. In-state rival Arizona State is off to a much better start under coach Herm Edwards, who also began his tenure in 2018. If Sumlin cannot get Arizona back to a bowl game, the Wildcats will risk falling further behind in recruiting and consequently, on the field. Getting back to a bowl, however, will not be easy, as entering the year Arizona does not project as a clear favorite in any of its Pac-12 games, while it does project as a multi-score underdog in about half of the contests.

There is some reason for optimism, though, given that Arizona suffered a rash of injuries in 2019 and should hopefully be healthier in 2020.

Will Muschamp, South Carolina

Another year, another coordinator, another poor, boring offense from a team coached by Will Muschamp. Muschamp’s players love him, but there is no denying that he is the poster child for a defensive coordinator-turned-head coach who, for whatever reason, does not allow for his offense to score points. In eight seasons as a coach in the SEC, Muschamp's teams have averaged scoring four or more touchdowns in SEC games just twice. In 2019, South Carolina scored less than 20 points/game in SEC play. It’s just not enough points considering that the Gamecocks play good, but not great defense.

Now after a 4-8 season and yet another assistant shuffle, the Gamecocks enter 2020 with some optimism. QB Ryan Hilinski is a year older. The schedule is much easier than 2019, with three essentially guaranteed wins in the non-conference and a real chance to return to a bowl. It would be tough to see South Carolina keeping Muschamp around if South Carolina misses a bowl yet again.

Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech

Fuente did an excellent job at Memphis. And it was almost universally agreed upon that he was a good hire for the Hokies. But the program has been hampered by transfers and roster turnover, and in-state rival Virginia won the ACC Coastal in 2019. Recruiting has not gone well, either.

But 2020 has the chance to be a bounceback year. The Hokies are sixth nationally in Bill Connelly’s returning production metric. They have a friendly ACC schedule which dodges Clemson and has Miami come to town in mid-November when it should be cold. This almost has to be the year for Fuente to prove he is the man for the job, or not.

Derek Mason, Vanderbilt

Expectations are justifiably low for Vanderbilt football. Other than the brief period when the Commodores had a great coach in James Franklin and much of the rest of the SEC East was a disorganized mess, Vanderbilt has never won anything in the SEC.

Mason has never had a winning record at Vanderbilt, and it’s probably unfair to expect one. He has made two bowls in seven seasons, which seems like a success given that there are so many automatic losses on the schedule on a yearly basis.

But in 2019 Vanderbilt cratered. It was outscored by an average of 23 points in SEC games. The Commodores were simply not competitive. Additionally, they were bad and boring. That is a terrible combination for fans. Vandy scored just 12.8 points in SEC games. Oh, and they were blown out at home by UNLV.

It’s not that Mason needs to make a bowl this year, but getting back to four wins would be recommended. As would playing a few more non-blowout games in conference. If not, Vanderbilt might be justified in making a move simply to sell hope to fans.