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Lane Kiffin, USC
Being on the hot seat doesn’t necessarily mean a coach will be fired without a good year. No one has more pressure on his shoulders than Kiffin after the way he bolted from Tennessee and considering he’s following a legend in Pete Carroll. Just being good at USC is a failure, and there will be no grace period whatsoever even after the team’s disappointing 2009.
Status: USC could’ve had almost any coach it wanted. Kiffin had better be worth it.

There was plenty of talk that the door was open for the rest of the Pac 10 to make a big jump by taking advantage of the issues at USC. From Pete Carroll leaving, to a disappointing 2009, to the potential NCAA sanctions, there was plenty of ammunition for the rivals to use. UCLA, Oregon, and California were able to get their hands on a few prospects who might have gone to USC had Carroll been in place and if the Trojans were coming off a Rose Bowl season. Kiffin did more than fine.

Besides getting Henderson, snagging top WR Markeith Ambles out of Georgia was a nice pickup while keeping sure-things like corner Nickell Robey out of Florida to go along with top-shelf wide receivers Kyle Prater out of Illinois and Robert Woods out of Gardena, Calif., showed that the loss of Carroll wasn’t that big a deal. For all the great things the rest of the Pac 10 did, USC’s recruiting class was still the best in the league. However …