Nov 30, 2015 12:46 PM EST By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

With only a handful of college football teams in action for championship weekend, the annual head coach carousel got off to a hot start.

Here's a breakdown of which "hot seats" overheated and which cooled off.

LSU will keep Les Miles around, but probably not without some new assistants on his coaching staff, ESPN noted. A 7-0 start had LSU looking like the SEC West favorites, but three consecutive losses dashed those hopes completely. During that stretch, the offense managed about 16 points per game. Even in their season finale win over Texas A&M, the Tigers only scored 19.

Miles has the best recruiting class in the nation incoming and one final season with superstar running back Leonard Fournette. If he can get consistent production from the quarterback position, there is no reason Miles can't secure his long-term job security this time next year.

USC Athletic Director Pat Haden announced Monday Clay Helton signed a multi-year contract to be the team's head football coach. USC is once again nationally ranked and playing for the Pac-12 Championship, case closed.

Georgia won a lot of games over the last 15 years with Mark Richt leading the football team, but they only won the SEC Championship twice, both of which came in his first five seasons. Simply put, a change was due.

Virginia Tech may not have had the greatest season, but Frank Beamer's retirement sparked a late surge and a celebration for the beloved coach's career. The school wasted no time naming a new coach, plucking Justin Fuente from Memphis while the campus was still reveling in Beamer's exit.

Rutgers didn't stop with just firing head football coach Kyle Flood, but also the school's athletic director, Julie Hermann. Flood had been involved with the Rutgers football program since 2005, but since taking over the team in 2012, the team is 26-23 overall and 1-2 in bowl games.

Penn State head football coach James Franklin let go of John Donovan, the offensive coordinator he brought with him from Vanderbilt. The Lions were held back this season by an offense that struggled to keep up with some of the better teams in the Big Ten despite having one of the conference's most promising quarterbacks.

Christian Hackenberg has not confirmed whether or not he'll return for his senior season, so Franklin may or may not be able to sway the QB with his choice of a new offensive coordinator.

Following Jerry Kill's health-related retirement, Minnesota let go of two offensive assistant coaches after a season in which the team finished 1-5 after starting 4-2, according to ESPN.

The Associated Press reported Purdue let go of a trio of assistant coaches after the Boilermakers finished 2-10 overall and 1-7 in the Big Ten.

Other vacancies of note: South Carolina, Miami

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