Bruce Weber (Kansas State)
You can say whatever you want about the man, but Weber has had quite the coaching career. A native of Milwaukee, he spent nearly two decades under the great Gene Keady, with most of that experience coming at Purdue. As a head coach, he led Southern Illinois to a Sweet Sixteen and took Illinois to the national title game in 2005. After his time with the Fighting Illini fizzled out, he took over at Kansas State way back in 2012.
Let’s be clear, Weber has had success at Kansas State, leading the Wildcats to five NCAA Tournaments, a pair of regular-season titles, and a surprise run to the Elite Eight as a 9-seed in 2018. He certainly built his job security with that success, but the last two seasons have undone that progress. Kansas State put up 11-21 and 9-20 records in their last two seasons, winning just seven Big 12 games in the process. The Wildcats have gone from conference contender to bottom feeder.
Kansas State is not expected to have a sudden revival this season, which could spell bad news for Weber. Clearly, another season where the Wildcats only win 10 or so games is not going to cut it and Weber needs Kansas State to take a big step forward in 2022. There’s a bunch of talent coming back for the Wildcats this season; Weber just needs to prove that he’s the right man to lead these Wildcats.
We’ve looked closely at five head coaches who all need to win now to keep their jobs. Do you think these coaches can pull off great seasons to save their jobs?