Every year, the same situation arises: college football coaches take on new jobs while their teams are still playing. This conundrum presents itself as a huge issue annually. This year, there have been shakeups like never before; imagine a coach leaving his team that can very well be on its way to win a national championship.
While this coaching carousel took another ride this year, the coaches are not entirely to blame. With the college football calendar not being in sync — meaning the transfer portal window opens during the playoffs — coaches needing to meet signing day deadlines and much more, the end of each season creates chaos, havoc and heartbreak.
A recap of the major coaching changes and shakeups will be listed below, and what it means for the programs that they left, and their new opportunities as they prepare for the next year.
Coach: Lane Kiffin
Most recent past job: Ole Miss University
New Job: Louisiana State University
Why this is a good move: Even though there was a significant amount of controversy over Kiffin leaving Ole Miss University during their run into the playoffs, Louisiana State University ultimately has a much greater reach for top prospects, and has the ability to rebuild their roster and program from the bottom up to fit his vision. Kiffin historically knows how to utilize the transfer portal to transform his roster and has a plethora of NIL spending money to build a competitive team that can potentially win the Southeastern Conference and make a serious run at the College Football National Championship for the 2026-27 season.
Coach: Matt Campbell
Most recent past job: Iowa State University
New Job: Penn State University
Why this is a good move: Campbell has been given a good amount of NIL money at Penn State University to bring in the top talent, after an embarrassingly small early signing day, which only brought in two recruits due to the coaching vacancy and uncertainty around the program. Campbell made sure to emphasize that he wants to recruit heavily out of high school as a major form of building up his program at Penn State. Campbell was the coach with most wins in Iowa State football history and the Big 12’s third longest tenured head coach, and hopes to create positive trends and big wins for PSU football.
Coach: Jon Sumrall
Most recent past job: Tulane University
New Job: University of Florida
Why this is a good move: Sumrall has led his now former team, Tulane University to the playoffs, which is the first time in school history. In his first four years coaching two group of five schools, Troy University and Tulane, he led them to conference championships. Sumrall’s strength lies in his defense; he likes to have a tough, physical team. His intense attitude is something that has Florida fans excited for their future.
Coach: Alex Golesh
Most recent past job: University of South Florida
New Job: Auburn University
Why this a good move: Another group of five coach has taken a major head coaching job in a Power Four Conference. At the University of South Florida, Golesh completely changed their football program, had three straight winning seasons (2023-25) and won his past two bowl games. Golesh’s strength lies in his offensive strategies and was a Broyles Award Finalist for best offensive coordinator in 2022 at the University of Tennessee Volunteers. He led this SEC team as the number one total offense, which is a main goal for Golesh to achieve at Auburn University after the Tigers had a disappointing season, and fired Hugh Freeze in the middle of the year.
Coach: James Franklin
Most recent past job: Penn State University
New Job: Virginia Tech University
Why this is a good move: Franklin may have been the most unexpected firing of the season, as he had been with the Nittany Lions for almost 12 complete seasons, had a 104-45 record, led the program to numerous 10-win seasons and made a College Football Playoff appearance. Franklin, however, was 4-21 overall against top-10 teams, which never allowed Penn State University to make a big surge and blocked them from any marquee wins. Virginia Tech University, who also fired their coach, Brent Fry, midseason, signed Franklin to a five-year contract worth at least 40 million dollars. VT hopes to elevate their program, and Franklin’s track record of turning programs like PSU and Vanderbilt University around confirms that he has the skills to do so.
Coach: Eric Morris
Most recent past job: North Texas University
New Job: Oklahoma State University
Why this is a good move: Morris became a prominent name in the college football world after he helped produce stars such as Patrick Mahomes, Cam Ward and Baker Mayfield, who are all starting quarterbacks in the National Football League. Morris coached at North Texas for three seasons and helped them achieve an 11 win season in 2025. Oklahoma State University, which had been under the direction of Mike Gundy for 21 seasons, who became the winningest coach in program history, was released from his duties after starting the season 1-2. Morris will bring offensive fire power to the Cowboys and aspires to revive this Big-12 team.
Coach: Billy Napier
Most recent past job: University of Florida
New Job: James Madison University
Why this is a good move: Napier’s firing from the University of Florida Gators was a move that had been anticipated and talked about for the past two seasons amongst the college football world. However, Napier taking a job with the James Madison University Dukes was a move that most did not see coming. JMU’s former coach, Bob Chesney, will continue to coach the Dukes through the College Football Playoffs, even though he was hired by the University of California Los Angeles to be the head coach of their program next season. Chesney and his team won the Sun Belt Championship this year for the first time in the program’s history. Napier has already stated some of his plans for the upcoming season, such as letting the offensive coordinator have autonomy over the offense and Napier is focused on roster development and sustaining the momentum that Chesney created.
As of Dec.10, the University of Michigan Head Coach Sherrone Moore was fired for cause after the university found evidence of an inappropriate relationship with a staff member, allegedly Paige Shivers. Moore was later detained on the 10th, and then charged with a felony count of third-degree home invasion and two misdemeanors for stalking and breaking and entering into Shivers’ home and threatening to take his life.
With Moore removed from the University of Michigan program, one of the most coveted coaching jobs is up for grabs; some names that I believe will be in the conversation are Kenny Dillingham, currently the head coach with Arizona State University and PJ Fleck the current head coach for the University of Minnesota. They have both respectively won themselves into this conversation and have made their programs competitive and trending upwards.
While there was tremendous turnover in the college football world this season, many coaches signed extensions with their current teams in order to secure their future in a time of pursuit for many of these coaches.
Coaches who signed extensions with their current programs:
Matt Rhule got extended through 2032 with Nebraska with financial incentives to make appearances in the CFB.
Curt Cignietti signed an eight year deal to stay until 2033 with Indiana University, who went into the playoffs as the only undefeated team.
Brent Key signed a five year extension after another consistent year with Georgia Tech University, which is projected to be worth around 30 million dollars.
Clark Lea inked a six year deal with Vanderbilt, even though there was interest from other programs. Lea has revived this program, and has a Heisman finalist, Diego Pavia, at quarterback.
Eli Drinkwitz also had a significant contract extension through the 2031 season with the University of Missouri, amidst interest with various programs.
Joey McGuire signed a seven year extension through the 2032 with Texas Tech University as he led them to their first Big 12 Championship and College Football Playoff ever.
Overall, the 2025 coaching carousel rehomed dozens of coaches and transformed football programs across the country. What the future holds for these teams with a fresh start remains unclear, but I am thrilled to see what unfolds in the off season and how it all shakes out next season.
