College football remains unmatched in sports in terms of producing drama.
And Lane Kiffin remains unmatched within college football in that department, as the fallout of his departure from Ole Miss to LSU before the Rebels’ College Football Playoff debut continues to stoke strong opinions and reaction.
But the news cycle keeps spinning on the coaching carousel, and Kiffin is just one of many notable headlines from the last week-plus.
Penn State took longer than anyone expected to find a head coach after firing James Franklin in October, but the Nittany Lions got their guy in former Iowa State coach Matt Campbell as most of the open jobs across college football have now been filled.
We give our grades on those hires, updated as of Friday, Dec. 12.
Grading College Football Coaching Hires
Washington State hires Kirby Moore (Dec. 12)
Washington State’s football identity, especially since the Mike Leach Era but continuing through Jake Dickert’s tenure has been offensive prowess, so it’s not surprise the Cougars prioritized that side of the ball in hiring Missouri offensive coordinator Kirby Moore as their new head coach.
Moore will be the program’s third head coach in three years after Dickert left for Wake Forest and Jimmy Rogers lasted just one season before taking the Iowa State job this month.
Moore was Missouri’s offensive coordinator the last three years after his first coordinator job at Fresno State. He is from Prosser, Washington, which is less than three hours from Pullman and he played his college ball at Boise State.
Moore’s Missouri offenses ranked 27th nationally in this season (429.3 yards per game), 63rd (389.5) in 2024 and 28th (434.3) in 2023.
Grade: B
Washington State is no longer a power conference job and its place in the restructured hierarchy of college football showed with Rogers bolting after one year for Iowa State. So fit is big for the Cougars, and while Moore probably wasn’t up for many head coaching jobs this cycle he is at least from the area and comes from a successful SEC program and mentorship under offensive-minded head coach Eliah Drinkwitz, who is one of the more coveted rising coaches in the business.
Whenever hiring a coordinator who works under a head coach who is involved in that side of the ball, it’s hard to delineate credit and impact, but this hire makes sense for Washington State, especially if Moore feels an investment in the program from his geographical ties beyond it just being a step on the career ladder for him.
Southern Miss promotes Blake Anderson (Dec. 11)
Anderson was previously the head coach at Arkansas State and Utah State before spending this season as Southern Miss’ offensive coordinator. With former head coach Charles Huff taking the Memphis job, Anderson gets another shot to prove himself as a head coach.
He was 51-37 in seven seasons at Arkansas State with two Sun Belt championships and 23-17 in three years at Utah State, where he posted an 11-win season and Mountain West championship to start followed by two 6-7 finishes.
Anderson’s Southern Miss offense ranked 78th nationally this season at 388.8 yards per game.
Grade: B+
It made sense for Southern Miss to prioritize continuity after Huff lasted just one season as head coach but a successful one — taking over a 1-11 program and leading it to a 7-5 record this fall. Even if the program did look outside for a hire, it wouldn’t have been able to land a more experienced head coach than Anderson. He’s had up and down seasons over his career, but he’s won three conference titles so that says something.
Coastal Carolina hires Ryan Beard (Dec. 11)
One of the most interesting jobs left on the market, Coastal Carolina has proven it can compete at the FBS level with back-to-back 11-win seasons in 2020 and 2021 under former coach Jamey Chadwell before he left for Liberty. Tim Beck didn’t pan out as a replacement, getting fired after three seasons and a 6-6 finish this year.
So the Chanticleers now turn to Beard, who is 36 years old and went 19-16 in three years as Missouri State’s head coach, leading the Bears to a 7-5 mark this year in their first official season at the FBS level. He was previously the defensive coordinator there.
Grade: B-
Coastal Carolina should be a desirable job. It’s nestled next to a tourist area in the town next to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and has had real success at both the FCS and FBS levels despite its short history. Beard isn’t necessarily a big-name hire for the program, but that doesn’t mean it won’t prove to be a good one. Coaching a program through the FCS to FBS transition is a challenge, and Beard had Missouri State competitive this year.
Toledo hires Mike Jacobs (Dec. 10)
Toledo had an unexpected vacancy when longtime coach Jason Candle left after 10 years with the program for UConn.
The school announced his replacement Wednesday, hiring Mercer head coach Mike Jacobs.
Jacobs went 20-6 in two seasons at FCS-level Mercer, making the playoffs both years while going 15-1 in the Southern Conference.
Before that, he coached at the Division II level for four years each at Notre Dame College (42-8) and Lenoir-Rhyne (32-9), leading each to the Division II semifinals.
Now, Jacobs gets his shot at the FBS level taking over a Toledo program that went 8-4 this year and has had six straight winning seasons.
Grade: B
It’s hard to argue with Jacobs’ long track record of consistent success, even at lower levels. He’s worked his way up and earned a shot at proving he can replicate that success at the FBS level. Toledo could have looked to a young coordinator already at the FBS level, but this move makes sense to bring in a veteran head coach to sustain a program that has been one of the better MAC teams for a while now.
Memphis hires Charles Huff (Dec. 8)
There shouldn’t be a more desirable Group of 5 job in the country than Memphis, which continues to be a launching pad for coaches to land Power 4 jobs after their time with the Tigers.
That’s what the last three Memphis coaches have done with Justin Fuente leaving for Virginia Tech, Mike Norvell getting the Florida State job and now Ryan Silverfield landing at Arkansas.
To replace Silverfield, Memphis announced the hiring of Charles Huff from Southern Miss.
Huff went 7-5 this year in his lone season at Southern Miss, and that was notable considering he took over a program that went 1-11 last season and 3-9 the prior year. Before Southern Miss, Huff spent went 32-20 over four seasons as head coach at Marshall, including a 10-3 mark and Sun Belt championship last year.
Huff previously coached the running backs at Western Michigan, Penn State, Mississippi State and Alabama, getting that valuable experience under Nick Saban.
Grade: B+
No fault to find here. Huff has proven himself at two different schools already and should be able to keep the train rolling at Memphis with even better talent and resources.
Tulane promotes Will Hall (Dec. 8)
Tulane kept it in-house in replacing departing coach Jon Sumrall, promoting passing game coordinator Will Hall.
Hall has head coaching experience. Prior to rejoining Tulane this season (after serving as offensive coordinator in 2019-20), he had been the head coach at Southern Miss from 2021-24 (going 14-30) and also previously at Division II West Alabama (25-11 in three seasons) and West Georgia (31-9 in three seasons with two DII semifinals appearances).
Grade: C-
Given what Willie Fritz and Sumrall have turned the Tulane job into the last four years, it should have been a highly-desirable landing spot for any coach looking to make climb the ladder and move closer to a P4 head coaching job.
Tulane had plenty of time to prepare for Sumrall’s departure to Florida, so timing isn’t a factor in making an in-house promotion. We have to defer a bit to Tulane athletic director Will Harris, who knows Hall a lot better than anyone judging this from the outside and clearly felt he deserved his shot.
But we can’t totally let Hall off the hook for his uninspiring Southern Miss tenure, in which he went 3-9, 7-6, 3-9 and then 1-6 before getting fired. The Golden Eagles had winning seasons in five of the six years before Hall took over, and they bounced back in their first year since his departure with a 7-5 mark and pending New Orleans Bowl opportunity.
Sometimes a second chance reveals a much different outcome for a young head coach, so we won’t rule that out. But this is a leap of confidence by Tulane, which surely had options.
UConn hires Jason Candle (Dec. 6)
Many in college football were surprised when Jim Mora left UConn for a seemingly lateral move (stature-wise and pay-wise) at Colorado State after back-to-back 9-win seasons.
The Huskies have their next coach now, though, announcing the hiring of Jason Candle from Toledo on Saturday.
Candle went 81-44 over 10 seasons at Toledo, where he replaced Matt Campbell after previously serving as offensive coordinator there.
Candle never had a losing season at Toledo and posted two 11-win seasons in 2017 and 2023 while also winning two MAC championships.
Grade: B+
UConn isn’t a destination job for established head coaches, so it’s notable that the Huskies were able to reel in a coach with Candle’s experience and record of success rather than having to gamble on a younger coach from a lower division or a coordinator without head coaching experience.
Penn State fans weren’t thrilled as the Nittany Lions’ protracted coaching search dragged on with one notable name after another landing elsewhere or choosing to remain at their current school, including a failed push to try to lure Kalani Sitake away from BYU.
But Penn State ends up in a solid spot nonetheless, announcing the hiring of former Iowa State coach Matt Campbell on Friday.
Campbell has built a strong reputation over 10 seasons at Iowa State of building a consistent winner at what had been one of the hardest places to win in college football.
Iowa State won 3, 2 and 3 games in the three seasons before Campbell arrived with just one winning season overall (7-6) in the 10 years prior to his tenure. In his decade in Ames, the Cyclones are 72-55 with eight winning seasons in the last nine years.
That included a 9-3 finish, Fiesta Bowl win and No. 9 final AP ranking in 2020, an 11-3 mark and No. 15 finishing in the polls last year and an 8-4 record this season.
Before Iowa State, Campbell went 35-15 at Toledo with three 9-win seasons in four years.
He’s a geographical fit as he is from Massillon, Ohio, and played college football at Pittsburgh and then Mount Union (in Alliance, Ohio). He started his climb up the coaching ranks as an offensive coordinator at Mount Union, Bowling Green and then Toledo before his promotion to head coach.
Grade: A
Penn State fans or critics may have a different take given that the Nittany Lions were linked to plenty of bigger names throughout this coaching search, but Campbell has deserved a shot at a high-profile program for years now. He was prominently in the mix for the USC job before Lincoln Riley was hired, and was going to get his shot at a marquee program at some point.
This might be as good a fit as any for him, given his roots in the area in which Penn State recruits most heavily. That said, Campbell is not the biggest personality and hasn’t proven he can be an elite recruiter — just that he’s an elite coach and gets the most out of the talent he has.
In this era of college football, it’s becoming less on the head coach to have to do the heavy lifting in recruiting, as general managers and NIL collectives have major influence. So if Campbell is supported with a strong recruiting staff and budget, there’s no reason to think he can’t succeed at a high level in Happy Valley.
Iowa State hires Jimmy Rogers (Dec. 5)
Iowa State moved quickly to replace Campbell, hiring away Jimmy Rogers the same day Campbell was announced at Penn State.
Rogers spent just one season as Washington State’s head coach, going 6-6 this year, but before that he went 27-3 in two seasons at South Dakota State including a 15-0 FCS national championship season in 2023.
Rogers had been at South Dakota State, his alma mater, since 2013, working his way up to defensive coordinator and then head coach while building one of the strongest programs in the FCS.
Grade: B+
Iowa State is just a tough job, and it may even be viewed as a tougher one after what Campbell did. Expectations have been raised, but it remains to be seen if they can be sustained as Campbell had more success in Ames than any other coach in program history.
Given that, and the timing of Campbell’s departure after so many other coaches had already settled elsewhere, it’s hard to imagine Iowa State was going to be flush with notable options. Rogers is an intriguing up-and-comer in the coaching ranks who did a fine job in a tough situation at Washington State this year.
James Madison hires Billy Napier (Dec. 6)
It was Billy Napier’s success in the Sun Belt — going 40-12 over four seasons at Louisiana — that got him the Florida job, and so it makes sense that Napier would return to the conference after a humbling stint with the Gators.
James Madison made it official Saturday after Napier’s hiring had been previously reported.
Napier was 22-23 at Florida (12-16 in SEC play) before his mid-season firing this fall. He had just one winning season in four years.
ESPN reports that James Madison will announce Napier’s hiring on Saturday, after playing in the Sun Belt championship game Friday night.
He now takes over a highly-successful James Madison program that saw its last two head coach leave for P4 jobs — Curt Cignetti to Indiana and Bob Chesney to UCLA.
Grade: B-
JMU struck gold a couple times with up-and-coming coaches climbing the ladder and out to prove something in their careers. The Dukes are getting Napier on the way down, looking for a bounce-back after a rough four years in Gainesville. But his success at Louisiana is the more apt reference point here, and he went 11-3, 10-1 and 12-1 in his final three seasons there, so it’s logical to expect he still knows how to succeed at a high level in the Sun Belt.
UAB promotes Alex Mortensen (Dec. 5)
UAB fired high-profile first-time head coach Trent Dilfer midway through this fall after he went 9-21 in two and half seasons. It named offensive coordinator Alex Mortensen as interim head coach and has decided he’s the guy moving forward as well.
Mortensen, 40, is the son of late longtime ESPN NFL reporter Chris Mortensen. He built a strong reputation in coaching circles during two stints on staff at Alabama as a GA/analyst, from 2014-19 and 2020-22 before becoming OC at UAB in 2023.
His offenses ranked 18th, 58th and 54th nationally with the Blazers. As interim head coach, he went 2-4, with a 31-24 upset over then-No. 22 Memphis in his first game, followed by four straight losses and a 31-24 win over Tulsa.
Grade: C-
Mortensen is really well-regarded, which is something, but he essentially has three years of college experience in a full on-field coaching position with middling results. This feels more like UAB didn’t know if it could land anyone better and decided to just stick with a guy who it knows and likes already. It’s hard to think Mortensen would have been a candidate for any other head coaching job in the country.
Cal hires Tosh Lupoi (Dec. 4)
This was the move everyone expected Cal to make, so it came as no surprise Thursday when the school announced the hiring of Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi as head coach..
Lupoi is from Walnut Creek, California, played for the Golden Bears from 2000-05, and got his start in coaching there as defensive line coach from 2008-11.
Lupoi then spent two years at Washington and then five at Alabama in a variety of roles, including co-DC in 2017 and DC in 2018. After bouncing around three NFL teams, he returned to the college ranks as Oregon’s DC when Dan Lanning was hired in 2022.
The Ducks’ defense has improved during his time there, finishing 71st nationally in total defense in 2022 and then 22nd, 15th and 3rd this season (allowing just 251.6 yards per game). Of course, Lanning was a national championship winning defensive coordinator at Georgia, so it’s always hard to tell how much credit goes to the head coach in situations like that.
But Lupoi earned this opportunity, no question. He replaces Justin Wilcox, who went 48-55 over nine seasons at Cal while winning 8 games just once. This caps a busy first year as general manager for Ron Rivera.
Grade: B
He’s a Cal guy, and that matters for a program like this — as in, not one of the traditional contenders at the P4 level that needs a head coach who believes in the potential and is deeply invested in elevating the program. Cal was going to need to hire a P4 coordinator, up-and-coming G5 head coach or a wildcard (like interim head coach and former Washington State/Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich). So this is a sound hire — it just remains to be seen what Lupoi does outside the the umbrella of a Nick Saban or Dan Lanning.
Kansas State hires Collin Klein (Dec. 4)
This is one of the more unexpected moves in the coaching carousel as former head coach Chris Klieman announced his retirement Wednesday after seven seasons at Kansas State and at 58 years old
The Wildcats quickly announced one of their own as his replacement, as Klein was Kansas State’s star quarterback in 2011-12 and a Heisman Trophy finalist. He started his coaching career at his alma mater as a graduate assistant in 2014-15 and returned from 2017-23 first as QBs coach and later offensive coordinator.
Klein spent the last two seasons as Texas A&M’s OC/QBs coach, helping the Aggies to their 11-1 season this year with an offense that ranks top-20 in yards and points.
Grade: C+
This hire makes more sense here than it would anywhere else. This was Klein’s first season producing a top-20 offense in four years as a coordinator, so it’s not as if his performance had made it obvious he was due for a P4 head coaching opportunity, especially when a guy like Ohio State OC Brian Hartline is taking the more traditional G5 route for his first head coaching job.
That said, Klein is a Kansas State legend and should fire up the boosters, which is as important as anything in this era of college football.
South Florida hires Brian Hartline (Dec. 3)
It was only a matter of time before Ohio State offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline got his shot as a head coach, and it will come at South Florida as the school announced his hiring Wednesday.
Hartline, who starred at Ohio State from 2005-08 before a seven-year NFL career, returned to his alma mater in a support staff role in 2017 and quickly started climbing the ranks and building his coaching career as one of the best WRs coaches in college football. He was elevated to offensive coordinator in 2023, took a backseat in 2024 to Chip Kelly and then moved back into the full OC role this year for the 12-0, No. 1-ranked Buckeyes.
Hartline is regarded as an elite recruiter and developer of WRs, including first-round NFL draft picks Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison Jr., Emeka Egbuka and eventually next year Jeremiah Smith.
Former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer has been one of Hartline’s strongest advocates that he was ready for a head coaching job.
Hartline replaces Alex Golesh, who was hired at Auburn over the weekend.
Grade: A+
We love this hire for South Florida. The Bulls could be a pitstop for Hartline before he moves into a P4 job in a couple or few years, but with a program that has built a reputation for offensive prowess bringing in an up-and-coming coach who can build on that identity and continue to recruit top talent to the roster is everything USF could have hoped for here.
North Texas hires Neal Brown (Dec. 2)
After losing head coach Eric Morris, one of the fastest-rising coaches in the sport, to Oklahoma State, North Texas filled the position by hiring former West Virginia head coach Neal Brown.
Brown wasn’t a success at West Virginia, going 37-35 over six seasons while winning more than six games in only one of those campaigns, but before that he led Troy to three straight double-digit-win seasons.
Grade: B
Returning to the Group of Five ranks, after serving as a special assistant at Texas this fall, makes sense for Brown — and the hire makes sense for North Texas as well, getting a coach with proven success at this level.
Kentucky hires Will Stein (Dec. 1)
After months of speculation whether Kentucky would pay Mark Stoops’ buyout and make a coaching change, it moved swiftly after the season by firing Stoops on Sunday and announcing Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein as its new head coach Monday.
Stein, 36, grew up in the state of Kentucky. He played quarterback for the Wildcats’ rivals, Louisville, but according to ESPN his parents both attended Kentucky and he grew up a fan of the school.
“I’m honored and excited to become the next head coach at Kentucky,” Stein said. “Growing up in Kentucky and sitting in the stands at UK games as a kid, I could only dream of one day leading the Wildcats. This is truly a dream come true.”
Stein is in his third season as Oregon’s OC and has the Ducks ranked ninth nationally in scoring at 38.2 points per game and 13th in total offense (465.2 yards per game). Oregon finished second nationally in total offense and scoring in 2023 with Bo Nix at QB and 22nd/17th last year.
Stein had been the co-OC at UTSA prior to his time at Oregon.
Grade: B+
The only thing that gives us any pause here and keeps this from being a straight A is that Stein is so young in his career — he was an assistant high school coach in 2018-19, spent three years at UTSA and has only been a solo OC for three years at a program that was already having great offensive success prior to his arrival. And now he’s the head coach of a SEC school.
That said, Kentucky is a tough job, and landing a coach who wants to be there and will feel a deeper purpose in trying to elevate the program is very attractive. It makes total sense why the Wildcats zeroed in on Stein, and he could well prove this to be an A+ hire in time.
UCLA to hire Bob Chesney (Dec. 1)
ESPN reported Monday that UCLA is set to hire James Madison coach Bob Chesney and will finalize the deal after JMU plays in the Sun Belt championship game, which is Friday.
The Bruins were one of the first schools to fire their coach in-season, canning DeShaun Foster back in September just three games into his second season as his overall record dropped to 5-10.
Chesney is 20-5 in two seasons at James Madison, including leading the Dukes to an 11-1 mark this year and a No. 19 ranking in the AP poll — highest of any Group of Five program.
It remains to be seen where the College Football Playoff selection committee ranks James Madison, as the highest-ranked G5 champion gets entry into the 12-team-playoff. It’s also possible two G5 teams make it if five-loss Duke wins the ACC championship over Virginia.
Either way, Chesney has done impressive work taking over after Curt Cignetti left JMU for Indiana.
Chesney has worked his way up the ranks — all of them, quite literally. He was the head coach at Division III Salve Regina for three years, then five years at Division II Assumption and six seasons at FCS Holy Cross. After proving he could be successful at the FBS level the last two years, he now gets a shot at the Big Ten.
Grade: B+
It’s hard to know how desirable the UCLA job is now in NIL/revenue-sharing era, especially competing in the Big Ten with some of the sport’s true heavyweights. Landing an up-and-coming coach who has succeeded everywhere he’s been is indeed probably the best path for the Bruins, and Chesney is a more intriguing hire than some of the coaches who landed SEC jobs this week (Ryan Silverfield to Arkansas, Alex Golesh to Auburn).
LSU hires Lane Kiffin (Nov. 30)
A move that had been in the works ever since Brian Kelly was fired in late October, LSU got its top target in hiring Kiffin away from Ole Miss and beating out Florida in its pursuit of Kiffin as well.
ESPN reported that Kiffin’s contract is worth approximately $12 million annually for seven years (plus bonuses).
It’s just the latest high-profile career move for a coach who hasn’t left many jobs without drama of some kind.
Kiffin was hired at just 31 years old to be head coach of the NFL’s Raiders and unceremoniously fired early in his second season after going 5-15 overall. The next year he was hired at Tennessee, lasting one 7-6 season before leaving for USC, which of course didn’t go over well with Vols fans. He went 28-15 in three and a half seasons with the Trojans famously before getting fired at the airport on the way back from a loss at Arizona State.
He rebuilt his career as the offensive coordinator at Alabama from 2014-16 and was relieved of his duties ahead of the national championship game a few weeks after taking the Florida Atlantic head coaching job.
Kiffin went 26-13 in three seasons at FAU, parlaying that into the Ole Miss job and a 55-19 record over six seasons with the Rebels, including three straight double-digit win seasons to finish his tenure.
He was the biggest name on the college football coaching market this year — even while in a good job and in the midst of taking a rival team to the CFP — and LSU spared no expense to make sure Kiffin ended up in Baton Rouge.
This coaching move will be hard to top from a drama standpoint for many years to come.
Grade: A+
Before Kiffin, Ole Miss had just two 10-win seasons since the early 1970s. He delivered four such seasons in the last five years alone and had the Rebels No. 7 in the last CFP rankings. Yes, this is a home run hire for LSU.
Ole Miss promotes Pete Golding
Ole Miss was ready to announce its transition plan as well Sunday, elevating defensive coordinator Pete Golding to head coach.
Golding not only takes the reins for the Rebels’ playoff run but will now lead the program into the future as well.
Golding has been Ole Miss’ defensive coordinator since 2023 after previously serving in that role at Alabama from 2018-22 and before that at UTSA and smaller schools. He’s never been a head coach at any level, but it’s fully understandable that the Rebels prioritized not only stability for their playoff run but also avoiding any uncertainty about the direction of the program.
Grade: C+
The circumstances here are everything. Promoting a successor from within can be very hit or miss — Ryan Day was a major hit for Ohio State, obviously, but it remains to be seen if Sherrone Moore was the right choice at Michigan. The situation was obviously especially unique for Ole Miss, having to make a decision ahead of the playoffs with consideration not just to the future but the immediate present.
So the move makes total sense in that context.
Michigan State hires Pat Fitzgerald (Nov. 30)
Michigan State already had its next move in place when it fired Jonathan Smith on Sunday, promptly announcing former Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald in his place.
Fitzgerald was bound to be in demand after essentially having his name cleared from the scandal that ended his 17-year tenure at Northwestern. He was fired in July 2023 in the wake of an investigation into hazing-related events within the football program there, but he reached an undisclosed settlement with Northwestern in August after filing a $130 million wrongful termination lawsuit. Along with the settlement, Northwestern said in a statement that the evidence supported Fitzgerald was never told about the hazing matters and the school wished him well in his career, while Fitzgerald said he felt fully “vindicated.”
He went 110-101 with the Wildcats, posting three 10-win seasons, two 9-win seasons and earning national recognition with the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year award for leading the Wildcats to a 7-2 mark and a Big Ten championship game appearance in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
Grade: A
Fitzgerald proved he could win at a program that is historically near impossible to have sustained success at, and he showed his loyalty in staying there for 17 years and rebuffing opportunities to leave. If Michigan State or any other such school in need of stability and a total reset had hired Fitzgerald away from Northwestern when he was there, it would have been viewed as a total coup — and given that he was now been cleared in the hazing matter, it should be viewed just the same.
Florida hires Jon Sumrall Nov. 30
It’s interesting that after gambling and losing big on hiring a G5 coach last time around in Billy Napier (after a four-year stint at Louisiana) that Florida would roll the dice again in giving a young G5 coach his first Power Four head coaching job.
After losing out in the Lane Kiffin Sweepstakes, Florida has hired Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall, who was generally regarded as the most coveted of the G5-level head coaches after going 42-11 in two seasons at Troy and two at Tulane (including 10-2 this year).
Sumrall, 43, won at least nine games in all four seasons as a head coach. He played in the SEC at Kentucky and was an assistant coach at Kentucky and Ole Miss before. He now takes over a Florida program that has been a revolving door for coaches since Urban Meyer left town after two national titles.
Will Muschamp lasted four years with one 11-win season and three middling finishes, Jim McElwain went 10-4, 9-4 and then was fired after a 3-4 start in his third season, Dan Mullen started with 10-3 and 11-2 seasons before getting fired late in his fourth season, and then Napier was the worst of the bunch while going 22-23 before getting fired seven games into his fourth season.
Grade: B+
If the Gators were going to pull from the G5 ranks again, Sumrall seems like the guy to get, but after the Napier debacle it’s surprising Florida wouldn’t have had another established P4 head coach lined up as Plan B behind its pursuit of Kiffin.
Arkansas hires Ryan Silverfield (Nov. 30)
After firing Sam Pittman five games into his sixth season and getting confirmation that a full-fledged reunion with interim head coach Bobby Petrino wasn’t the move, Arkansas announced the hiring of Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield on Sunday.
Silverfield was 50-25 in seven seasons at Memphis, including a 10-3 mark in 2023 and 11-2 in 2024 before an 8-4 finish this year that notably included a 32-31 win over Arkansas. Perhaps that game resonated with athletic director Hunter Yurachek.
The hiring does not seem to be going over well with Arkansas fans, however.
Grade: C-
On the one hand, Arkansas was likely going to have to go the G5 head coach/P4 coordinator route in finding its next head coach — it’s just a tough job to take over an SEC team that hasn’t won big in a decade and a half and isn’t viewed as one of the power brokers in a stacked conference.
But even still, Silverfield isn’t an especially inspiring choice.
Let’s first acknowledge that literally every coach who spends time at Memphis ends up with some degree of success, gets a bigger job and then flames out.
Justin Fuente parlayed two good seasons at Memphis into the Virginia Tech job and failed there. Mike Norvell had two seasons with at least 10 wins there, took the Florida State job, had one great year and … yeah.
And Silverfield is probably less appealing than either of those two were leaving Memphis. He’s never finished higher than tied for third in the AAC and tumbled to 8-4 this year (4-4 in the AAC) while losing his last three games (to Tulane, East Carolina and Navy) to go from conference favorite to entirely out of the race.
Auburn hires Alex Golesh (Nov. 30)
Auburn also pulled from the G5 ranks to fill its vacancy, and also poached from the AAC, hiring South Florida head coach Alex Golesh.
Golesh, who has an interesting background spending his early life in Russia before moving to the United States, started his coaching career as a high school assistant coach. After student assistant and graduate assistant roles at Ohio State, Northern Illinois and Oklahoma State, he started working his way up the coaching ranks with stints at Toledo, Illinois, Iowa State and UCF before getting his break as the offensive coordinator at Tennessee in 2021-22.
At South Florida, he has gone 23-15 in three seasons, including a 9-3 mark this year that included notable wins over Boise State, Florida and North Texas.
He replaces Hugh Freeze, who was fired late in his third season at Auburn after going 15-19 overall.
Grade: B
A lot of people around college football think really highly of Golesh, and South Florida had a ton of momentum early in the season after wins over then-ranked Boise State and Florida teams. It was viewed as a favorite in the AAC and climbed into the AP top 25 poll, but losses to Memphis and Navy the second half of the season took it out of the conference and CFP races.
It’s always a gamble hiring a head coach from the G5 ranks and thrusting him into a SEC or Big Ten-level job. Sometimes you get Curt Cignetti. Sometimes you get Billy Napier. But Auburn needed a program reset and hiring a young coach with perceived momentum should fire up the boosters and financial backers needed to build rosters these days.
Stanford hires Tavita Pritchard (Nov. 28)
The Stanford job has officially been open since March when Troy Taylor was fired following investigations into his mistreatment of staff, with Frank Reich stepping in as interim coach for this season.
In finding a full-time head coach, Stanford general manager Andrew Luck went with familiarity. Pritchard was the Cardinal’s starting quarterback in 2008 before Luck took the job in 2009. Pritchard was on Stanford’s coaching staff from 2010-22, rising up from a GA to offensive coordinator before leaving to become the Washington Commanders’ quarterbacks coach the last three seasons.
Grade: C–
Stanford is one of those jobs where it helps to have someone who understands the school and program and the unique place it operates from with higher academic standards that impact recruiting and roster-building. But as Pritchard has never been a head coach at any level, it’s hard to project what he’ll do taking over a tough job.
Oregon State hires JaMarcus Shephard (Nov. 28)
After dismissing former coach Trent Bray early in the season, Oregon State hired Shephard, who had been Alabama’s co-offensive coordinator the last two seasons.
Shephard, 42, came up the coaching ranks at Western Kentucky in a variety of roles from 2011-16, became the passing game coordinator at Purdue in 2017 and then the Boilermakers’ co-OC from 2018-21, was the passing game coordinator and WRs coach at Washington under Kalen DeBoer from 2022-23 and then followed him to Alabama.
Grade: B
There’s no reference point to know what Shephard will do as head coach at a program that is in a tough spot competitively in the new landscape of college football, but he’s young and coming from the DeBoer coaching tree should resonate with recruits.
Colorado State hires Jim Mora (Nov. 26)
Colorado State managed to get even Nick Saban’s attention in hiring Jim Mora away from UConn, with Saban commenting on the Pat McAfee Show, “I don’t know why he would do such a thing.”
Saban’s confusion wasn’t isolated. Colorado State isn’t necessarily a destination job, especially for a veteran head coach who had formerly been at UCLA and in the NFL, and Mora seemed to have a good thing going at UConn with back-to-back nine-win seasons (with all three losses this year coming in overtime).
Mora had signed a contract extension through 2028 with UConn worth $10.01 million for those four years plus bonuses. Mora is now set to earn a base salary escalating from $2.4 million to $2.8 million over five years at Colorado State, so essentially a lateral move financially. But he may have felt CSU was prepared to provide better financial backing to the program than what he had at UConn.
Grade: A
It was a nice power move by Colorado State to poach Mora in a lateral move for about the same money. He’s probably the most proven and successful coach a team like the Rams could have hired.
Oklahoma State hires Eric Morris (Nov. 25)
Grade: A+
Virginia Tech hires James Franklin (Nov. 17)
Grade: A+
Open College Football Jobs/Latest Firings
Missouri State: Ryan Beard left for Coastal Carolina Dec. 11
Michigan: Sherrone Moore fired for cause Dec. 10
**Utah coach Kyle Whittingham retired, but defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley had previously been named coach in waiting and is expected to officially be given the job.