Dec. 5—Penn State needs a football coach. Still.
LSU got its guy. So did Florida, Auburn and Virginia Tech, which grabbed fired Penn State coach James Franklin. With glee.
In what will go down as one of the nuttiest coaching carousels ever, there still might be more movement. What if the NFL poaches a big name after this season? It could set off another round of crazy.
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This season has shown us that something needs to change when it comes to the postseason hires. Lane Kiffin left Mississippi as it is on the way to the College Football Playoff. Not cool.
Mississippi wisely refused Kiffin’s idea to keep coaching the team in the CFP. Not in this or any lifetime.
Nick Saban, the best coach in college football history, would like to see a pause in the hirings and firings late in the season.
But because of the way the recruiting/transfer portal windows are set, the schools insist on making the hires early. Hard to blame them for that.
Altering the calendar would at least cut into the pace of movement.
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A college football commissioners, — I’d nominate Saban — might be able to come up with a reasonable solution.
The Mississippi mess would have been less annoying had it happened after the CFP ended. The schools, which are making a fortune on the postseason, need to be open to any ideas.
Making a list
Who is winning the coaching carousel? Here’s my take:
One of the most accomplished coaches the past decade needed a place to land and found a comfortable fit in Blacksburg, Va.
He knows the region and the important people. Thanks to Frank Beamer, there is a strong tradition.
He also takes over in conference that he can dominate. The bar for greatness in the Big Ten — where he had to deal with Michigan and Ohio State every year — is greater than what he will find in the ACC.
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My guess: He has the Hokies in the College Football Playoff within three seasons. While watching from afar as Penn State stumbles along.
The former Northwestern coach, ousted because of the program’s hazing scandal, gets a fresh start in a conference he knows well.
I think if Wisconsin had made a change with Luke Fickell, Fitzgerald would have been an easy choice as his replacement.
And somebody will eventually replace ageless Kirk Ferentz at Iowa. If he ever retires.
Michigan State jumped the line and happily hired the youthful Fitzgerald. If you can win in Evanston, you can win anywhere.
Michigan State is in a difficult place after Jonathan Smith’s fish-out-of-water tenure didn’t work as hoped. But with revenue sharing and the portal, Fitzgerald can make a quick move up in the rugged Big Ten.
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Illinois will get reacquainted with Fitzgerald when the two teams play in 2026 in East Lansing, Mich.
The Tulane coach was going somewhere. And most likely in the SEC (Auburn was also interested). In just his fourth year as a head coach with stops at Troy and Tulane, Sumrall already has 42 wins and put Tulane in position to earn a CFP berth.
He knows the SEC, with four stops at two schools before taking over in Gainesville, Fla. The folks in Florida might have been pining for Kiffin, but my hunch is Sumrall will have a better record at his new job.
As “Elf” says about Santa: “I know him.”
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Or did know him when he was on Tim Beckman and Bill Cubit’s staff at Illinois from 2012 through 2015.
It was clear from first handshake that Golesh had goals. I’d say he has exceeded many of them by taking his first head-coaching job at South Florida and leading the Bulls to three bowls in a row.
He is just 41, so if he is a hit with the Tigers, he could have a long, lucrative run. It won’t be easy. The program is in a bad spot and needs an energy boost it hopes Golesh can provide.
He hit the ground sprinting, adding recruits on Wednesday.
Golesh will dive into the transfer portal and put together a solid first-year roster. Winning big is going to take a minute. But it is possible long term.
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Last time a guy went from James Madison to the Big Ten, it worked out swimmingly. Chesney, who replaced Indiana’s Curt Cignetti with the Dukes, kept the ball rolling.
Like Cignetti, Chesney was a hit at lower levels by winning at Holy Cross, Assumption and Salve Regina.
After two years with overmatched DeShaun Foster in charge, the Bruins will be better from the start.
When Kiffin flaked out on the team, the school turned to its defensive coordinator and gave him the permanent job. He will make his bosses look really smart if he leads the team on a long run in the CFP. And the talent is there to pull it off.
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He is a first-time head coach, but has a half-decade working as a coordinator for Saban. The ultimate internship.
The makeup of his staff, especially on offense, will be vital. The school will help him with financial and moral support. Nothing Mississippi wants more than to keep winning post-Kiffin.
The former Oregon offensive coordinator takes over the program he grew up rooting for and where his dad played football.
After struggling on offense in recent seasons with defensive-minded Mark Stoops, Kentucky now has a guy who prioritizes putting points on the board.
A first-time head coach might concern some folks, but Stein worked with Dan Lanning, who had the same knock on him before arriving at Oregon. How is that working out?
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Football is a bigger deal in Lexington, Ky., than you might think, but basketball absorbs most of the fans’ attention, allowing Stein a chance to get his work done.
I ran into the biggest Memphis fan I know this week and assumed he would be devastated that his coach left for Arkansas.
Nope. In fact, he was relieved, pointing out that the Tigers seemed to have hit a ceiling with Silverfield.
He was 50-25 at the school, a fine record. With two 10-win seasons. But Memphis was in position this year to compete for a spot in the CFP and it didn’t happen.
The Arkansas job has proven to be a difficult one in recent decades. Just ask Bret Bielema, who has won everywhere else. Perhaps the hog calls scare the recruits.
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It doesn’t always work to bring back a former star quarterback (see Nebraska and Scott Frost), but this one feels like it might take.
Pritchard spent more than a decade on the Cardinal staff before becoming quarterbacks coach with the Washington Commanders.
He’s back, playing for the general manager (Andrew Luck) he replaced as Stanford’s starting quarterback.
Plenty of work to do in building up the roster, but his passion for the school and connection with Luck should help.
Uh-oh, he is a man and he is 40. Might want to not yell that at reporters early in the season, so there are no flashbacks to departed Mike Gundy.
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The former boss at Incarnate Word had two ho-hum seasons at North Texas before hitting the jackpot this season. The Mean Green are playing Tulane for the American title and hoping to win their way into the CFP.
Unlike Kiffin (see below), Morris is sticking with North Texas for the remainder of the season. No matter how long that lasts.
Morris is a former offensive coordinator at Texas Tech, where he played wide receiver. He played and worked for the late, great Mike Leach at Washington State.
Morris inherits a mess left by Gundy, so the climb won’t be easy. But his years of experience in the Big 12 should help.
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Nowhere to go but down for Kiffin. He left a College Football Playoff program because of the money, power and tradition in Baton Rouge. Yes, Saban, Les Miles and Ed Orgeron won titles with the Tigers. But big-money Brian Kelly failed miserably. My guess is Kiffin is more Kelly than Saban.
And because of the way this went down, most of the rest of college football is rooting against Kiffin. Can’t wait for the Tigers’ return trip to Mississippi in 2026.
