Every week, there’s a new piece of drama in college football’s coaching carousel, and it’s time to dig into it.
Last year, only five Power 4 schools made changes; this year, nine already had cut the cord by Nov. 2. And as the firings continue, the first hirings are expected to begin in the coming weeks, less than a month out from the early signing period for high school recruits.
As the carousel heats up, I’ll share news, notes and what I’ve been hearing from industry sources about the coaching carousel — not just hirings, firings and candidates, but other interesting nuggets. This week, we’ll start with what remains the season’s biggest drama, in Baton Rouge.
What do people on the outside think of the LSU situation?
It was barely a week ago that Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry forced himself into LSU business once again. After head coach Brian Kelly was fired with a $53 million buyout that still may be negotiated down, athletic director Scott Woodward was also fired with a buyout of more than $6 million, on day after Landry said the school’s Board of Supervisors would hire the next coach.
“He needs to stay in his lane,” one athletic director told The Athletic, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “He’s a typical fan who has an ego, he’s going to try to engineer what they’re doing. He doesn’t know how to hire a coach and doesn’t know his actions have turned people off.”
Shortly after Kelly was fired, Landry complained about coaching agents, incorrectly saying that Kelly and Jimbo Fisher had the same agent, and that taxpayers would pay for a buyout. (They do not.) He repeated similar points on The Pat McAfee Show, saying, “Everyone is in agreement in Louisiana, the next coach we hire is going to have a patently different contract. If that agent can’t see what’s coming down the pike.”
So what do agents think of Landry’s threats? Not much, actually. Over the weekend, multiple told The Athletic that interim AD Verge Ausberry is viewed as a steady hand. And on Tuesday night, The Athletic confirmed that Ausberry would get the full-time job.
“I think there’s a lot of hyperbole and bluster,” said one agent, downplaying the drama. “It’ll be a centralized search with Verge. I expect this to operate like anybody else with that kind of job. I don’t think there’s public pressure constraining it. I would expect it to be at market.”
LSU hired a new president on Tuesday, naming McNeese State president Wade Rousse to the job. Industry sources still expect Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin to be a top target for the football job. The good news is that all this mess happened in early November, giving time for things to settle down without the need to rush into a coaching hire.
With a president and AD now in place, the focus can turn back to the coaching search, and maybe the governor will get back to other statewide business.
“It’s the way the world works there, the water’s always tasted different,” the agent said. “Guys know what they’re walking into. Everyone knows it’s a pressure cooker.”
As for the dream of bringing back Nick Saban, the retired seven-time national champion who won his first title while with LSU in 2003, Ausberry told local radio host Matt Moscona that he and Saban still talk regularly, but he doesn’t believe Saban is coming back to coaching.
“I think that has run its course,” Ausberry said.
A few notes from my interview with LSU interim AD Verge Ausberry:
-Head coaching experience preferred but not required
-They will consider a CFP coach even if it means missing Dec. signing period and Jan. portal window
-Wade Rousse is the 5th member of the search committee…
— Matt Moscona (@MattMoscona) November 4, 2025
Florida State really wants Mike Norvell to win some more
Florida State’s 42-7 win over Wake Forest was a much-needed step forward for Seminoles coach Mike Norvell, but he’s not out of the woods.
Last month, athletic director Michael Alford said in a statement days after Florida State’s loss to Stanford that the football program would undergo a “comprehensive assessment” after the season. The school really, really does not want to have to fire Norvell with his enormous $58 million buyout (subject to offset), according to a person familiar with FSU’s thinking.
The reasons are multiple. One, FSU doesn’t have the money of the Big Ten or SEC schools buoyed by their conferences’ giant TV contracts. The cost for FSU to fire and hire new coaches could total a commitment of up to $100 million, at a school that has recently put hundreds of millions into renovating facilities. Two, FSU does not want to jump into a market where Penn State and four SEC jobs (including Florida) are already open, and where Curt Cignetti, Rhett Lashlee and Matt Rhule have already announced they’re not leaving their current schools. The price is going up.
The Seminoles are 4-4 with a win over Alabama and four losses by a combined 24 points. Statistically, this year’s team is a major improvement upon last year’s 2-10 debacle. They’ve come a few plays away from a few more wins, and as ESPN’s David Hale noted, the advanced metrics have FSU as a borderline top-25 team.
I posted this yesterday and people used it to mock advanced stats but… both FPI and SP+ have FSU at No. 24. (@bcfremeau‘s F+ has them at 35)
Obviously the W-L is what it is, but perhaps we are overlooking something with FSU’s input because the output has been frustrating.
— 💫🅰️♈️🆔 (@ADavidHaleJoint) November 3, 2025
You could argue the fact the Seminoles have lost those games is a reflection of their coaching, but it really is just the Stanford game that is the albatross. Virginia, Miami and Pitt are top-25 teams or close to it.
The Seminoles finish with Clemson, Virginia Tech, NC State and Florida. Virginia Tech and Florida have fired their coaches, NC State has also been viewed as a potential job opening, and Clemson is currently 3-5. If Florida State can win three of those to finish 7-5, that should be viewed as enough progress for another year. A split of those remaining games could make it a tougher call.
Open job searches progressing slowly
Most coaching searches haven’t gotten to the formal interview stage yet because it’s still early November, and sitting head coaches especially try to stay out of that until later in the season. It’s the agents, search firms and athletic directors that take up most of the conversation right now.
As such, the expected candidate lists haven’t changed at most places. With Cignetti and Rhule signing extensions, Penn State may turn to names like Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz, Louisville’s Jeff Brohm or Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea, while not ruling out coordinators. The same names have also been floated around the open SEC jobs, along with Georgia Tech’s Brent Key and obviously Kiffin.
Do not underestimate the fact that Brohm, Lea and Key all currently coach at their alma maters, as does Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham. Taking a coach away from his school is always very difficult. Brohm, Lea and Dillingham are also working in their hometowns near family, with great job security. Is it worth jumping to a job where you might get fired in three years when you’re at a place where you’re already competing for a College Football Playoff spot?
The feeling in the industry is that Oklahoma State will very likely replace Mike Gundy with someone with Texas connections., such as North Texas head coach Eric Morris, UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor (who just beat Tulane) or Texas A&M offensive coordinator Collin Klein. But USF head coach Alex Golesh, a former Oklahoma State assistant, could be an option, too. There may be a lot of crossover between Arkansas and Oklahoma State’s candidate lists.
In the Group of 6, Cal assistant Nick Rolovich’s name has been floated around the Oregon State and Colorado State jobs. The former Hawaii and Washington State head coach has a lot of ties out west. Colorado State’s search is in no rush, and other names to watch include UC Davis head coach Tim Plough, Michigan running backs coach Tony Alford (a former CSU player) and UCLA interim coach Tim Skipper (a former CSU assistant).
North Texas coach Eric Morris (left) and USF coach Alex Golesh (right) have both had their names come up for bigger jobs this year. (Raymond Carlin III / Imagn Images)
Has Dabo Swinney run his course at Clemson?
As Clemson continues to stumble from a preseason No. 4 ranking to a 3-5 record after last weekend’s loss to Duke, some people around the industry have wondered whether it’s time for a change of scenery for Dabo Swinney after 22 years in one place.
“I may get fired today, (AD Graham Neff’s) sitting there in the back, so I don’t know,” Swinney said jokingly after the Duke loss. “Can’t say I’d blame him.”
Clemson can’t fire Swinney, with a $60 million buyout (paid through 2031, with no offset). But what if someone wanted to hire Swinney away?
The cost for Swinney to leave is only $4 million, according to his contract. (It costs more, currently $6 million, if Swinney leaves for the job at Alabama, his alma mater). In a coaching carousel with more big jobs than big names, a school might kick the tires on someone with multiple national titles.
This isn’t saying Swinney will or even wants to leave. But many Tigers fans have grown tired of Swinney bemoaning the high expectations he created and implying that fans aren’t grateful anymore. This business has always been about what you’ve done lately, and Clemson has lost at least four games for three straight years. This could finish as Swinney’s worst season as head coach. That said, Swinney on Tuesday didn’t sound like a coach interested in leaving.
“I don’t blame people for being mad, I’m mad, too,” he said, adding that he’s gotten away from his instincts. “But I’ll fix it.”
Curt Cignetti’s Indiana contract quirks
While Cignetti’s decision to stay at Indiana a few weeks ago was the main headline, there was one clause in his new, bigger contract that jumped out to people around the industry.
If Cignetti makes a College Football Playoff semifinal at any point at Indiana, the school agrees to a “good faith” market review and adjustment of Cignetti’s contract. If it doesn’t make him a top-three highest-paid coach in the sport within 120 days of playing in a semifinal, the buyout for Cignetti to leave would drop to zero (it starts at $15 million through next November).
That’s the kind of incentive-based clause that schools would be smart to lean into: Pay someone more for winning. It’s also something that could quickly pay off for Cignetti, whose new $11.6 million average salary is currently near the top three in the nation. This blockbuster coaching cycle could raise the ceiling for coach salaries once again, and Indiana might be a top-four CFP seed. It’s possible by December that Cignetti might only need one postseason win to activate the clause and another renegotiation.
A gamer throws his name in for the UCLA job
Have you considered applying for a college head coaching job with no experience? My public records requests for emails often uncover some fun stuff. The return of EA Sports’ college football video game has brought a new crop of “qualified” individuals, such as a fan named Sean Peake, who wrote to UCLA AD Martin Jarmond in September that his college football video game success was worth consideration.
Peake emphasized that he’d won six consecutive national titles in Dynasty Mode, writing, “I simply don’t lose.” He also detailed how he has maxed out his entire roster with 99-overall ratings and is consistently signing five-star recruits.
“I am confident that my digital dominance can translate directly to the Rose Bowl turf,” he wrote. “My leadership style is simple: go for two every time, run Hail Marys on 1st down, and always, always make sure my players look good in alternate uniforms. Please let me know when I can (expect) my headset, whistle, and university credit card for recruiting trips.”
I tracked down Peake, a UCLA fan, who confirmed that his video game glory came while playing with the virtual Bruins: “A powerhouse under my leadership.”
He has not heard back from Jarmond about the job.
Kent State contracts remain unique
Kent State still has one of the more interesting coaching contract clauses that hasn’t been used elsewhere.
The school last week made interim Mark Carney the full-time head coach, giving him a contract through the 2029 season. The Golden Flashes are a solid 3-5 under Carney after going 1-23 under Kenni Burns over the last two seasons. For a place that has almost no history of winning, the effort this year has been admirable.
Carney’s contract, obtained through a records request, has a clause that he cannot recruit active Kent State players or recruits to another school if he takes another job or is fired:
“COACH for a period of one (1) year after such termination, will not contact or otherwise seek to recruit any prospect previously contacted or recruited by the University or an enrolled student athlete from the University, unless such athlete has been actively recruited or contacted by any new institution employing COACH prior to the notice of termination of this Agreement.”
Burns and previous head coach Sean Lewis also had this clause in their deals. Lewis left for Colorado, which added Kent State transfer Savion Washington, but Washington had entered the portal a day before Lewis left. Given how common it has become for coaches to bring players with them to new jobs, we haven’t seen this clause pop up in other coach contracts. Schools may not see it as actually enforceable.
You can buy Sam Pittman’s Arkansas house
If you’re in the market for a new home in Fayetteville, former Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman last month listed his home for sale for a cool $4 million. It’s got a fountain at the entrance, a pool and a basketball hoop in the back.
Pittman bought the house, which used to belong to former Arkansas basketball coach Mike Anderson, in 2020 for $2.5 million. (Anderson left for St. John’s in 2019.) If you ever wondered what happens to a coach’s house, it often changes hands between coaches.