The month of October has not yet ended. Already, a double-digit number of college football head coaching jobs are open. Moreover, many more jobs are likely to open in the next month. The 2025 college football coaching carousel could be historic, and this does not include any potential “ambush” moves or flights out of town, in which a coach abruptly packs his bags at a time when we aren’t expecting it. (Think of Lincoln Riley ditching Oklahoma for USC four years ago.)

College football coaches will have a lot of choices in the marketplace in the 2025 coaching carousel. Multiple elite jobs, including those at Penn State and Florida, are already open. LSU is likely to join that list. Florida State could also add spice to the carousel soap opera. With that many high-end jobs likely to be available, the transitions from other jobs will leave many mid-tier Power Four jobs open. When those seats become occupied, many attractive Group of Five jobs will be available. The coaches who have recently been fired will need to think about where they want to relocate. Is a lateral move realistic, or will those coaches have to accept downward moves with the hope of making an upward move several years later?

These are the kinds of questions we will try to address in our 2025 college football coaching carousel primer. We aren’t going to predict who goes where. We will try to lay out the various plot points and set the scene for what will happen in the next six weeks:

Interview timetables

Coaches currently employed can obviously have their agents make back-channel inquiries, but they cannot directly interview for jobs until their regular seasons end. Therefore, coaches who make conference championship games cannot interview until after those games are done. When we consider the chaos of the coaching carousel, this is part of it. Schools might have to wait an extra week in December if they really want a preferred target.

Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!Pat Fitzgerald

Pat Fitzgerald has received surprisingly little national media attention as a head coaching candidate for the very reason we pointed out above: He is not employed, which means the former Northwestern coach can interview with schools right now. No, we don’t think Penn State or Florida would want him, but Michigan State certainly could make a move. Wisconsin could, too, though the Badgers do seem to be intent on retaining Luke Fickell. Still: Watch for movement with Pat Fitzgerald. It’s hard to think he won’t get a Power Four job when this 2025 college football coaching carousel runs its course.

Florida or LSU?

Which job would you take if you were a college football coach? Which is the better job? If LSU does fire Brian Kelly, both jobs will be open. It would raise this question: Would Florida or LSU be the “first domino” job?

Translation: Whatever happens in one search will be the moment that has a domino effect on other hirings and openings. Will Florida or LSU be that job?

Lane Kiffin

Lane Kiffin could be in a position to choose among Florida, LSU, and Ole Miss. With Ole Miss in the hunt for the SEC Championship Game, that detail could affect other schools. Will they want to wait the extra week to conduct an interview, which offers no guarantee Kiffin would accept the job, or is it worth it to swing big and hope Kiffin can be convinced?

Penn State

The Nittany Lions were willing to pay a lot of money to push James Franklin out. Surely they can’t settle for Matt Rhule, whose Nebraska team looks painfully ordinary. Penn State has to aim high, but which coach would leave his current spot? Jeff Brohm would be a quality hire, but he’s probably going to stay at Louisville, which he loves. Brian Kelly would be interesting, but his sour turn at LSU would make him a less-than-great hire for PSU. This might be a more fascinating coaching carousel drama than Florida.

Dabo Swinney

Dabo Swinney is a Clemson man, but his tenure has clearly lost steam. The general consensus in the college football coaching industry is that Alabama is the one job Dabo would leave Clemson for. However, Dabo might simply want a change of scenery and a fresh challenge.

Do we think Dabo is leaving Clemson? No … but other athletic directors need to make him say no, especially in the SEC, less so in the Big Ten.

Will the Seminoles divorce Mike Norvell? One could reasonably ask why they haven’t cut the cord already. Hesitancy about buyout dollars could be driving this decision. However, with Norvell utterly failing one year after a disastrous 2-10 season, can Florida State really afford to run it back one more time? FSU coming open would add one top-tier opening to the 2025 college football coaching carousel. The multiplied domino effect would add many layers of intrigue to an already-crazy landscape.

Brent Key

The Georgia Tech head coach is in a position similar to Curt Cignetti of Indiana. He has built something really good at a place that hadn’t been relevant in college football for decades. Does Key want to start over at a bigger program with more expectations and scrutiny, or just enjoy life at a school that will revere him as long as he stays around? This is Brent Key’s choice. The big schools are going to make a run at him. Will he say no? This is a big coaching carousel question.

Michigan State

This has become an absolute disaster for Jonathan Smith. Michigan State has to think long and hard about firing Smith and starting fresh. Should this job come open, Brian Kelly makes a ton of sense. It’s not Penn State. It’s not LSU. This could be Kelly’s landing spot if LSU drops the hammer.

Mike Norvell

If Florida State fires him, Mike Norvell — who did well at Memphis in the Group of Five — could go to a Big 12 program such as Oklahoma State or to Tulane if Jon Sumrall, a coach likely to move up the coaching ladder, gets a bigger job.

North Carolina State

Dave Doeren seems to be in big trouble at NC State. If this job comes open, James Franklin could consider it, as well as Virginia Tech.

Bill Belichick

This North Carolina situation is a total clown car. It’s hard to think North Carolina administrators will put up with another season. If this job comes open, Jon Sumrall of Tulane becomes a very good possibility.

Lincoln Riley

USC will retain Riley for 2026, but maybe Lincoln thinks about an escape hatch with his USC tenure going nowhere. If USC does fail to make the College Football Playoff, an SEC athletic director should consider making a phone call to Los Angeles.

Notable: Lincoln Riley’s agent is Trace Armstrong, a former Florida Gator football player who dangled the LSU job as a smokescreen in November of 2021 before Riley went to USC. We aren’t expecting Riley to move, but a flight out of LA would not be absurd or ridiculous.

Alex Golesh

The South Florida coach just lost to Memphis, but that probably won’t change his level of prominence in this next coaching carousel cycle. The big question is whether ADs at elite programs want to take a chance on him. If not, an ACC job such as Virginia Tech, NC State (if it comes open), or North Carolina (if it comes open) could be attractive.

If Brent Key leaves Georgia Tech, Golesh could fit in Atlanta.

Jon Sumrall

We have mentioned the Tulane coach earlier. It would be a shocker if he stays for 2026. There are too many good job openings right now.

James Franklin? Alex Golesh? Jon Sumrall? The Razorbacks could be in a position to go in several different directions. They will not have a shortage of choices.

Clark Lea

Clark Lea is an even better comparison with Curt Cignetti and Indiana than Brent Key is. Will Lea want to be the Vandy icon, or will a massive Florida (maybe LSU) offer be too good to turn down?

Eli Drinkwitz

The Missouri coach should draw interest from top programs. Is he ready for a Cadillac job, and which AD will want to trust him?

The hot assistant coach or coordinator

Which assistant coach — think Dan Lanning at Georgia and Kirby Smart at Alabama — is ready to become a top head coach, and if so, which program goes all-in to get one?

Will Stein of Oregon, Tony White of Florida State, and Jerry Neuheisel of UCLA are all intriguing options, with Stein having the best chance of being able to land at a quality program. Neuheisel might want a Mountain West job if UCLA does not retain him.

Tim Skipper

Mountain West schools or Oregon State could make a run at Skipper after his UCLA revival. He has certainly earned a chance to run a program.

Stanford

Andrew Luck has money to spend. Where will he turn? Will Stein could be the answer here. Kenny Dillingham of Arizona State probably will stay in Tempe — he loves coaching the Sun Devils — but Luck could court him and see what happens.

College Sports Wire

Be sure to continuously follow the 2025 college football coaching carousel at College Sports Wire. When big news hits, we will offer coverage and analysis:

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