The Coaching Carousel That Has Been the 2025 CFB Season
We aren’t even finished with the college football regular season, and eight Power 4 head coaches are already on the market, marking the most in-season firings before November since 1978. Almost every week a new coach has been fired, which has created quite the drama in the college football world.
This carousel began in week 3, when both Virginia Tech and UCLA let go of their head coaches. Virginia Tech fired Brent Pry on September 14, following their home-field loss to Old Dominion, and their 0-3 start to the season. Pry had a 16-24 record in his 4 seasons with Virginia Tech, and since Frank Beamer's retirement, the program has struggled to compete at the high level they used to. UCLA was next, with them letting go of head coach Deshaun Foster. Foster spent 2 seasons with the Bears, in which he had a 5-10 record. He was fired on September 14, after their week 3 loss to New Mexico, as well as losses to UNLV and Utah. Because they had incoming star quarterback transfer Nico Iamaleava, expectations were high for the Bears 2025 season. And because those expectations were so clearly not being met, it came time for a change in the UCLA coaching department.
Not even a week later, long-time head coach of the Oklahoma State cowboys, Mike Gundy, was let go after an embarrassing 1-3 start to their season, with their only win over FCS UT-Martin. Gundy went 170-90 in his 21 years with the cowboys, with many exemplary season records. After going 3-9 in the 2024 season, finishing last in the Big 12, and starting the 2025 season with a losing record, Gundy was dismissed from the program on September 23. While it's hard to tell if the reason for their losses was because of losing starting quarterback Hauss Hejny in the season opener to a broken foot, or because of lack of quality coaching, it seemed like letting go of Gundy was in best interest for both parties. As athletic director Chad Weiburg said, "This is a decision about what's best for our football program, our student-athletes and Oklahoma State University and it reflects our unwavering commitment to championship-level football and competing for national success,"
In week 5, The University of Arkansas fired head coach Sam Pittman after six seasons with the Razorbacks. While they didn’t finish with more than one losing record with his time at Arkansas, they could never compete in the rigorous gauntlet that is the SEC.
In weeks 7 and 8 we saw even more major firings, with both James Franklin (Penn State) and Billy Napier (Florida) being let go. Franklin was fired from the Nittany Lions coaching staff on October 12, after failure to beat Northwestern, as well as losing to Oregon and UCLA earlier on in the season. While Franklin did take Penn State to the semi-finals of the 2024 College Football Playoffs, his failure to win big games was the biggest issue. This firing proved the championship caliber of Penn State, with their athletic director, Pat Kraft, releasing a statement regarding the firing of Franklin, where he stated: “I believe new leadership is necessary to position Penn State Football for long-term success.” Franklin had a 50 million dollar buyout, and is a coach that is a top target for teams with empty head coaching positions.
Moving onto Florida, Billy Napier was fired shortly after Franklin on October 19th, when donors paid his massive buyout of 21 million dollars. In his 4 seasons with the Gators, he went 22-23, with a 3-4 start to the 2025 season. After barely escaping unranked Mississippi State, and losses to Texas A&M, Miami, LSU, and South Florida, the program dropped him and appointed interim coach Billy Gonzales for the remainder of the season.
In weeks 9 and 10, we saw even more catastrophe in the face of college football, with two more SEC coaches being let go. On October 26th, Brian Kelly was officially fired from being head coach of the LSU Tigers after a disappointing home-field loss to Texas A&M and losses to Vanderbilt and Ole Miss. In his four seasons with LSU, Kelly went 34-14 and won a division title in 2022. However, he never got the Tigers to the Playoffs and lost almost every single one of his season openers as the head coach.
Following week 10, an expected firing of coach Hugh Freeze of the Auburn Tigers was made. After starting SEC play with four losses during every year he coached there, it was clear change was needed. Despite Freeze’s offensive coaching mind, the offense of the Auburn football team was the weakest part of the team. The Tigers have the lowest pass efficiency rating in the SEC, and have scored the least amount of touchdowns in the conference this season. While it was thought that maybe gaining Oklahoma transfer quarterback Jackson Arnold, would erase the disaster that was Payton Thorne in the 2024 season, that seems to not be the case. On the other hand however, their defense is rock solid, leaving Tiger Nation puzzled and upset with their former head coach. While Freeze does have other promising talent on the offensive side of the ball, his coaching technique has not kept up to the standard that is Auburn Football.
While it is sad to say that we only have 4 more weeks of regular season college football, this season has made it very clear that there is still more time for coaches to be fired. And with NIL in full swing, the desire to win has created teams needing to see results from their coaches. People want to see results fast, and when they aren’t seeing them, it leads to unhappy fanbases, and frustrated university administrators and donors. The 2025 season is still in play, and the biggest question is, who is next on the chopping block?
