2025 Kinder's Texas Bowl - Houston v LSU
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Nearly one-fourth of college football's FBS programs will be led by a new coach in 2026, including more than a dozen as headliners at Power Four schools. Playoff expansion has turned up the pressure to win quickly, along with a revitalized NIL and revenue-sharing era funneling resources into rapidly changing rosters from the transfer portal.

Gone are the days of setting foundations at various programs in Year 1 with player development in mind. Now, coaching staffs are taking with intention to win immediately, knowing the clock could restart in a couple of seasons if substantial progress fails to show.

Here's a look at the 17 new head-coaching hires across the Power Four conference ranks, slotted into tiers based on both short- and long-term expectations.

Immediate turnaround expected

LSU

New coach: Lane Kiffin

It's impossible to ignore what Kiffin has done in Baton Rouge since his arrival, swiping several of the nation's top transfers with highly-contested NIL wins to boast college football's top recruiting class overall. This isn't a multi-year plan for the Tigers -- it's win now and win big. LSU poached Ole Miss defensive playmaker Princewill Umanmielen on Wednesday, already signed top-ranked quarterback Sam Leavitt and former Florida pass-catcher Eugene Wilson III and is trying to land five-star Colorado offensive tackle Jordan Seaton. Kiffin's going for the biggest fish in the pond and hooking his share. LSU moved on from its previous coach because 10-win seasons weren't enough. Annual playoff appearances are coming quickly with Kiffin in tow.

Oklahoma State

New coach: Eric Morris

This situation is graded a bit differently than others considering Oklahoma State's all-time faceplant at 1-11 in 2025. An "immediate turnaround" in Stillwater would be bowl-eligibility and that should happen with 54 transfers -- the most in college football. Morris brought his top talent from North Texas, including quarterback Drew Mestemaker and ballcarrier Caleb Hawkins, who combined for 64 total touchdowns last season. If there's a program following the Curt Cignetti doormat-to-elite recipe with a sizable chance to shine, this one's it.

Virginia Tech

New coach: James Franklin

The Hokies have made a sizable investment into transforming themselves back into a national power and Franklin was one of the best hires this cycles to orchestrate this immediate reload. He was one of the biggest dominoes within the Power ranks after spending 12 seasons with Penn State, most of which were elite, including a playoff semifinal appearance in 2024. The spotlight won't be as hot at Virginia Tech and Franklin no longer has to deal with Ohio State and Michigan annually, not to mention the meteoric rises of Oregon and Indiana. Like others this cycle, Franklin's Year 1 two-deep at Virginia Tech will be primarily made up of his former players at Penn State.

Michigan

New coach: Kyle Whittingham

Give Michigan credit for big-game hunting and getting this done swiftly following the firing of Sherrone Moore. Michigan under Whittingham should blast off like a rocket ship given his attention to detail and track record as a winner. Convincing Bryce Underwood to return at quarterback was the top priority and bringing Jason Beck over to overhaul the offense means -- for the first time in years -- to expect explosive production in Ann Arbor. Moore didn't leave the cupboard bare in terms of talent and the Wolverines should be able to compete for a possible playoff trip in 2026.

Give it a year or two

Ole Miss

New coach: Pete Golding

Ole Miss would've likely been placed in a lower category had Golding not offered an elite early look with a three-game sample size in this season's College Football Playoff. His first three games as coach were quite impressive and set the bar extremely high for 2026 and beyond. It's hard to fathom Ole Miss repeating that level of success in his first full campaign unless quarterback Trinidad Chambliss wins his lawsuit against the NCAA for another year and portal acquisitions are immediate home runs. Standout running back Kewan Lacy will handle the heavy lifting offensively in John David Baker's revised scheme.

Penn State

New coach: Matt Campbell

Penn State landed 36 transfers, a complete roster overhaul under Campbell with nearly two dozen of those guys coming over from Iowa State. This is essentially the Penn State Cyclones next season until the new regime figures out its recruiting plan for the foreseeable future. It's a top-5 transfer class in Happy Valley, but numerous players lost during the mass exodus at the end of the season are not replaceable, namely defensive end Chaz Coleman (Tennessee), fellow pass rusher rusher Zuriah Fisher (USC) and cornerback AJ Harris (Indiana).

Florida

New coach: Jon Sumrall

There was a ton of moving and shaking within the SEC carousel as Florida missed out on the Kiffin sweepstakes with Tulane coach Sumrall behind door No. 2. His staff additions have made a lot of sense and Sumrall got creative at previous stops en route to a 78.1 winning percentage as a head coach. Florida vetted numerous candidates after firing Billy Napier and it feels like athletic director Scott Stricklin got this one right. The Gators must be willing to give Sumrall somewhat of a runway after making their fifth hire since Urban Meyer.

Intriguing despite challenges

Auburn

New coach: Alex Golesh

Quarterback Byrum Brown is one of 13 former USF starters to follow Golesh to The Plains, giving Auburn reason for optimism next season. Golesh's decision to retain D.J. Durkin is a net-positive for Auburn, which should be stout on the defensive side of the football. Golesh has obvious previous SEC experience as a play-caller at Tennessee, but it's a different animal when you're in charge. At times with the Bulls (23-15 overall the last three seasons), Golesh's teams played down to competition before posting a couple ranked wins in 2025. Consistency is key for Golesh as Auburn's new coach considering the previous two program leaders who followed Gus Malzahn were both fired within three years.

Kansas State

New coach: Collin Klein

Chris Klieman stepped away at Kansas State because he was growing tired of incessant player demands, NIL disadvantages and roster retention headaches in college football's new era. By comparison, the 36-year-old Klein -- who called plays at Texas A&M last season -- welcomes that burden as a first-time head coach. A program alumnus, Klein hopes to paint a similar picture of what Klieman left with the Wildcats after following program legend Bill Snyder in 2019. Kansas State's not expecting annual playoff appearances, but getting back to the top third of the Big 12 is important.

Kentucky

New coach: Will Stein

It would be unwise to overlook Kentucky and what it's been doing this offseason under Stein, the award-winning former Oregon offensive coordinator. For the first time in the transfer era, Kentucky is paying for top-end talent and has secured a wealth of immediate starters over the last few weeks, including former Texas running back CJ Baxter, Tennessee offensive tackle Lance Heard and Notre Dame quarterback Kevin Minchey, a former four-star signee in South Bend who lost the competition to freshman CJ Carr this season. This roster, at least on paper, is the best Kentucky's had in years.

Iowa State

New coach: Jimmy Rogers

Rogers is now at a program that will do what it can to meet his demands and provide resources to build something special at Iowa State -- luxuries he didn't possess during his one season with Washington State. Rogers was dealt a bad hand with the Cougars and still got to bowl season, his team showing their best against top teams last fall. Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard identified Rogers quickly and moved to get his guy, which is becoming increasingly hard to do in college football and should be commended.

Could crash and burn quickly

Arkansas 

New coach: Ryan Silverfield

One of the shakiest searches within the SEC this cycle belongs to the Razorbacks, who are praying Silverfield can rejuvenate a program that's fallen on hard times against an increasingly challenging schedule every year. Silverfield, who won 50 games at Memphis over six seasons with one nationally-ranked finish, signed a 40-player transfer class ahead of his first season. Nearly half of those newcomers are from the Group of Five ranks, including seven Tigers. Previous Arkansas coach Sam Pittman harped on how difficult it was to compete in the NIL era and despite Silverfield's situation at Memphis being one of the Group of Five's most attractive, he might endure similar headaches in Fayetteville.

Michigan State

New coach: Pat Fitzgerald

The game has changed considerably since Fitzgerald last coached a game inside the Big Ten. And after the Spartans quickly pulled the plug on outgoing coach Jonathan Smith, there's no guarantee that Fitzgerald's leash will be long enough to see this through in East Lansing. It's definitely a rebuild since Michigan State's primary rivals in the conference have lapped the Spartans the last few seasons. He's a no-nonsense kind of coach who prides himself on physicality and execution. Fitzgerald needs to find players with a similar makeup.

California

New coach: Tosh Lupoi

Dan Lanning raved about his former defensive coordinator and believes he'll bring stability to California. Lupoi's offensive coordinator hire of Jordan Somerville is an interesting one after the two worked together at Oregon. Somerville has spent the last three years as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' quarterbacks coach and helped Baker Mayfield soar to new highs as a pro. That said, Lupoi will not have the same talent pool he helped develop in Eugene at a difficult place to win within the ACC.

UCLA

New coach: Bob Chesney

Should UCLA's decision-makers get the benefit of the doubt after their last hire of Deshaun Foster was one of the worst in program history? Chesney followed Cignetti at James Madison and got the Dukes to the playoff this season, but does not have Power Four experience. UCLA's 41-player transfer class is one of the biggest in the country and Chesney will use that to combat a challenging slate in the Big Ten next fall. He's an up-and-comer in the profession whose momentum may begin to slow if the Bruins fail to look the part early.

Utah

New coach: Morgan Scalley

There's not many needle-movers in this 14-player transfer reload for the Utes after Whittingham's departure to Michigan, but retaining some of their best players was the top priority and they managed to check that box. Quarterback Devan Dampier is back, along with freshman playmaker Byrd Ficklin. It'll be interesting to see how Utah's offense looks under new hire Kevin McGiven, who replaces Jason Beck after he left for the Wolverines. Scalley has to keep Utah as a line-of-scrimmage-first program, or this could go in another direction entirely -- especially since he's following a legend.

Stanford

New coach: Tavita Pritchard 

The former NFL assistant started at quarterback for the Cardinal before Andrew Luck took over in 2009 and now, Stanford's new general manager of the football program who led the hiring process believes he has found his diamond. Stanford's last winning season came in 2020 and Pritchard's success will depend on the investment boosters are willing to make into football within the ACC. This hire could go one of two ways with no in-between -- a failure of epic proportions or a stabilizing choice that puts Stanford in the top-25 conversion.