The coaching carousel is spinning following one of the wildest college football seasons of the modern era. Does that mean a silly season is upon us as well?
We're up to 20 changes in the FBS following the regular season, but only four jobs in power conferences are open. It's expected to be a historically slow cycle for the power conferences, but that isn't stopping the AAC, arguably the strongest non-power league, from shaking things up. Six programs have made changes at the top to culminate a wild year in the conference where Army and Navy made headlines for their hot starts before first-year coach Jon Sumrall pushed Tulane into the conference title game to face the Black Knights.
On the Sunday after the regular season, there were few head-coaching changes but not many surprises. The biggest shocker was the resignation of UCF head coach Gus Malzahn, who departed to become the offensive coordinator at Florida State. It's an emergence of a new trend in the sport: head coaches leaving for assistant coaching gigs. Chip Kelly did the same in 2023 when he left UCLA for Ohio State.
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Two other coaches have entered retirement with the departures of North Carolina's Mack Brown and Central Michigan's Jim McElwain.
The SEC remains the only power conference without a change at head coach, though the coaching carousel has just begun spinning. Does that mean a big churn is coming for the league in 2025?
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CBS Sports is tracking every move in the 2024-25 cycle and grading each hire below.
College football coaching carousel
| Team | In | Out | Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
| | Mack Brown | You can't argue that Mack Brown elevated North Carolina each time he jumped on board as head coach, but something seemed off this season, and as retirement rumors heated up last year, you knew something was up. He was 113-78-1 in two stints, but hot starts usually led to disappointing finishes down the stretch. Considering UNC's history and support, this is likely the best job on the market. | |
| | Ryan Walters | Ryan Walters left Purdue no choice but to make a change following a 1-11 season, which included a win against an FCS team. Purdue is notoriously one of the most difficult jobs in the power structure, so it will be interesting to see whether the administration is able to counter that by stepping up support via revenue-sharing and NIL. If not, the candidate pool will be shallow. | |
| | Neal Brown | Neal Brown went 37-35 and had only two winning seasons in six years with the Mountaineers. He set a high floor and his teams were bowl eligible four times, including this season; however, a lack of signature wins, coupled with some devastating losses, were too much to overcome. | |
| | Gus Malzahn (resigned) | Staffers were not surprised that Gus Malzahn resigned, but they were shocked he left to become Florida State's offensive coordinator. The veteran coach quit after his fourth season leading the Knights with a 28-24 overall record. He was 4-8 this season, the worst record of his coaching career. Many argue UCF is the best job available because of its recruiting footprint and large alumni base. | |
| | Shawn Clark | Appalachian State's first losing season In 11 years was enough for the program to fire Shawn Clark after his fifth season leading the program. He was 40-24 overall but was 5-6 this season. App State advanced to the Sun Belt championship In 2021 and 2023, and upset Texas A&M on the road In 2022. | |
| | Mike MacIntyre | Mike MacIntyre was fired after three consecutive 4-8 seasons. The Panthers lost to FCS Monmouth and were 0-6 In road games this fall. FIU wants to catch eyes, which is apparent after announcing before the season it partnered with entertainer Pitbull to rebrand its stadium as Pitbull Stadium. | |
| Blake Harrell (ECU defensive coordinator) | Mike Houston | Blake Harrell was promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach after a 4-0 record as the interim head coach this season. Players pushed for Harrell to remain as head coach during the four-game winning streak. He replaces Mike Houston, who was fired after going 27-38 in nearly six seasons. Grade: B | |
| | Jeff Tedford | Fresno State elevated linebackers coach Tim Skipper to interim head coach after Jeff Tedford resigned in July due to health issues. The program, however, has not yet decided whether to keep Skipper next season. He was 6-6 as the interim head coach with a 2-4 record in games decided by one possession. | |
| | Will Hall | Southern Miss made a long-expected change in October when it fired Will Hall following a 1-6 start to the season. He was 14-30 in three-plus seasons with only a 7-6 finish in 2022 as the highlight. USM is a proud program with a rich tradition, but the program has struggled over the last decade. | |
| | Blake Anderson (cause) | Utah State fired Blake Anderson in July when it claimed he failed to properly report a case and contacted a potential domestic violence victim and witness after an Aggies football player was arrested. Defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling, 33, was elevated to interim coach, making him the youngest head coach in the FBS. He was 4-8 this season. | |
| | Kevin Wilson | Kevin Wilson was fired after less than two seasons on the job. He was 7-16 overall with a 3-12 record in the AAC. Nine of his losses were by more than 30 points. | |
| | Biff Poggi | Biff Poggi was a disappointing 6-16 at Charlotte in less than two seasons. He was an outside-the-box hire at the time for Charlotte. The former hedge fund manager spent only two seasons as an assistant coach in college football at Michigan before Charlotte hired him to lead the program. | |
| Scott Abell | Mike Bloomgren | Scott Abell was hired after becoming the all-time winningest coach at Davidson College in the FCS, where he won two conference titles with 47 wins in seven seasons. Davidson had not won more than two games in the six seasons before his arrival. His success winning at an academic school piqued Rice's interest. Grade: B+ | |
| K.C. Keeler (Sam Houston State coach) | Stan Drayton | Temple made perhaps the best hire it could in the wake of firing Stan Drayton. K.C. Keeler has ties to Pennsylvania, coached at nearby Delaware for 11 years and managed to transition Sam Houston from the FCS into a nine-win team in just their second year in the FBS. He was 97-39 at Sam Houston, where he appeared in the 2020 FCS national championship. Grade: A | |
| | Jim McElwain (retired) | Jim McElwain opted to retire following his sixth season leading CMU. He is reportedly being investigated by the NCAA for his role in allowing Connor Stalions on the sidelines for a game in 2023. CMU appeared in two bowl games under McElwain, but his tenure ended with three straight losing seasons. | |
| | K.C. Keeler | K.C. Keeler left the program to lead Temple after successfully transitioning the Bearkats from the FCS to the FBS. He led Sam Houston to a 97-39 record in 11 seasons. Offensive coordinator Brad Cornelsen will serve as interim coach for the bowl game. | |
| | Don Brown | Don Brown was fired after starting his second stint leading UMass with a 6-28 record in less than three seasons. He was 43-19 with a national championship appearance at UMass when the program was in the FCS between 2004 and 2008. | |
| | Mike Neu | Mike Neu was fired following a 3-7 start to his ninth season leading the program. He had only one winning season in his tenure, which resulted in a MAC title in 2020, the school's first conference title since 1996. | |
| Jerry Mack (Jacksonville Jaguars running backs coach) | Brian Bohannon | Kennesaw State hired Jerry Mack, an NFL assistant coach, to replace Brian Bohannon, the only coach in the program's history. KSU joined Conference USA this fall and was 2-6 in its first season. Mack previously served as a running backs coach at Tennessee and was a head coach at FCS North Carolina Central, where he won three conference titles in four seasons. Grade: B- | |
| Zach Kittley (Texas Tech offensive coordinator) | Tom Herman | FAU went back to Texas oil well to hire its new coach, replacing former Texas coach Tom Herman with Texas Tech offensive coordinator Zach Kittley. Kittley is a young superstar on the rise after making a name for himself at Houston Baptist and Western Kentucky. Tech was in the top 10 in total offense, scoring offense, third-down conversions, red-zone conversions and first downs in 2024. As it stands, FAU should be the only FBS program to utilize the Air Raid offense in Florida, which could be selling point for recruiting. Grade: A |
Notable retentions, extensions
| Team | Coach | Status | Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Pittman | Retained | Sam Pittman will return for a sixth season after leading the Razorbacks to a 6-6 record in the regular season. The coach's future was in question as rumors of a possible retirement bubbled to the surface as he dealt with a hip injury. He is 29-31 overall and enters 2025 on the hot seat. | |
| Billy Napier | Retained | Billy Napier seemed doomed after suffering two blowouts at home to Miami and Texas A&M, but he rebounded to a seven-win season against arguably the toughest schedule in school history. He led the Gators to wins against nationally ranked LSU and Ole Miss, ending the season on a three-game winning streak, and has experienced a boost in recruiting as well. | |
| Dave Aranda | Retained | Dave Aranda rediscovered his mojo on the hot seat in Year 5, recording his best record since his sophomore season leading Baylor. The Bears ended the regular season on a six-game winning streak behind the Big 12's No. 2 offense (34.7 points per game) to finish 8-4. | |
| Rhett Lashlee | Extended | SMU secured Rhett Lashlee with a one-year extension through 2030. SMU recorded the most successful transition ever by a Group of Five team to a power conference and advances to the ACC Championship Game this week at 11-1 with a trip to the College Football Playoff in sight. | |
| GJ Kinne | Extended | GJ Kinne received a new seven-year deal to make him the highest-paid coach in the Sun Belt. He is set to lead Texas State to its second straight bowl game after he took the program to its first bowl game in history last season. |