The 2024 college football coaching carousel officially kicked off on Sunday with East Carolina University making headlines by parting ways with head coach Mike Houston. This move came after a disheartening 45-28 loss to Army, dropping the Pirates to a 3-4 record for the season. Houston’s overall tenure stands at 27-38, and while his firing was anticipated, the timing raised some eyebrows. It was one of the latest midseason firings in recent college football memory. For context, last year, Michigan State fired Mel Tucker on September 27 (albeit for off-the-field reasons), and in 2022, Nebraska let go of Scott Frost by September 12. The carousel seems to be spinning slower this year.
The delayed kickoff to this season’s coaching changes suggests that the market for FBS head coaches might be shifting. Today’s athletic directors aren’t just thinking about wins and losses when deciding whether to make a change. They now have to factor in new elements like the transfer portal, Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals, the upcoming 12-team College Football Playoff, and even revenue-sharing models. All of these factors complicate decisions, not to mention the increasingly hefty buyouts and the need to fund NIL deals to maintain competitive rosters. Coaching changes are no longer just about what happens on the field.
Let’s break down what’s happening across the conferences and take a look at who’s on the hot seat, who could survive, and who might coach their way off the chopping block.
ACC
The Atlantic Coast Conference has seen its fair share of turnover lately, with 10 of the league’s 17 schools hiring new head coaches since 2022. As a result, it’s not likely we’ll see many changes before the 2025 season. The one exception to keep an eye on is Mack Brown at North Carolina. Brown’s second stint in Chapel Hill has brought stability, but the program hasn’t quite hit the heights fans were hoping for. The Tar Heels are in the midst of a four-game losing streak, which includes a home blowout to a Sun Belt team and a collapse against rival Duke after holding a three-score lead.
At 73 years old, Brown’s future is becoming a topic of discussion. There’s no immediate pressure from UNC’s athletic director, Bubba Cunningham, but with his contract running through 2027, retirement might be on the horizon. If Brown doesn’t step down soon, there could be talks about a graceful exit in the next year or two.
Big 12
In the Big 12, Dave Aranda from Baylor is feeling the heat. Entering the 2024 season, Aranda had the most pressure of any power-conference coach to turn things around. While Baylor’s recent 59-35 win over Texas Tech provided a momentary reprieve, Aranda’s job security is still on shaky ground. The Bears are sitting at 3-4, and although they’ve had close calls (including a heartbreaking loss to Colorado on a Hail Mary), they’ll need to start piling up wins to secure Aranda’s position. Baylor is a private university, so the specifics of Aranda’s buyout aren’t public, but estimates put it north of $15 million—a hefty price tag the school has reportedly considered paying.
Other coaches worth watching in the Big 12 include Kyle Whittingham at Utah and Deion Sanders at Colorado. Whittingham, who turns 65 next month, already has a designated successor in defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley. The big question in Salt Lake City is when Whittingham will decide to step down. With retirement on the horizon, a formal handover is only a matter of time.
As for Sanders, he’s in a unique position. Coaching two of his sons—Shilo and Shedeur Sanders, both of whom are likely heading to the NFL draft—could make it easier for him to walk away from Colorado after this season. Plus, if he leaves, Sanders would owe the school around $10 million, another potential factor in his decision-making.
Big Ten
Things are heating up in the Big Ten, too. Purdue’s Ryan Walters is finding himself on the hot seat after a string of poor performances, including a shutout loss to Oregon at home. Walters, who is just 5-14 overall, could be staring down the barrel of a winless Big Ten season with several top-ranked teams left on the schedule. His buyout isn’t massive, so Purdue athletic director Mike Bobinski could be forced to make a move if things don’t improve. Walters’ future largely depends on how the team performs in the final stretch of the season.
Then there’s Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, the longest-tenured head coach in the country. While Ferentz isn’t necessarily on the hot seat, retirement is a looming possibility. He’s coming off his 200th win at Iowa, just five victories shy of tying Ohio State’s legendary Woody Hayes. While it doesn’t seem like Ferentz is ready to step away just yet, his departure could happen sooner rather than later.
Ohio State’s Ryan Day, on the other hand, is in a far more precarious position than you might think. Despite a 61-9 record and only four conference losses in six seasons, Day’s tenure could be at risk if Ohio State doesn’t deliver a national title or at least beat their arch-rival, Michigan. The Buckeyes’ boosters are growing restless, and with a new athletic director who paid $77 million to part ways with Jimbo Fisher at his last school, anything is possible if Ohio State falls short this year.
SEC
The Southeastern Conference is home to some of the hottest seats in college football. Florida’s Billy Napier and Arkansas’s Sam Pittman are both under intense scrutiny, but Napier might be feeling the pressure even more. With a 4-3 record this season, Napier has an incredibly tough schedule ahead, facing No. 2 Georgia, No. 5 Texas, and No. 8 LSU. If the Gators can’t pull off an upset or two, Napier’s tenure could be cut short.
The problem for Florida is twofold: First, Napier’s buyout is around $27 million, with half due within 30 days if he’s fired. Second, athletic director Scott Stricklin, who has already made two football hires, might not be around to make a third, especially with an interim school president overseeing the decision. The complexities of the situation make it unlikely that parting ways with Napier will be an easy process.
Arkansas’s Sam Pittman, meanwhile, is 27-28 after a loss to LSU. He’s got a few winnable games left on the schedule, but anything short of a strong finish could spell the end of his time in Fayetteville.
Another intriguing case in the SEC is Auburn’s Hugh Freeze. While he’s not necessarily on the hot seat yet, Freeze’s start has been underwhelming. His offense, which was supposed to be his strength, hasn’t lived up to expectations. Auburn boosters are notoriously impatient, and while Freeze has a strong recruiting class on the way, his future might hinge on how the Tigers finish the season.
Group of 6
Over in the Group of 6 conferences, four head coaching jobs are already open: Fresno State, Utah State, East Carolina, and Southern Miss. As the season progresses, we’re likely to see even more vacancies pop up. Athletic directors at this level face a shrinking pool of candidates, especially with top position coaches in the Big Ten and SEC making more money than they would as head coaches in the Group of 6. Throw in the fact that some head coaches are leaving to take coordinator roles at bigger programs or even heading to the NFL, and the coaching carousel could spin well into the new year.
Several coaches in this group are already on the hot seat, including Rice’s Mike Bloomgren, Temple’s Stan Drayton, Louisiana Tech’s Sonny Cumbie, and Ball State’s Mike Neu. Meanwhile, UAB’s Trent Dilfer, Charlotte’s Biff Poggi, and UMass’s Don Brown are finding the pressure mounting as well.
Login