Just when college football’s coaching carousel started to slow to a halt, Michigan fired coach Sherrone Moore with cause. Moore was let go Wednesday after the Wolverines found evidence of an “inappropriate relationship with a staff member."
Moore became the 12th coach in Power Four conferences to get dismissed this fall. Another one was shown the door in March.
Unprecedented parity, revenue-sharing and access to the expanded College Football Playoff have created a win-now approach for administrators.
Florida State’s Mike Norvell, Maryland’s Mike Locksley, Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell and Baylor’s Dave Aranda got hot-seat reprieves and will return in 2026.
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin’s decision to leave for LSU sped up the hiring cycle, with Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield, North Texas coach Eric Morris, South Florida coach Alex Golesh and Tulane coach Jon Sumrall getting called up from the Group of Five to lead Power Four programs.
Now, Michigan is searching for its third head coach in four years.
Here are the programs in the spotlight (in alphabetical order):
Arkansas
Fired: Sam Pittman, 63, on Sept. 28, 2025.
Record: 32-34 over six seasons, including 14-29 in the SEC.
Buyout: Nearly $9 million.
Interim: Offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino.
Noteworthy: Petrino guided the Razorbacks between 2008 and 2011, showing improvement every year. His tenure ended after a motorcycle crash led to the admission of an affair with a former Arkansas volleyball player.
Replacement: The Razorbacks hired Silverfield on Nov. 30.
Auburn
Fired: Hugh Freeze, 56, on Nov. 2, 2025.
Record: 15-19 over three seasons, including 6-16 in the SEC.
Buyout: $15.8 million.
Interim: Defensive coordinator DJ Durkin.
Noteworthy: The 56-year-old Freeze failed to fix Auburn’s offensive issues in his three years on the Plains. The Tigers scored 24 or fewer points in 17 of his 22 league games.
Replacement: The Tigers hired Golesh on Nov. 30 and kept Durkin as DC.
California
Fired: Justin Wilcox, 49, on Nov. 23, 2025.
Record: 48-55 over nine seasons, including 26-47 in conference play (21-37 in the Pac-12, 5-10 in the ACC).
Buyout: Roughly $10.9 million.
Interim: Former Hawaii and Washington State coach Nick Rolovich.
Noteworthy: Longtime NFL coach and first-year Cal general manager Ron Rivera made the move following a lopsided loss to Stanford that assured Wilcox of never having a winning record in conference play with the Bears.
Replacement: The Golden Bears hired Tosh Lupoi on Dec. 4, bringing back a former player and assistant who has been Oregon’s defensive coordinator for the past four seasons.
Florida
Fired: Billy Napier, 46, on Oct. 19, 2025.
Record: 22-23 over four seasons, including 12-16 in the SEC.
Buyout: About $21 million.
Interim: Receivers coach Billy Gonzales.
Noteworthy: Napier was almost always in the crosshairs, in part because he declined to give up play-calling duties as the Gators’ offense failed to make progress.
Replacement: The Gators hired Sumrall on Nov. 30.
Kentucky
Fired: Mark Stoops, 58, on Dec. 1, 2025.
Record: 82-80 over 13 seasons (with 10 wins vacated), including 25-68 in the SEC.
Buyout: Approximately $37.7 million, due within 60 days. But the sides were working to spread that out over time.
Interim: None.
Noteworthy: Stoops was the longest-tenured coach in the SEC.
Replacement: The Wildcats hired Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein hours after Stoops’ dismissal.
LSU
Fired: Brian Kelly, 64, on Oct. 26, 2025.
Record: 34-14 over four seasons, including 19-10 in the SEC.
Buyout: About $54 million, which the school agreed to pay after Kelly sued for the full amount.
Interim: Associate head coach/running backs coach Frank Wilson.
Noteworthy: Kelly’s buyout is the second largest in the history of college athletics. It was the first time Kelly had been fired in his coaching career.
Replacement: The Tigers hired Kiffin on Nov. 30.
Michigan
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Fired: Sherrone Morre, 39, on Dec. 10, 2025.
Record: 16-8 over two seasons, including 11-6 in the Big Ten.
Buyout: None because he was fired with cause.
Interim: Associate head coach Biff Poggi.
Noteworthy: College football’s winningest program is now seeking its third head coach in four years, following Jim Harbaugh's departure for the NFL's Los Angeles Chargers and Moore's sudden dismissal.
Replacement: TBD.
Michigan State
Fired: Jonathan Smith, 46, on Nov. 30, 2025.
Record: 9-15 over two seasons, including 4-14 in the Big Ten.
Buyout: More than $30 million.
Interim: Defensive Coordinator Joe Rossi.
Noteworthy: Smith was under fire from the moment Michigan State hired him late in 2023. He previously went 34-35 in six years at Oregon State.
Replacement: The Spartans hired former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald on Dec. 1.
Oklahoma State
Fired: Mike Gundy, 58, on Sept. 23, 2025.
Record: 170-90 over 21 seasons, including 102-72 in the Big 12.
Buyout: $15 million.
Interim: Offensive coordinator Doug Meacham.
Noteworthy: Gundy went viral in 2007 for shouting “Come after me! I’m a man! I’m 40!” while defending one of his players.
Replacement: The Cowboys hired Morris on Nov. 25.
Penn State
Fired: James Franklin, 53, on Oct. 12, 2025.
Record: 104-45 over 12 seasons, including 64-36 in the Big Ten.
Buyout: More than $49 million, although it was negotiated down to $9 million before he got another job (Virginia Tech).
Interim: Associate head coach Terry Smith.
Noteworthy: Franklin became the first coach since 1978 to lose consecutive games (UCLA, Northwestern) while being favored by 20 or more points.
Replacement: Penn State hired Iowa State's Matt Campbell on Dec. 5 after failing to land BYU’s Kalani Sitake.
Stanford
Fired: Troy Taylor, 56, on March 25, 2025.
Record: 6-18 over two seasons, including 4-13 in conference play (2-7 in the Pac-12, 2-6 in the ACC).
Buyout: Unknown.
Interim: Longtime NFL coach Frank Reich.
Noteworthy: General manager Andrew Luck fired Taylor in March following reports that the coach allegedly mistreated staffers and then asked Reich to fill in for a season.
Replacement: The Cardinal hired Tavita Pritchard on Nov. 28.
UCLA
Fired: DeShaun Foster, 45, on Sept. 14, 2025.
Record: 5-10 over two seasons, including 3-6 in the Big Ten.
Buyout: $6.43 million.
Interim: Special assistant Tim Skipper.
Noteworthy: Foster was fired three games into his second season, with athletic director Martin Jarmond acknowledging he made a mistake by giving the inexperienced Foster the job.
Replacement: The Bruins officially hired James Madison’s Bob Chesney on Dec. 6.
Virginia Tech
Fired: Brent Pry, 55, on Sept. 14, 2025.
Record: 16-24 over four seasons, including 10-13 in the ACC.
Buyout: About $6 million.
Interim: Offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery.
Noteworthy: Since Pry’s dismissal, the university voted to increase the athletics department budget by $229.2 million over the next four years. The bump for 2026 ups Tech’s athletic budget to $190.1 million, placing it among the top third in the ACC.
Replacement: The Hokies hired Franklin on Nov. 17.
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