Since the first official hire of this coaching cycle has been made and half the internet didn't work today I went ahead and put a brand new spreadsheet together for this year's carousel. Cheers to getting our guy and getting off this ride early.
Go Hokies!
| School | Outgoing Coach | Incoming Coach | Previous Job |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stanford | Troy Taylor | Tavita Pritchard | Commanders QB Coach |
| UCLA | DeShaun Foster | Bob Chesney | JMU |
| Virginia Tech | Brent Pry | James Franklin | Penn State |
| Oklahoma State | Mike Gundy | Eric Morris | North Texas |
| Arkansas | Sam Pittman | Ryan Silverfield | Memphis |
| UAB | Trent Dilfer | ||
| Oregon State | Trent Bray | JaMarcus Shephard | Alabama Co-OC |
| Penn State | James Franklin | ||
| Colorado State | Jay Norvell | Jim Mora | UCONN |
| Florida | Billy Napier | Jon Sumrall | Tulane |
| LSU | Brian Kelly | Lane Kiffin | Ole Miss |
| Auburn | Hugh Freeze | Alex Golesh | USF |
| Cal | Justin Wilcox | ||
| North Texas | Eric Morris | ||
| UCONN | Jim Mora | ||
| Memphis | Ryan Silverfield | ||
| USF | Alex Golesh | ||
| Tulane | Jon Sumrall | ||
| Ole Miss | Lane Kiffin | Pete Golding | Ole Miss DC |
| Coastal Carolina | Tim Beck | ||
| Michigan State | Jonathan Smith | Pat Fitzgerald | Litigation |
| Kentucky | Mark Stoops | Will Stein | Oregon OC |
| JMU | Bob Chesney |
Forums:
DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Comments
It's about to get messy out there.
Good luck everyone else!
Very likely that UCLA sticks with their interim coach. I'm also leaning toward PSU landing on Brian Kelly.
I feel like that's a good fit. Match made in hell. A real d-bag and Penn State. Hopefully he can also get fired again in 4 years
There's also other fits. He's from the Northeast and he coached for a long time in Ohio and Indiana so not too far away. He left for LSU because he felt ND had a ceiling due to their academic standards, PSU doesn't have those standards so he'd be attracted to that. PSU may also panic (rightfully so) and get cold feet about hiring someone unproven at the Power level (Chesney, Golesh) and decide to go the safe route with someone who has played in championship games before and had a lot of big games as a coach. There's a perception that Kelly has a higher ceiling than Franklin.
He might have a higher ceiling but he needs a scissor lift to get there
You know, I didn't think it was possible for me to hate PSU or Brian Kelly any more than I already do. If this happens, my hate for both will be off the fucking charts. But you know what, let it happen. They deserve each other. At least I could consolidate my hate.
Cus Brian Kelley had been winning SOOOOOO many big games
IDK-sounds like a great thing- an entire university collapsing on top of Brian Kelly? Takes care of TWO bad things...
Finally there would be justice for that kid that Brian Kelly killed
Seems like their fans want the interim coach.
The best part of this tracker is it's going to look like we lured J-Frank away from PSU.
This is a beautiful table
Just heard from a big Duke booster that Chesney is gone, pending final contract signing. Did not say where to though.
Do you mean Dukes not Duke?
yes, Dukes
Dukes Mayo sauces???
Let's be honest, somebody was hiring Chesney this year. The only question is who?
My personal ties to JMU, I want to see him stay and them be successful (at least relegated to 2nd place in the state assuming we play next year). I don't know if they can pull off another miracle hire.
edit: and please for the love of football no distractions before the regular season is done...I want to see either the American or the CFP committee embarrassed
On the tweeter, PSU fans seem to think DeBoer is gonna leave Bama for them. Truly delusional 😂
Bama about as delusional as PSU so not above them to have told Deboer to find a new gig
Yeah definitely in the realm of possibility
I mean, I get it. Who TF loses two games in a year?!?!
Penn State in flight tracker mode and speculation on Chesney with a 9pm flight headed from Harrisonburg to State College
It wouldn't be from Hburg since there's no airport in Harrisonburg. Small one in Bridgewater then the regional airport in Weyers Cave.
Aren't there 2 private airports In Hburg?
There's a helipad at the hospital but no airports
But wHy wOuLd sAbaN flY fRoM HaRRisOnbUrg???
I love seeing PSU slide down the totem pole. Chesney may turn out to be great, but hopefully not there.
They were totally convinced they were big doggin Alabama for DeBoer not even 12 hours ago.
Have to admit, Carousel Tracker hits differently when we already secured the top available candidate
I particularly enjoy seeing the Virginia Tech spot filled, and the rest of it empty.
That's huge.
Not only that but we did it at a time where the early signing day is advantageous to our new coach rather than being completely and utterly screwed by it.
Shows we learned a big lesson from the Fuente to Pry transition, and a lesson we will quickly see everyone else learn in the coming years.
Also, our coach kind of fell into our lap (through the hard work of a lot of people). Had Penn State not fired Franklin for boneheaded reasons, we'd still be in the same boat as everyone else.
We were prepared and pounced on the opportunity, but the opportunity existing at all benefitted us a lot
Like they say, luck is when preparation meets opportunity.
I feel like VT really did their jobs this time. They took the job very seriously, were organized in their approach, and it paid off.
Now that I think about it....
Wonder if Tony Elliott would be on the radar for a place like Arkansas or Oklahoma State. Guy has UVa playing the best they've been in 2 decades, seems like a great cashing out point for him right before shit gets real tough locally with Franklin coming in.
They really pumped in the cash this year, and they're seeing the success.
I don't expect him to go anywhere this year.
Again, it's about to become very difficult with VT pumping in what we are wth the coach we just hired. For Elliott, this might be a great opportunity to sell high there and continue an upward trajectory elsewhere
I see what you're saying, but I don't expect Eliott to have that much sense.
Nah, loluva bought a team and they've had the easiest schedule of P4 and needed a lot of luck to be where they are. Elliot sucks as a head whistle (great for us) as the past 3 years have proven. The run of good luck and fortunate bounces has probably bought him at least another 2 years in boohooville. Any AD with a semi pulse can see Elliot has no clue what is going on.
Everything you've listed is why its a really good idea for him to cash in now when his stock is as high as it will be rather than deal with Franklin kicking his ass in state starting in a couple weeks when we hit Early Signing Day 1
Oh no doubt, but we want him to stay so he can crumble the brick and mortar
I completely agree with all of this, but I also can see a situation where a team is desperate to find someone in this upcoming coaching carousel
Don't forget they bought an all senior team.
So if he's smart, and I'm not saying he is, he might want to jump ship now when it looks like he's got it all figured out.
The smart thing to do is to win his next game vs VT (unfortunately)... get a huge contract extension due to "UVA beats VT after James Franklin hire" (vibes I presume they will put out), and let them think they're contenders for a brief moment.
Then get completely and utterly skull F'd for the next 5, 6, 7 years.
Or we beat them and they don't extend him and we see how it plays out.
Win or lose, i think they try to extend him anyway. They think he's the next messiah.
I don't think it's happening.
As stated, he's proven nothing. Hasn't recruited particularly well. They bought a team this year and have had success with one of the weakest schedules in all of college football. And with that, they've gotten incredibly lucky against some really bad teams. Not sure he's on anyone's radar.
Additionally, I'd love for TE to just enough success to stay in C'ville. I don't want LOLUVA trying to get a good coach.
I don't think UVa knows what a good coach looks like, and I certainly don't think they are ready to have the athletic department adjust to the year over year funding that a good football program would need.
They have Bronco's forwarding address I'm sure. They can send him a Christmas card saying they're now ready to spend big boy dollars and hope he can see it in his great to come back.
Thought this was interesting on Arkansas
This person seems like they knew how the VT hire went down, but now it just seems like they're pandering lol.
I mean J Pearson (head of our search committee, the the guy widely regarded as most influential in bringing Franklin in) backed up the comments....
I am guessing Sekrah is either family or a close family friend of Franklin. He/she knows a lot about this process, more than someone who didn't have direct knowledge would.
I saw this on the other thread after I commented. To be clear, I don't think they are pandering to VT fans(I'm not sure why they would). I think it just feels like it to me, because I'm not used to this much positive press about our athletic department.
Edit: Drinking
I think it's more likely that they are either:
I agree. If one of my close family members was tweeting out some of the stuff Sekrah is, I'd be pretty pissed.
Telling everyone i was going to VT the whole time, that I hadn't signed the deal yet so I could tamper, and then shitting on other schools who interviewed me. That's all stuff I would personally prefer to keep in house and if a family member was putting on the internet, I would tell them to STFU very fast
💯💯💯
I've been doing the whole CharlieDayConspiracy.gif trying to figure out who Sekrah is.
Appears that they predated Franklin at Penn State - there are 247 message board topics discussing Sekrah's sources (and identity) as far back as 2011/12. According to Sekrah, they broke the news on the BOB hire. That would rule out family member (or JF himself, or his agent) but wouldn't surprise me if they became part of Franklin's inner circle between then and now.
Anyone know how to search for former PSU employees with the last name "Harkes"?
I saw some things that hinted he was a staffer at PSU and grew up in the area. Definitely was an insider before Franklin which was widely accepted by PSU twitter/message boards. They hate him now lol.
Embed not working. His name is Richard Jeffries, apparently he's a doctor in central PA https://x.com/sekrah/status/1994095123009785882?s=20
I know absolutely nothing about this guy but he does seem to know things. Franklin said we were the most prepared and well organized by far. (Shocking for us) I think there is truth to this.
This is for sure just Franklins burner account
I think PSU should hire a HC name sam, for expiramental purposes. I want to know if the curse od Sam is true (they have had only 2 coaches with losing records, both named Sam)
Confirmed Sam Siefkes next head whistle at PSU
Looks like Penn State's coaching search is going swimmingly
I'm honestly wondering if their AD is going to be canned for what will go down as one of the most head scratcher HC dismissals ever.
Crazy thing is how the "media" essentially turned the narrative into "you have to fire him"
Why hasnt any one learned that if you fire a successful coach you better fire them with a plan
Did i just have a stroke?
Sorry, fixed
He's gonna be Nico Harrison 2.0.
The only logic I can see is he thought his buddy Rhule would jump for the job. Then he found out maybe they weren't really as friendly as he thought.
Now he's flailing.
I think you nailed this. I believe Kraft gambled (what he thought was a safe, if not sure, bet) that the worst he would end up with was Rhule. He lost that gamble and then other jobs started opening and all of a sudden he is now squarely behind the 8 ball.
Have seen some that think PSU may still go after Rhule even above what Nebraska raised him to. I think alot of those people looked at the fact that Raiola's little brother just decommitted from Nebraska as an indicator they knew a change was coming.
Agree.
Think they are ready to overpay.
But Rhule has been thoroughly mediocre there...he's not an upgrade in any way from Franklin.
Ah yes let's fire a coach who isn't good against top 10 teams for a coach that isnt good against top 25 teams.
I imagine Kraft may have to pony up the money to keep his job. He has to hire a coach that the fanbase believes is "worthy" of coaching at PSU. He won't get fired for overpaying, but may certainly feel heat if he hires what the delusional faithful deems is not up to their standards.
I'm a Commanders fan and when i seen this my exact words was "who?"
Their fan base in full meltdown mode
Like with musical chairs, the coaching carousel is a lot more fun once you've safely secured your spot.
It is fun to watch this time.
Yeah as a Hokie that carousel went from being a nail biter to now being quality entertainment.
I'm not sure Fran Brown is getting hired by anyone now. Good Lord
Norvell officially retained confirming that FSU is indeed broke.
Another ACC job opens. Cal fired Wilcox
Kind of shock they fired Wilcox. I know he hasn't done great there, but is probably the most disinterested p4 school out there. I'm not sure if they're going to get who could be better.
The Stanford game was bad, but they beat my expectations for the season. Definitely a head scratcher with the way the carousel is this year.
Wouldn't be mad if Franklin sees if Cal's QB, JKS, is interested in transferring to Tech.
At the very least he'll be another QB for other teams to go after.
Would also not be mad about Wilcox as DC
Looks like Penn State is interviewing their interim. No idea if it is pro forma or if they are there after being told no by a bunch of people but I am really glad we are out of the mud already.
Everyone they've approached has leveraged it to an extension where they currently are.
They're rapidly approaching 'Hiring Brent Pry to try and save face with boosters' territory
I think it's less about how much they've been turned down, and more about (1) who turned them down and (2) the interim gaining the support a lot of current and former players, as well as JoePa truthers.
My PSU friends are all in on Brian Hartline. If they can't get Cig, they want someone in the Dan Lanning mold - young, aggressive, proven recruiter at a blueblood. They are very anti-Matt Rhule, and still open to Fran Brown. I personally believe Fran Brown would be a great hire, but I think that would be a really tough sell given his record this season.
The interesting thing about the current player bit is I expect a bunch of current players (at any school, not just Penn State) will talk up their coach quite a lot and still hit the portal if they see greener grass next door. It is great to have enthusiasm from from the players and former players, but that doesn't necessarily translate into a good strategic move.
We have had the same talk among VT fans about hiring people connected to the program (see the Shane Beamer hype among others)
I don't think there is any way you can hire Fran Brown at this point if you are PSU (or any high-level P4 for that matter).
Between the dismal losses this year and the "sideline tough guy" routine at Miami, its starting to look a lot like 2024 Syracuse was much more about hitting the Portal Lotto with Kyle McCord than any great coaching acumen.
Internet chatter has PSU reaching out to DeBoer and maybe even trying to enter the Kiffin sweepstakes. If this is true, they are really starting to get panicked IMHO.
Kiffin is the lynchpin to most of this, the dominos start to fall after he makes his decision. The folks in Gainesville seem to be slowly acknowledging that he's seeming much less likely to come to UF.
I agree. I get that it's tough to have multiple servicable QBs at a place like Syracuse, but also this season has really nose dived (nose dove?)
I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing... Those would be two amazing hires, though I'm not sure how likely either is.
They were doing well with Angelli at QB, but when he got hurt things spiraled. That doesn't help explain how Notre Dame just treated them like they were a bad FCS team though
Yea, but the mismanagement since QB1 went down has been bad. He benched the new starter, and put it someone who hasn't played QB since high school. I think the goal was to motivate the new starter/rest of the team, but it failed miraculously and he might have lost the locker room in the process.
All in all, quite the blunder.
My understanding is that UF basically offered Kiffin a 1 million dollar a year raise over what he was already getting at Ole Miss. I understand turning that down. He has kids in school, a house, and a state where they are starting to revere him as a god versus moving.
I mean at some point, what's a million more? It's not life changing money for him.
In my opinion which is worth nothing, I wouldn't leave Ole Miss. As long as he keeps on as he is and maybe sneeks in the playoffs every couple of years they will keep him there as long as he likes. I don't think Ole Miss believes they should be absolutely dominating the SEC every year. but I dont know their fan base so could be wrong.
The APPEAR to be a more reasonable fan base. But again, I know nothing about them.
I agree. IMO you don't leave a statue job.
That was kind of my point. Ole Miss is very happy with their current ranking, performance, etc while paying Kiffin a good deal of money. They aren't breathing down his neck of why aren't you winning the NCG let alone the SEC every single year.
Wouldn't surprise me if Kiffin and Ole Miss have already agreed to an extension, but are delaying the announcement to fuck with UF and LSU. Those other schools will have lost weeks of time getting a coach in place.
Master class!
This would be epic.
zero chance. Ole Miss would much rather lock him in brag about getting their guy.
Oh that would be a brilliant move. Ole Miss doing whatever they can to actively harm UF and LSU should pay dividends for them in the long run, even if that means delaying the "I'm not fuckin leaving!" message a couple weeks.
There was an article recently (or a tweet) about how much more advanced Ole Miss NIL and player payment operation is than UF or LSU or most of the rest of the SEC. That was built around Kiffin, not by him. He should stay for that, he'd have to replicate that himself at a new stop. But Ole Miss admin believes they don't need Kiffin to keep that operation going.
It was a WaPo article.
https://www.thekeyplay.com/comment/1333961#comment-1333961
My brother-in-law is a fairly well connected UF donor, & he said the offer was 150M/10 yr. No clue if that's accurate, but BIL is close enough to know.
The fans are trying to rationalize it lmao
He has pandered hard to the fanbase and after wins over MSU and Neb programs that are both moribund, they've gotten over-excited.
I doubt they hire him for H.C. but it's a display of how quickly and how fickle fanbases can be.
Alex Kirshner had a pretty critical take about how Terry Smith has built support by appealing to the make-PSU-JoPa-again crowd.
Yeah, it's fun thinking about picking PSU apart since they've been doing that to us for years, but after this weekend seeing the way he's going about it, no thanks. Smith can stay out of bburg.
The funny part is they think he is going to keep the roster together.
VT looks better now than it did under Pry, but that doesn't mean I was banging the door to have the interim label removed from Monty.
Terry Smith is only in consideration because literally everyone they approached used them to get a better contract where they were. And a large part of that is because actual good coaches want nothing at all to do with that insane asylum of an administration and fanbase that just ran James Franklin out of town after getting into the playoffs earlier this year. That program is in full Tennessee purgatory, with expectations too high for any coach to reasonably attain, and the entire coaching world knows it.
Also, lets take a second and appreciate just how quickly the Penn St admin and fans jumped right back onto the JoePa Did Nothing Wrong train the second that Franklin was gone, down to Smith directly pandering to it with his JoePa pin over the weekend.
That school deserved the death penalty, they learned absolutely nothing and if the same situation presented itself again, they'd do the exact same thing all over again. At least under Franklin, he got that noise to die down a little bit while he was there.
the comments from the ped st crowd in that thread are absolutely unbelievable. once again, i hope he is hired because they deserve each other and it will be run watching things collapse. if not, I dont want this scumbag anywhere near bburg
With Norvell staying at FSU for 2 years? That makes him really lame duck. They can't afford a new coach. They are going to have a tough time recruiting. Good for us.
And after they sued everyone and threw a tantrum and everything.
The timing.....
fsu/clempsom hamstring the ACC with lawsuits forcing them to re-do the distribution based on TV ratings.
Meanwhile, they both start a downward slide while VT (seemingly) pulls a boss move like never before and hires a made for TV coach at a relative discount with psu subsidizing the difference and supplying VT with (potentially) recruits, players and coaches....
Why are they going to have a hard time recruiting? If Norvell gets fired the players can just follow him to his next stop.
I think he means FSU is going to have a tough time recruiting with Norvell, who is essentially a lame duck coach
Why does Norvell being a lame duck impact recruiting?
In the past, no one wanted to play for a lame duck coach because it meant they'd be stuck with the next guy, who they may not like. But in the transfer portal era, that's way less of an issue.
I also think Norvell is less of a lame duck than others do, but that's just an opinion.
I see your point now. I guess you're right, it's probably less of an issue due to this, but I think there are some players that value stability and the ability to play for a championship, which is possible at FSU, but they just haven't shown that it the last couple of years.
They are such a weird team and the ACC is so mediocre that I could totally see them recovering next year, but it just feels like they're really dysfunctional and I don't see how Norvell rights the ship.
Everyone knows they want to get rid of Norvell but cannot afford it. How much effort are they going to put into NIL, Trying to make the playoff, etc?
Get a good qb in the portal and they have 8 wins. Develop a few high schools, a couple more guys, and you have more.
It's also interesting if you look at Mike Norvell's trajectory... 3 wins, 5, 10, 13, 2... they're at 5 so far this season. Not hard to imagine him getting 10 next year and 11+ the next.
Or He could also crash and burn lol
There have to be some players/recruits who are committing to the whole package and not solely the head coach. I could see some top players being like "yes I want to play for coach norvell at FSU where they have a huge passionate fanbase, warm weather, top notch facilities, etc." They have to be okay with the coach but there could be other selling points. If he gets fired and has to take a lesser tier job, it's possible some players are like "I like coach norvell but i was sold on playing for him at FSU, not playing for him at Wake Forest"
And prospective recruits could think similarly, like "yeah i like coach norvell and FSU, but i don't want to commit to blindly following him to the next stop once he gets fired since I have no idea where that will be"
Norvell doesn't recruit high school and considering that he needs a quick 1 year turnaround, they'll dip even more heavily into the portal than they already do, which is basically all their team is. Their lack of success is due to what Franklin mentioned at his press conference, they have to completely turn over the team every year. There's nothing being built there.
His lame duck status will likely impact HS recruits choosing FSU, just like it did for the 2026 class under Pry. But that impact will be minimized by the fact that Norvell not even trying because he's doubling down on the portal, the thing that got him into this mess in the first place.
Norvell has had a Top 25 in high school recruiting in every year so far.
2026: Currently 14th
2025: 19th
2024: 7th
2023: 20th
2022: 20th
2021: 23rd
2020: 22nd
That said, he has done significantly better in the portal most seasons
2026: N/A
2025: 6th
2024: 7th
2023: 6th
2022: 10th
2021: 3rd
2020: 4th
Really no excuse for how poorly they have done.
It's kinda a misnomer... The FSU 2024 class had 23 kids (15 4-stars), their 2025 class had 23 kids (6 4-stars), and the 2026 class has 28 commits with 8 4-stars.
The 21-23 classes all had 18 or less high schoolers.
From my perspective, their 2024 season was the lost season where they lost so much talent, hadn't yet developed high school talent, and missed in the portal. Since then, Norvell has been pivoting to a more high school focus. It's not hard to imagine FSU winning 8-10 games next year, and 10+ games the following year.
I say all that to suggest: It might actually be a good thing for FSU that they don't have the money to fire Norvell. Because Norvell could turn this around again.
At least no one will be stupid enough to hire Art Briles....oh wait:
There is always someone stupid enough.
Always.
It's not just stupid enough, but also completely amoral!
It's so dumb. His scheme isn't even that unique anymore - there's dozens of coaches who run it, and even more at the D2 level.
Saw this and thought...wow that's pretty brain dead for the negative press you are going to get
Seeing a bunch of new articles pointing at Clark Lea now being the top candidate for PSU. Hope Vanderbilt shuts the door on them but comical the full circle that would be.
Lea is about to get the PSU rumor contract extension.
The real question would be where does Jerry Kill end up.
I would laugh hysterically if they got Lea, but Kill and the OC that brought Pavia with him stayed at Vandy.
Pavia will probably stay at Vandy too for his 18th season
How else will he get tenure?
I see you are channeling the spirit of DC. Well played sir.
DC was well within his right to complain about people playing ball for 7 years.
...or 9 last year with the Miami Tight End.
Haven't seen DC comment in a while. Did we run him off?
He ran himself off due to continued behavior, as adjusted by the mods and Joe.
He was banned.
The Brian Kelly - LSU saga continues.
Kelly has asserted that by LSU not formally firing him without cause has damaged his ability to find another job.
The board at LSU just voted Friday to empower the school president to formally fire Kelly but it apparently still hasn't happened and no disclosure on if for cause or not.
Hopefully the drama hurts both.
This is so insane. You don't get to fire the guy and then call psych and pretend he just wasn't showing up to work.
How shitty do you have to be to make Brian Kelly sympathetic?
Especially when they did the whole announcement for change in leadership, so I feel like that might work against their case if they try to say "we told him to come in"
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy or institution
I mean with all this who would want to take that job? Just jump in for the payday and ride it out for a few years and take the payday when they fire you I guess but my goodness.
that place just seems like a mess.
Its fascinating watching the LSU mess for a completely different reason than its been fascinating watching the PSU mess. LSU is the administration being so stupidly incompetent they couldn't even fire a guy in a clear legal way and have now managed to entangle themselves into a legal battle that will likely cost them even more money in the long run due to legal fees.
And if your administration is that levels of incompetent, why would any good coach want to come work for you?
I never thought I would ever see the day where we come away from this coaching carousel thinking we would look like absolute rockstar standouts in administrative focus and efficiency, and yet....
Don't forget the whole governor being involved in the whole saga because he decided he should be. That thing is one of the bigger clusters I've seen in a long time. Maybe back to the Tennessee debacle when they hired the guy, but then said "just kidding" based on the outrage, maybe Schiano.
Seeing indicators that Sumrall is Auburns top choice. See if they can get that done
Similar to above: how insane is LSU right now that Auburn looks like a stable choice?
Maybe this is just an optimistic P2 hater view but I feel like this cycle has at least somewhat shown that the SEC/B1G isn't as hot shit as they think they are.
They're sweating under the pressure of the situation they've created. By billing themselves as the definitive college football conferences to ESPN, they now have to live up to the hype for their media rights renewals in 2028. Anything short of dominance weakens their position, and now they're grasping at straws to keep up the persona they've created.
These division-less super conferences are also eating themselves. It's a terrible system in so many different ways.
I love it when their buyouts are starting to exceed their bloated SEC/ESPN contract.
I've seen similar things, Josh Pate said Auburn has actually been a "well oiled machine" throughout the coaching search but then also said DJ Durkin was another top candidate for them, if DJ Durkin is a top candidate for you then you are still an absolute dumpster fire and have learned literally nothing.
You mean the guy that failed to train his staff ptlroperly that resulted in the death of a player, that guy? And you want him coaching in the southern heat?
I've heard (from multiple sourced media members/podcasts) that Sumrall to Auburn is basically a done deal unless Lane leaves Ole Miss, in which case Auburn has no back up.
The Las Vegas Raiders hired and fired Chip Kelly OC in 2025. His NFL HC career W-L was only .438,
but he achieved .664 in college, with HC stints at Oregon (09-12, CFP Championship game '11) and UCLA(18-23), plus Oregon OC (07-08) and OC/QB for Ohio State in 2024 (CFP Champions) with NFL jobs in between.
He would need to show he has a real plan for handling the new portal, pay players and constantly need to recruit current, HS and Portal before I would hand him the keys to a big time program again. I could see a lower P4 or G6 program taking a flyer though
Doubt he wants to be HC again. But could be an option for us at OC!
What are you talking about needs a plan to pay players, he was doing that at Oregon 15 years ago..
Per Thamel, UNT Eric Morris to Okie State
Will feel bad for UNT if they get left out of CFP with a 13-1 record. Have two games to win to get there. Right now they are the 6th ranked conference leader and only 5 get guaranteed bids to CFP
Right now conferences ahead of them are Big 10, SEC, Big 12, ACC and Sun Belt. Funny part is JMU isn't the Sun Belt highest ranked team at 10-1. Its Tulane at 9-2.
Tulane is in the american
This is a great hire for Ok. St. in my opinion. He will have that offense humming in the Big 12.
wonder if Fuente would be interested in North Texas...i would like to see him coach again
I'd definitely be curious to see how he'd do without cornelsen
I am silently laughing as I reread this chart daily with only 1 incoming coach listed.
schadenfreude
This will change significantly next week.
It is kind of nice to be able to sit back and watch the chaos and dominos fall. Morris leaving UNT starts the G5/FCS waterfall effect
Kind of nice? It's freaking phenomenal
Shane Beamer staying at South Cackalack. Someone stating that Drinkwitz is finalizing his deal to re-up with Mizzou. A couple more names off the board.
Maybe the college football world just wants to see the Hokies cook again...
Mora leaving UConn for CSU. Kind of surprising considering he brought UConn back to 9 win seasons and CSU has been not good
Maybe he likes the rebuild.
I would rather be well paid living in gorgeous Fort Collins CO than well paid living in Storrs CT
Colorado state is the G5 equivalent of UNC (sleeping giant that has never ever woken up)
Obligatory F&#K the Tarholes
Takes away the headache of generating a majority of his schedule being in a conference. Would have thought UConn would have done more and had the money to keep him.
Randy Edsall 3.0?
Translation - Chesney is not coming to PSU, so I have to appear that I never thought he was good enough
I find it very hard to believe that Chesney turned down PSU.
I don't find it that hard to believe....I mean, you saw what they just did to James Franklin, right? And they've been all in on the JoPa stuff recently. And their fans are absolutely unrealistic about their station in CFB. I don't think it's terribly unreasonable for a guy like Chesney to say thanks but no thanks to that.
I don't think PSU fans' expectations are that unrealistic... they're easily a top 15 best resourced team in America, and from what I've gathered, Pat Kraft has the donor base pretty well organized. They have the 10th best team composite ranking this year. Their roster had talent everywhere, and experience in all the right places.
I don't think it's recently... I think it's been that way, and the interim is just giving those folks a platform in hopes of landing a job.
I also think coaching candidates don't care about it. These guys are all psychopaths; I promise you Bob Chesney sees that and thinks to himself, "James Franklin was able to get those people in line, there's no reason I can't either."
If your goal is to win a national championship, you don't think this way. Coaches want expectations to match funding/support. Penn State has that. Their funding matches their expectations (frequent/routine playoff appearances with a deep run every couple of appearances).
I could see it if he has another offer, especially taking into account what VPIhokieME mentioned. I could also see PSU fans thinking he's beneath them, but that doesn't explain this guy's reversal.
If you want to coach big time college football, nut job fans are part of that package. PSU is at the higher end of that spectrum, but that's in part because it's one of the better jobs.
The other school he's been linked to is UCLA, which to me seems way more difficult. Yes, Franklin may (I hope) raid the PSU roster on his way out, but they have the infrastructure that's been very good/consistent in modern CFB. It's not going to be easy to replicate what Franklin did, but there's a pretty good proof point you can do it.
When was the last time UCLA was good? And now they're part of a stronger B1G. That seems like a full on project.
Crazy fans are unavoidable, but it's easy to avoid JoePa truthers if you don't take the PSU job.
It'll be interesting to see how that infrastructure holds up without Franklin. The money and institutional support are there, but if enough of Franklin's guys move on, there's a possibility it won't be as plug and play as they think.
All things considered, PSU is more desirable than UCLA outside of the weather/location. I honestly don't know what jobs Chesney has been rumored to be tied to, I just assumed if PSU was an option he probably had 1-2 other good options.
Yeah it seems like his name hasn't been thrown around for any of the other jobs (but I'm just a jabroney on X so what do I know).
Based on, his resume alone he probably wouldn't be on PSU's list but I think him being from PA with experience in the Northeast makes him more appealing there than other places.
I completely agree with this
Sure - If Chesney has the UF job (I haven't seen this rumored, just speaking hypothetically), it's perfectly logical/reasonable that he'd prefer that over Penn State. But if Bob Chesney lands the UCLA job, for example, he didn't turn down Penn State. Penn State turned him down.
I dont think he turned PSU down to remain at JMU. I think it likely he has already committed himself elsewhere
If Chesney doesn't land at PSU, it's because (a) PSU didn't want him or (b) he landed at a program of the same level (SEC/not-yet-open blueblood-adjacent team).
Coaching D2 and FCS is a grind. And look at how much he's climbed. He's a sicko, and he's trying to climb to the top of the mountain. He's not ditching PSU for UCLA or Cal or Okie State - if he lands at one of those programs, it's because PSU didn't choose him.
Absolutely. Let's not kid ourselves into thinking PSU isn't a good job. Especially from the perspective of a G5 coach.
Exactly – I get that the loonies and most corrupt Penn State fans have a platform right now. But it's wild to pretend that Penn State's not a top 15 job.
Apparently "more research" consists of realizing he's the coach for JMU!?! LOL
I think the PSU fans are freaking out after seeing all of their commits following Franklin and realizing they need a big name to have any hope of retaining recruits. Good luck with that.
This comment from him is laughable, especially after how successful Cignetti was in "bringing a bunch of JMU players"
Its not like JMU is 7-5 right now. They are 10-1.
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha
Either that of Chesney has already been lined up by Ole Miss and didn't want to keep PSU hanging.
Not sure on the reliability, but seems like better than a random account
Seems like an odd match but I guess its a little closer to his stomping grounds of Ohio/Illinois. Hope he built in a huge golden parachute to cover career suicide
Yeah... This one seems odd to me.
This seems to have legs. Don't think it's a bad hire for the Pigs.
Brian Kelly officially fired without cause
That means he gets his full check?
He has similar offset as Franklin I believe. He may regret not taking their $30M buyout because LSU strikes me as being very petty so if he doesn't try to get another head coaching gig, I think they will go after him. Media job is possible but he has never struck me as a guy that could do what Saban is doing. Probably should have taken the $30M and been free of thrm.
I can't imagine BK as a media guy. Who is tuning in for that?
Couldn't he be like a video guy for some team? And video like their practices or something? You know, like up on a scissor lift or something?
I'll hire him to do my Christmas decorations this year.
Isn't his whole thing now that the way they handled it ruined his chances at a coaching gig? So he can argue they screwed all of it up to the point he's trying "his best" but no one will hire him? And still somehow get it all? Hate that guy but this LSU stuff is comedy. Like some others have said it's crazy how amazing VT's dept looks coming out of this coaching search
He is claiming that but not sure it holds much water now. He is free to pursue a job now with 12 jobs open (although 3 seemed to have closed this week) and many more to likely open in the next couple weeks.
Clearly not going back to LSU but that leaves Florida, Auburn (maybe), Penn State and UCLA open in the P2. Cal and Stanford are open at the P4 level. Oregon State, North Texas, UConn and USF are open at the G6/Independent level.
Other jobs in the rumor mill to come open are Kentucky (firing), Vanderbilt (if Lea gets poached), JMU (Chesney poached), UNLV (Mullen poached), Maryland (firing), Colorado (firing/retiring), UNC (If they can find a way), Boston College (if they can afford it or care enough), Wyoming, VMI, Samford, UMass, Missouri Valley, Southern, Alabama A&M, Charlotte, UAB, Tulsa, Sam Houston, UTEP, and Middle Tennessee. Thats twenty one other potential jobs with three at P2 and three more at P4.
Missouri this evening approved an extension for Drinkwitz to keep him out of the Carousel but he has not signed it yet. It would vault Missouri to 4th in SEC in assistant coaching pool. Haven't seen the annual number for Drinkwitz but he was already making $9M per year.
Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin obviously are the major domino in this market so that job could open but it washes another P2 job out and same with Vanderbilt.
I don't know if Kelly could take the ego hit to coach below P2 and definitely not below a P4 job. The easy path to secure most of that LSU money would be to take one of the jobs from VMI down but he isn't built that way. Thats why I think he should have taken the $30M and then gotten one of the P4 jobs at a slightly reduced rate but more than enough to offset the $26M he gives up. If he got $7M a year over 6 years that would pay him $35M over the period LSU would have paid him the $26M he gave up. Puts him $9M in the positive over that span and if he does well he could easily be a P2 candidate after a couple seasons signing a deal over $12M a season.
Brian Kelly ending up somewhere like UMASS would be hilarious
He'd have to work on his new england accent
I want to say he's actually a Masshole, so just returning to his roots
Yep born and raised in Everett, Massachusetts
A friend pointed out to me today that Kelly's $54M buyout is 8.4% of LSU's reported university endowment. 🤯
LSU is now paying three head coaches. Ed O, Brian Kelly and Lane Kiffin
I think that's standard operating procedure at Auburn
Marshall Falk hired as the head coach at Southern University. I loved watching him in the NFL. Hope he succeeds.
Drinkwitz extension was approved tonight with Missouri but he has not signed it yet
Presser released, so sounds like it's a done deal. 6 yrs, 10.7 per I think it was
Clark Lea just signed a new deal to stay at Vandy. Thank God we locked up Franklin early. Some coaches about to get overpaid in a bidding war.
Need someone to calculate how many millions PSU firing Franklin has cost other schools to prevent PSU poaching their coach.
Penn St, LSU, Auburn, and FL for now and none of them have announced their guy yet. Franklin must be loving the uncertainty out there on the recruiting trail The millions in buyouts and extensions must be eye watering.
Yeah but we have seen Indiana, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, and Nebraska at a minimum extend their coaches. That probably added $55-$65M across just those jobs. Kiffin if he stays will likely get a bump. Going to be interesting to see how many others.
Had a thought on Chesney too...does he have an easier path to the playoffs at JMU than he would if Penn State hired him?
Kiffin's getting a bump whether it's at Ole Miss or at LSU. Sounds like Florida is starting on their next plan
Chesney is not passing on PSU to stay at JMU. Let's be adults here.
I wasnt speculating that he was but I also don't see Penn State with him passing Ohio State, Michigan, or Oregon in the Big 10 pecking order as things stand. Just thought it was funny that being the top G6 team gives them an easier conceivable path than Penn State. We have said the same for Franklin being in the ACC.
I don't think JMU is a better path every year. They'll get their roster raided pretty regularly which won't happen at PSU
Except this year
oh I feel like it may happen more years than once. I can see Franklin going after PSU off the field the way Fu went after UNC on the field
Any G6 team's path is rough. You basically have to have a perfect season and then you're still competing against several other conference champions. Sure at PSU you have to get past Michigan and anOSU, but there's a path even with a loss to both teams and you're almost guaranteed if you split them and take care of business on the rest of the schedule.
Eh, PSU can be the third best B10 team every 3 years. Also, they don't even need to be the third best team; they need to have the third best record. And in a divisionless Big Ten that is more possible for them than it ever has been before.
Edit: I'll also add, it Chesney is way more of a ball coach than Franklin. It would be really interesting to see if - given the current investment/infrastructure of the PSU program - the right ball coach could come in and have better results.
Their current investment is subpar for Championship aspirations though compared to the other top teams. Even Indiana has committed to spending more than PSU right now.
The list is already updated, but Oregon State officially announces JaMarcus Shephard as new head whistle
Currently the Commies QB coach. Leaving after the game v Denver to start his ACC HC gig
This is what happens when you have a GM hiring a coach instead of coach hiring a GM.
Especially when your GM is in his 30s and his contacts are mostly limited to who he knows from Stanford and 1 NFL team.
EDIT: to be clear, I'm also in my 30s. But he doesn't exactly have a lot of experience to know how admin operates or have the time to have built a ton of relationships in the industry
Flip side, his Dad's rolodex in college football is loaded so he has contacts available if he asked. No idea if he did but if he didnt that's a bigger red flag than this hire.
I think you drastically overestimate how small Andrew Luck's circle is. He's extremely well connected through his father. He's also pretty well connected in the NFL. The dude is universally respected on and off the field.
There's 2 problems with the Stanford job:
Thamel reporting Kiffin will go to LSU if Ole Miss out of SEC Championship
So Kiffin to LSU then. Seems like a silly thing to base it on and not the whole body of work/life/money.
Make up your mind already. I would assume based on the tea leaves that he's gone, but like the pick me thing should be reserved for the early 20 somethings, not a 50 year old man
So he's trying to pull the same crap he did @ Bama after taking the FAU job?
Ole Miss is gonna have to grow a pair and essentially just fire him like Saban did.
Otherwise, they are just gonna get strung along and picked apart.
It's still so funny to me that Saban was on gameday stumping for him to coach through the playoffs as if he didn't literally fire the person he was defending for the exact same thing.
IMO that's Saban doing Jimmy Sexton - who is not just an agent, but his second closest confidant in life (behind his wife) - a big favor.
Oh absolutely, and probably ESPN as a whole doing him a huge favor. I hope Saban threw up in his mouth a little bit every time he had to do it.
Especially if Ole Miss still gets a playoff spot. Giving up a chance to chase a championship.
If you leave our FSU for not having a QB you have to leave out Ole Miss for not having a coaching staff
Committee ignores precedent if it doesn't fit ESECPN's dream narrative
There are no rules. It's just made up every time to make the most money. Things like precedent and longevity have no value
The rules are "what does daddy SEC need from us today?" and adjust talking points accordingly
"did I say head to head is the most important factor?...er...I meant, meaningless!"
The rational will be that they had a data point with FSU without their top quarterbacks. Brock Glenn won the ACC championship game but the committee deemed it wasn't "playoff caliber" any more. They don't have any such data point with Ole Miss without Kiffin. Ole Miss might perform better without him.
I am rooting for Ole Miss to win it all, and Kiffin never get a chance.
Being SEC team, this trumps all previous precedents.
Usually I'd go ahead and update the table at this point, but with Lane, I think I'll let this one play out.
The right choice. At this rate, he'll end up choosing like Blue Mountain State
He has now pushed back the Team meeting
He and LSU deserve one another
After rumors of Golesh becoming a Hog a few days ago, Arkansas is apparently going for a different G6er.
Big board looks like it's updated already, but
Man boobs.
Memphis coaches are forever tainted for me
FTFY
Golesh going to Auburn...
So Sumrall to Florida then to complete the sought-after G6 HC to SEC trifecta?
Edit:
This carousel has shaken out much differently than a lot of people expected. Several national reporters were basically saying at the beginning Kiffin to UF or he was staying, recently that Sumrall had an agreement with auburn and the only thing that could change that was Ole Miss opening, and Golesh was likely to Arkansas.
Lane being in play is really fucking with the SEC teams.
I'd love it if Lane stays at Ole Miss and LSU gets left in the cold!
Kinda surprising silence around PSU, so assuming they have a deal with Chesney. Just letting his season play out. Either way, they're pretty fucked for the 2026 recruiting class.
Apparently Lane is on a plane to Baton Rouge and has given his offensive staff an ultimatum that they have to follow him by tomorrow or he won't hold a job for them at LSU.
Lane was the perfect douchebag for Ole Miss, now he's just back to being a douche.
I get that this is a cut-throat, strike-while-the-iron-is-hot business but giving your own coaches an Ultimatum in the midst of a playoff run is next-level egotistical asshole.
I would love to see the Lane-->LSU marriage be a disaster and this asshole be left on a Tarmac again.
The best part is it's almost guaranteed to be a total trainwreck, no matter how successful he is there.
I say bring it on, I'll get my popcorn ready.
I can't wait for when LSU goes to fire him in a few years and tries to find cause. I'm sure they'll dig up some great stories.
To be honest, I think we are part of the instigation of the trainwreck as we got our coach fast and he's taking players and assistants off the board.
We're not taking Penn State's coaches and staff right before they play in the CFB playoffs, though.
Before their bowl, sure, but not before the playoffs. ;^)
(Had to check their record, they are 6-6, so I'm assuming there's a bowl for Penn State this year.)
Ole Miss skipping the carousel and elevating the DC to HC
Well that's one way to avoid this cycle?
That is one way of doubling down on the "It's not the coach, but the NIL funds that are responsible for the winning"
It also might help keep Lane from plucking everyone away from the program.
That didn't exactly work out for us when we hired James Johnson to prevent recruit flight after Seth Greenberg's firing.
Sure, but that was pre-NIL direct payments.
Add Sparty to the carousel
I mean...good luck and all but you are weeks late to the party and probably still paying your last bad decision.
I mean the guys record speaks for itself and I don't really think there's an argument to be made that he's going to improve this team, but why wait till now??
Edit: welp...looks like MSU has had Fitzgerald in their pocket for a while. We're just letting Smith play out his string
May be to go after Kelly at a discount to spend LSU money.
Tucker was fired for cause, so I think they got extremely lucky and dodged or mostly dodged that bullet
Dang 2 things here
1. Smith probably now I'm sure regrets leaving his alma mater since seems like he never had the right fit to stay at Sparty (doubly bad now since Oregon State just filled that vacancy)
2. Dollars to duckets that if he does get a job anywhere this cycle, this would be the landing place for Brian Kelly given his background and general most of his coaching experience has been in this area of the midwest
EDIT:
Also some rumors/smoke that Pat Fitzgerald may be a likely target here - at least some familiarity with the area (again B1G/midwest) - but not sure if that's worth locking $33 mil down for
If I have to put up with Kelly putting him at Sparty to occasionally trip up Ohio St and Michigan would work for me
Can Kelly fake an upper Michigan accent? ;^)
"Oh yaaah, ya kno, I killed a kid just that once, fer sure."
"I said you're Meeshigan, how hard a jahb could it be?"
I started reading this in Jar Jar Binks's voice and now I can't shake the thought of BK butchering his new accent so bad he sounds like Jar Jar.
I would love to see the face of CIKaKBK (Coach I Killed a Kid Brian Kelly) photoshopped on this photo.
Meh I doubt it. Oregon state was downgraded to G5 status. Also he got paid at MSU.
They may be too late to the party to make it happen but I wonder if they try to make a run at Brent Key, same AD who hired him at GT
I think Key will likely be at GT for a while. I know being an alum isn't everything, but it helps for retention
Detroit Free Press reporting Sparty planning to hire Fitz
I promise not to coach Michigan State in football for like, a mil and a half.
Kiffin watch officially officially over.
Lane being Lane. All about him. He focuses on Carter not allowing him to punk Ole Miss and try to put a Natty on his resume (as he is leaving). He doesn't mention anywhere in his press release how he played UF and LSU against Ole Miss with no intention at all (imo) of staying in Oxford.
I will be pulling for Ole Miss to get that Natty and Lane to be on the outside (his choice) looking in.
Agreed, throwing away all the goodwill he had built up for $2M a year and likely could have gotten Ole Miss to come close to matching. Hope Baton Rouge is a dumpster fire for the foreseeable future.
LSU @ Ole Miss next year is must see tv, if nothing else, to see what he's pelted with
Does any school in the country have as deep a history of unlikable coaches as LSU? They seem to have a type.
Liberty university would like a word...
And B Kelly to Ped State!
University*
In hindsight, the most surprising thing about the bowl game vs Tennessee is that Kiffin waited until after the game to split to USC.
Ole Miss had said they would match. I am honestly disappointed in Lane. I thought maybe he had finally grown up. Silly me.
So Ole Miss can't go to the playoffs now under the FSU precedent, right!?!? Losing the highest paid person involved with the team and someone as important as the head coach would surely be worse than losing a QB.
I hate that this interview makes Kiffin seem like a reasonable human being...although he could have avoided pointing out the AD decisions. His other answers are unfortunately understandable.
https://youtu.be/NJcq5vzFiF0?si=6kh82YYkCCzu9Blx
Fitzgerald to MSU from NW being reported by media in both cities.
Where does everyone think Mullen lands? With all the movement today, I'm surprised to not see his name pop up.
Answer may be another year at UNLV. Only two higher profile jobs open at this point are UCLA and Penn State.
Or Kentucky as word is out they will fire Stoops
What a great update to the chart. Pat Fitgerald, Linebacker, Litigation State University
Man did we ever have the perfect situation fall into our lap with Franklin getting fired.
Coastal position opens
Wasn't expecting this one but think what the Dukes did to them was the final straw. JMU beat them like 51-7 or something.
To be fair... I think JMU would do that to most of the ACC this year....
When UVA put that State Champion bullshit up on their billboard after the game, my first thought was JMU would smoke both of us so comical UVA trying to claim that.
Yeah... no doubt in my mind about that.
Wow...the reaction here to Jon Sumrall is Not even Slightly positive.
"Napier 2.0", another "Lousiana G5 Loser", ect.
And it's not totally out of left field....someone on Reddit (can't find again) posted a comparison of Napier and Sumrall's Resumes at time of hiring and they really are nearly Carbon copies.
Obviously nothing is assured in these hires and Sumrall may be extremely successful at UF, but Scott Stricklin makes Whit Babcock look like the most popular AD in College Athletics by comparison right now.
Arkansas fans were also melting down apparently. Saw something that they were having a protest earlier
Florida is just a tough place to win honestly. They're a good ways away from the Urban glory days now, and they really benefitted in that stretch in the 2000s with both Miami and FSU being down, Saban not really getting Bama going until 2008/2009, and Georgia was solid under Richt but nothing like what Kirby is doing there now.
The Sumrall and Napier comps are not at all valid imo.
It seems pretty lazy to me to be comparing them just because they both played/ coached at schools in the state of Louisiana. Tulane and Louisiana Lafayette could not be more different places.
Possibly true but.....
And Napier had previous experience at more successful P4 Programs (Clemson, Alabama) than Sumrall (OleMiss, Kentucky).
The results may be completely different but you have to admit that its not exactly an inspiring hire from and outside resume standpoint.
I think Sumerall is a bit better football coach than Napier, Napier was big dogging the conference and had a lot of volunteers working in the AD for him and he was a bit more CEO type, which doesn't always translate. I think Sumerall is a bit more football smart. I don't know if that will make a difference but I seem them as two different styles of coaching.
I tend to agree...I watched Louisiana football quite a bit in 2021 as Napier was one of the guys I had hoped VT would pursue, but I was left very underwhelmed by their Offensive system overall. I wasn't broken up when VT wasn't really in the running for him.
In Gainesville, he was largely a master of using lots and lots of words to say pretty much nothing of consequence.
I don't think Sumrall is the same coach or will necessarily have the same fate as Napier, but when you look at their similarities, I do understand some of the trepidation for Gator Fans.
It would be kind of like if VT would have hired Jim Knowles this year---older coach with experience almost entirely as a coordinator/position coach who really hasn't been on the radar for H.C. jobs---I imagine VT fans would be similarly in upheaval over the close comparison to Pry.
Counter:
That doesn't mean that Sumrall is going to work at UF. He may fail just like every coach since Urban. I just think it's lazy to say that this is the same hire as Billy. It's not.
Sure, but overall sentiment I get is that Gator fans were hoping for a bigger splash or at least someone with a very different resume from their outgoing coach.
They didn't get that.
Whether he works out or not, it would be very difficult to find two coaches with backgrounds and resumes that are more similar than theirs.
If you can, I'd be legitimately floored.
I'll wait here...
And the point about NIL is more or less moot, because it didn't start for anyone before 2021 and it wasn't until 2021 that Transfers without sitting out a year were allowed. The one-time exception rule went effective in April '21. So you're going to be critical of Napier for not using the portal the one year ( really months) it was available while he was at Louisiana? Not a fair comparison at all.
One of my office mates is a UF alum and i know yesterday he was not happy about the Sumrall rumors. He said the same thing, just Billy Boy Jr. and if it was true then he's checking out on UF football for the next 4 years.
Pretty harsh over-reaction i thought. But understandable because that same office mate spent his first two years of college at loluva.
This was making the Rounds on Reddit over past 24 hours.....
Apparently much ado about nothing and no one actually showed up.
Kentucky expected to fire Stoops. This could be the answer on where Mullen ends up.
Kind of surprising. Learned last night that he is fully guaranteed no offset, assuming that's true. I think they're eating like $30M
edit: r/CFB account says $38M paid within 60 days which is kind of what I remember reading last night from someone else. Bonkers money that quickly too.
Thats awfully nice of him to be willing to spread his payments out. Not that kentucky could possibly be short of the money. The surrounding horse country fo lexington has fences for their fences!
Damn, Kentucky possibly screwing the pooch on their timing - given his background Sumrall would have probably gone running to Kentucky if it were open
There is a poorly sources NBCSports/pro football talk article tying Chip Kelly to the job. That would be a horrendous choice.
Edit: I think Mullen makes a lot of sense for UK, but I wonder if he would want to work at a school where football is second fiddle.
Defensive Coordinator option? Would be another guy with recruiting footprint that lines up for us.
Every second that passes makes it look even more like we absolutely the right thing in firing Pry after week 3. Everyone else is massively fucked right now with signing day
Not sure if I agree here. Yes, firing Pry was the right thing to do, but it was the firing of
JMMFJMFF that made this the big home run. IfJMMFJMFF doesn't get fired, who are we going to end up with? I don't think we'd know at this point. We're going to be waiting for Florida/LSU/Auburn to fill up, and we're DEFINITELY not getting somebody with two weeks before the season is over.Running the counter to this. Every second that goes by PSU looks like the biggest idiots frying Franklin.
Oh, no doubt. And I don't see that as mutually exclusive with what I posted.
Nope just stars aligning for our benefit.
Counterpoint.... By firing Pry when we did, we were positioned very well to pounce as soon as the right guy hit the market with a fully fleshed out plan of attack
Who is this James Mutha Mucking Franklin you're speaking of?
Seriously, what does JMMF stand for?
It stands for "LBT can't get his acronyms right and has subsequently fixed it in the original comment".
And just in case that was a serious question, JMFF stands for "James Mutha Fuckin' Franklin".
you could have just said LCGHARaHSFIItOC
Lol it wasn't just you. I've seen it numerous times since he got hired. I totally understand JMFF. But everytime I see JMMF, I wonder if I'm missing something.
James "Martian Manhunter" Franklin
Y'know, I thought I saw some people working it out down some thread or other and I could've sworn JMMF was the acceptable alternative to
CJFthat was settled on.But I never really knew what it stood for either. My bad, y'all.
JMFF it is!
I don't know why, but when anyone mentions JMFF, I immediately think of Orlando Jones's iconic character Clifford Franklin in the 2000 masterpiece The Replacements always speaking in the third person.
Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory lasts forever.
'croots are like a one man cold to JMFF...JMFF is the only one catching them...JMFF is the only one coming down with them
Leg to you for mentioning The Replacements. Definitely an underappreciated gem. Everybody in that movie is fantastic and it probably has the best use of a John Madden and Pat Summerall commentary
Today was a good day for Clifford Franklin, but Clifford Franklin can't wait for tomorrow, cuz Clifford Franklin gets better looking every day..."
James "Kevin" Franklin is how I read it
I can't decide if the rules are irretrievably broken and have to be fixed, or if Lane Kiffin is just such a huge piece of shit and we should all just know to stay away from him and whatever he does is to be expected.
Honestly, its probably both.
ESD and the Transfer Portal completely changed the Hiring/Firing timeline.
There was never a real reason Signing Day needed to be moved up from February to December---but putting Pandora back in the Box at this point is unlikely.
With the Portal, the Academic Calendar really dictates that is has to happen no later than early January, not really sure there is any way to fix that.
Teams are going to want to have Coaches in-place well before the Portal opens and likely before Xmas as well, so you're still talking a late Nov/early Dec Hiring period, even if you eliminate Early Signing Day.
Is the system irrevocably broken? Pretty much, yes.
Is Lane Kiffin a huge piece of shit who used a broken system to screw Ole Miss over and stoke his ego? Also, yes.
Actually, think with all the Grey shirting/early enrolling going on, I think moving ESD to early December is a positive.
Here's an easy way to fix it: Move the one portal window to the summer.
Personally, I really like this idea: I think that, if coaches can't put transfers through spring practice, then maybe they'll spend less time portal shopping. Of course, maybe that's wishful thinking.
This was one of those 'good intentions, bad results' things. The idea was that some players want to shutdown recruiting early, and this was a way to do it. The naively unforeseen consequence was that coaches would just pressure players to commit earlier.
Maybe I am naive, but I think that this is one area where we could see change. I think everyone - coaches, recruits, schools, would like to see signing day moved to February.
Another alternative I've heard is that early signing day takes place in august instead of december. So coaches have to think long and hard about offering someone before their senior season. Big risk for both parties though.
I personally like this Idea but I think the complaint you would get is that it would not allow Players to participate in Spring Practice with their new teams. I guess also if you are a guy who wants to leave Program X after Fall Semester, you are kind of forced to stay there thru the Spring Semester which in the "anything that restricts player movement deserves a lawsuit" Era I don't think would hold up.
In Regards to Signing Day, I think the opinions on it vary largely based on circumstances. If you are a successful Program that is Recruiting well, it's ideal--you get to lock up your guys and don't have to continue to spend time and money for 2 extra months working on keeping guys in the boat.
In General, I'd bet the Opinion on ESD at places like Oh.State, Bama, Georgia and the like is largely positive.
For a Program that is struggling, has a Coach on the Hot Seat or otherwise are in limbo, ESD clearly forces your hand in regards to making changes early, trying to maintain whatever class you can. These Programs probably hate ESD.
While I'd love to see Signing Day back in February and Portal moved to End-Spring, I just don't see it happening. Like I said, the box has been opened and I don't think you will find enough consensus to agree on making those changes.
Well, ESPN is now lobbying for change to the calendar. Rece went on SVP 2 nights ago, basically said that yes lane Kiffin is an asshole, but also BAR1990 is right and we need to get rid of ESD and move portal to summer.
If the mouse is pushing for it, coaches are pushing for it, agents are pushing for it, and university presidents are okay with it, then it will probably happen (eventually)
Rece Davis lurks TKP confirmed
They can move ESD back just as soon as we've got all our commits in the boat.
I mean it's both, but this has always been who Kiffin was, going back to before many of the current rules existed. One of my least favorite people in the sport of football, college or pro.
I felt that Lane had more or less rehabbed his image a bit at Ole Miss. Now hes back to being a 100% weasel coach. I wish he had stayed at Ol Miss.
Yeah, the several years there building them to a good program was good for his image. End result of moving from Ole Miss to LSU for a minor raise, meh. The dick move was the ultimatum to his coaches.
Want the extra dick move by Kiffin.
In his LSU contract it calls for him to receive bonuses for how far Ole Miss advances in the CFP. If they win it all, he gets $1M from LSU.
An ultimatum to his coaches after throwing a fit when Ole Miss gave him an ultimatum.
Also apparently "his" dog juice that had a Twitter profile isn't actually his? Or, at least, didn't live with him and lived with a handler.
I would have loved to see Lane stay at Ole Miss and build that program to compete year in and year out with the upper echelon of the SEC, however this move will likely play out well for Kiffin. The path to a national championship will be easier at LSU based on history. I know it is different now (with the portal, NIL, etc), however if Les Miles and Ed Orgeron 🙄 can win Nattys at LSU, I do not see any reason Kiffin cannot.
California knows how to party
Seems a really weird match. His background is all in the Northeast before JMU but really no ties to the West Coast. Young high energy guy though so could see him being a hit with Surfer Central.
Even more odd, they are going to let him coach JMU in the CFP if they make it so he could theoretically miss the entire portal window in terms of evaluating and trying to retain any current players.
Well, the entire UCLA football program is a complete dumpster fire. It's likely, even with NIL, a multi-year project just to become competitive. So, they are probably playing the long game while allowing him to finish the job at JMU. I can appreciate that on both sides, especially after watching Lane Kiffin these last couple of weeks.
I choose to believe all coaches in this area are bailing now that Franklin is in Blacksburg
PSU is going to have no choice but promote their interim HC at this point.
Seems like they're focused on Sitake which is probably the strangest match I can imagine. Also could very well see him saying no and gettgin a pay raise at BYU
Crumbl cookie says "not so fast!" I love college football
PSU has padded the wallets of 5-6 coaches already this year, why not one more??
Crazy scenarios being talked about on XM. Bama job comes open Dabo leaves for it. Clemson loses bowl game badly Dabo decides he is done at Clemson.
Wow. In 2025, Dabo would be a downgrade from DeBoer.
Yeah, would seriously doubt Bama even considers Dabo (if DeBoer were to leave at all).
There is no indication at all they were interested when they hired DeBoer.
I also don't understand why (other than money) DeBoer would go from Bama to PSU. When you remove the 3 weeks of dragging it out, I do get the Kiffin to LSU rationale. You're going to a place that has won The 'Chip and won it recently...you know the resources are there.
Going Bama --> PSU is the inverse...which doesn't make nearly as much sense IMHO.
Is that because DeBoer ends up at PSU?
There's still time for Bama to come open and Kiffin to do the funniest thing...
Was just thinking the same thing!
I mean, at this point, if PSU hasn't completely flubbed their hiring, they've gotta be waiting for someone still actively coaching, right? I really thought it would be Chesney.
Word on the bird app is they're all in on Kalani Sitake from BYU. Fallback option would be Jeff Brohm at Louisville.
Sitake and Brohm are not going to leave their alma maters for a literal dumpster fire (no matter how much money the offer them).
A) Money talks
B) I don't think PSU is at dumpster fire levels just yet
Brohm would be the opposite of James Franklin at Ped. St.
He would win some of those big games but would lose to Maryland, Rutgers, and MIch St. along the way.
I'm not saying they will, but I would never say that won't "leave their alma maters for a literal dumpster fire (no matter how much money the offer them)."
Brohm still hasn't signed an extension at Louisville, despite being rumored for multiple jobs. So either he milking his alma mater for cash, or he's listening to other offers.
Brohm I doubt would leave willingly based on that family apparently being the kings of Louisville.
Sitake seems to have had some legit smoke pop up from what I've seen, but who knows. It does seem odd to go from BYU to PSU, but if he thinks that BYU has a hard ceiling since they're not in the P2, maybe he does jump
Edit: Nakos put a pay walled article with a headline stating Sitake is emerging as the top target
Sounds like we'll hear about Sitake soon
I heard Shitaki is a fungi.
I literally laughed out loud at this. Leg.
Oh I'm sure he's very entertaining
Meanwhile, in Happy Valley
This comment on that post
So has Chesney not signed with UCLA yet? PSU fans seem to think they whiffed on Sitake and are gonna get Chesney instead.
This coaching portal season is especially bizarre.
Based on what I've seen on Twitter PSU's plan for Sitake may Crumbl
Kentucky hiring Will Stein. OC at Oregon
Kinda surprised Stein went off the board before Hartline as far as OCs.
Can't imagine the flack Stein will get since he is a Louisville alum. His alma mater may burn him in effigy.
I think Stein is from Louisville/Kentucky? I also wonder if Hartline is going to Psu
Louisville guy
Kinda seems like hartline doesn't want to leave OSU.
BYU seems to be getting interesting, even reaching out to LDS for money.
That's how the cookie Crumbl(ed)...
I am missing the Crumbl reference. Is the owner LDS and donating big cash to keep the coach?
Yeah, he's basically stepping up to try and do his part to keep Sitake in Provo
I hope he succeeds, for no other reason than to watch Penn State burn.
Guess the fun rumor as to why the Penn State job has been such a shitshow is that Franklin/Sexton are getting a pound of flesh for how it all played out. McVay said something on the Bill Simmons pod apparently. If that's true, I love it and it would also help to explain some of the mess on how that one is playing out.
Hahahahaha, couldn't happen to a better fanbase.
#PSU2VT.......all night long.
So.... Sexton as college football's Grey Eminence kingmaker has some legs, then?
The Don King of college coaches if you will
But at the same time, PSU is probably going to be paying $10M+ to the next head whistle. I am sure he would want ONE of his clients to land the gig instead of some other agent's guy.
That's why it's not totally believable, unless you get a relatively ho hum guy or a lower profile guy that gig with a big payday so that it raises the floor payment of all your other clients
This
redditortweeter has been pretty close to the situation? Says Sitake is talking with family and sleeping on it, will make his decision in the morning.Evening, Provo time
The meeting that was cancelled earlier today was to say he's gone, players asked him to stay, and BYU spent the day putting together their best package.
(Reddit post does not have a link to the tweet, just the full text.)
Original sauce:
"What was once 99/1 is now pretty much a 50/50"
Penn State is certain that a handshake agreement on Sunday is the done deal they were promised
Whereas BYU is certain that today's Hail Mary ended with a happy coach for life
We will see. What a saga it's been.
Very similar vibes to the Beamer UNC saga.
I don't blame BYU for wanting to keep their guy and I hope they do. I love when coaches are alums of their programs
Penn St is already scraping the bottom of the barrel on their candidate list, and this guy is a bad fit....
But on the other hand, the schadenfreude that would exist if he publicly turns them down after all this would be almost too good to pass up
I kinda want to go to the LSU/Ole Miss game next year. That's going to be fun to watch for anyone without any skin in the game.
Can someone make a sequel coaching carousel thread? I'd do it, but I don't know how to make the chart in the OP - this big ass thread is causing my computer to freeze
I'll do it at some point today so the chart carries over.
Edit: here ya go
I liked this guys take on PSU coaching sitch.
Im trying to think of schools that fired a good coach because they weren't s great coach and then won. UGA is obvious. Miami attempted it and their old coach might wi the ACC this year. Nebraska did it twice and failed. I guess Clemson with Dabo. But the list is small.
anyone have the PSU livestream link
From what I can tell, they're trying to hype themselves up for Brian Daboll knowing they're going to get disappointed once again.