Another week, another coach meets the unemployment line. This time it’s Brian Kelly at LSU, which means another big-name program will soon pay several million dollars to try to chase a national title.
It also means that a few other schools might now be in a holding pattern with their own under-pressure head coaches.
The 2025 coaching carousel in college football is already shaping up to be the most chaotic in years. With Kelly gone, LSU, Penn State, Florida, Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech, UCLA, and Stanford will all have new coaches next season. It’s nearly impossible that every one of them finds the right fit.
If you’re an athletic director leading a program with questions about your coach, this may be the year to wait it out. There are only so many proven candidates to go around, and not every opening will be filled with a home run hire. Sometimes patience is the smarter play.
Here are five schools that might want to ride out the storm and revisit their coaching situations in 2026.
Florida State (Mike Norvell)
There’s no way to sugarcoat what has happened in Tallahassee. Florida State has gone from a sympathetic figure after getting robbed of a playoff spot in 2023 to a national punchline after going 1-11 in ACC play since. It hasn’t gone unnoticed that the Seminoles sued the ACC because their boosters thought the league was holding them back, and since then, they’ve only managed to beat California and taken their first-ever loss to Duke.
But Norvell’s buyout is large, and Florida State cannot afford to get this one wrong. This is a program that once lost just eight ACC games in its first 13 years in the league. It still sits in one of the nation’s most recruiting-rich states and carries the legacy that Bobby Bowden built. Tallahassee is more remote than Gainesville, but Florida State doesn’t have problems attracting talent.
Of the five programs on this list, this is the best job on its own merits. Florida State has the resources to compete for championships, and as an ACC member, it avoids the weekly gauntlet of the SEC. But because the program stumbled with Willie Taggart, it must nail its next hire. The truth is that the job, while elite, is not on the level of Penn State or LSU and is roughly equal to Florida. That means the Seminoles might not land their first choice, and that isn’t worth paying Norvell another $59 million to walk away.
Wisconsin (Luke Fickell)
Luke Fickell’s time in Madison has been disastrous. His fit outside Ohio clearly hasn’t worked, and while his shot at replacing Ryan Day in Columbus has vanished, he could easily thrive leading a top MAC program.
So why shouldn’t he be fired? The Badgers aren’t likely to find a better option right now. This is a program loaded with issues and no quick fix. The Badgers don’t spend enough compared to their Big Ten rivals, they have watched newer powers pass them by, and any coach that might be attractive to the Badgers would likely look elsewhere for more promising opportunities.
Plus, Wisconsin needs a very specific type of coach in order to work. The Badgers’ identity has always relied on running the ball and playing defense. Right now, they do neither well. They’ve scored just seven points in the past three weeks, and the defense has been below average in most meaningful measures.
There’s one exception. If Denver Broncos assistant Jim Leonhard is interested, Wisconsin should make the move. He’s a Wisconsin native and a fan favorite. But unless Leonhard is ready to take the job immediately, there’s no reason to fire Fickell now. Waiting a year makes far more sense.
Auburn (Hugh Freeze)
Freeze’s buyout is not prohibitive. Auburn would only owe him $15 million to walk away. The problem is that this might be the toughest job in the new-look SEC, for multiple reasons. The two biggest are Alabama and Georgia. Under the old days, there were two schools that had to play both the Crimson Tide and the Bulldogs every year: Auburn and Tennessee.
That is no longer the case. Now it’s only Auburn, as Tennessee was not assigned Georgia as one of its protected rivals. Plus, Josh Heupel already has the house built in Knoxville, and Tennessee is the premier program in its state. Auburn is none of those things. The Tigers will always run second to Alabama, and Georgia dominates the next state over. But the fan base’s expectations will never go away, which makes this one of the hardest jobs in the nation.
Freeze has been underwhelming on the plains. But Auburn is not likely to find anyone acceptable to the fan base willing to take this job when LSU, Florida and Arkansas are available. All of those programs are the top dog in their own states, and Auburn certainly is not. The Tigers need to find their coach when the carousel is quiet. This isn’t the time.
Kentucky (Mark Stoops)
Kentucky is a near-impossible job. It’s a basketball-first school in the football-mad SEC and the only one in the league that doesn’t have a Power Four nonconference rival.
The Wildcats’ biggest recruiting edge, tapping into Ohio for players who weren’t quite Ohio State caliber, has also weakened with Cincinnati now in a power conference. That means Stoops’ blueprint is harder to replicate.
Still, it’s unlikely Kentucky finds anyone better than Stoops right now. His buyout also drops substantially after the 2026 season, and next year’s schedule is brutal: Alabama, LSU, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Florida, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and Louisville. It might be better for the Wildcats to let Stoops weather that storm and have someone new take over in 2027.
Michigan State (Jonathan Smith)
This has not gone well for the former Oregon State coach. Smith’s calm, methodical personality fit perfectly in Corvallis but hasn’t translated to the grind of the Midwest. Having spent his entire career out West, he seems better suited to thrive there.
But, to be fair, Michigan State was a mess when he arrived, and it remains one of the more difficult Big Ten jobs. The Spartans are not the flagship program in their own state, share recruiting turf with Michigan, Ohio State, and Notre Dame, and don’t have a clear geographic advantage.
With so many marquee jobs already open, this isn’t the time for Michigan State to jump in. The only way a change makes sense is if Smith himself decides it’s not working. His old job at Oregon State is open again, and that reunion would make sense for both sides. Otherwise, the Spartans should stay patient and reassess after 2026.
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