Filling Every College Football FBS Head Coaching Opening
The list of FBS college football teams looking for a new head coach grows by the week, and with rumors swirling around Hugh Freeze, Mike Norvell, Brian Kelly and others, it doesn't appear to be stopping anytime soon.
For those teams that have already hit the button and parted ways, the searches have begun. If you don't think there are back-channel conversations going on already, well, this is your first rodeo. Agents are leaking interest, and hot names are emerging.
In some cases, that may be to secure raises where candidates currently sit, but there are some big-name programs already on the market with others soon to join, so it's time to take a look at some ideal fits.
Whether these guys are legitimate candidates remain to be seen, but this is a mixture of best possible fits with quality scenarios for each team.
Here are some early picks to fill each current vacant spot.
Florida Gators, Lane Kiffin
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Every year, Lane Kiffin's name is mentioned with openings, but the Ole Miss head coach sticks in Oxford. There is clearly a mutual affection there between the Rebels coach and the program.
His family seems to truly love where he is, but with Kiffin never really truly squashing rumors, you have to believe there are at least enough to make him think.
If he was ever going to leave, Florida is a perfect fit.
This is a proud program that has won big under Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer in the past, and Kiffin would fit perfectly into that offensive-minded spectrum of Gators greats. Can't you just already see him drawing up plays in a UF visor as a new "Evil Genius?"
Kiffin has turned Ole Miss into an SEC power perennially on the cusp of the College Football Playoff. The Rebels are pouring money into NIL, but it's still not the easiest place to recruit talent.
In Gainesville, Kiffin wouldn't have that issue. There are enough playmakers within a four-hour radius of the Swamp to win a national championship. Big money awaits if athletic director Scott Stricklin decides he wants to go after the new ball coach.
Would Kiffin say yes? Who knows? But this would be an ideal scenario for the Gators, and it just feels a little more serious this time around.
Penn State Nittany Lions, Eli Drinkwitz
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Sometimes, the "not-so-sexy" hire is the best one. Just ask Texas A&M, which is reaping the benefits of hiring a great coach in Mike Elko in Year 2.
A similar hire would be if Penn State plucked Eli Drinkwitz from the Missouri Tigers.
The hot name around that search right now is Nebraska's Matt Rhule, due to his numerous ties to State College, but he hasn't exactly been terrific yet with the Cornhuskers. He has made strides in rebuilding the program, so maybe he gets the call, but Drinkwitz would be great, too.
Whoever takes the job is looking at a rebuild with so much offensive talent (Nicholas Singleton, Kaytron Allen, Drew Allar) off to the NFL after this season, but there are great players already there. Obviously, Rhule has shown he can rebuild quickly, but so has Drinkwitz.
There is a clearer playoff path in the Big Ten at PSU, and that's a much better program than Mizzou with a firmer recruiting base and a national profile. The big Adidas money that is about to be flowing in will help, too.
Coach Drink has recruited extremely well to the Tigers, and it would be perfect for him to take a bigger step and possibly even quarterback Beau Pribula with him. The signal-caller transferred from Penn State and has been a revelation this season.
There are a lot of reasons to love Rhule, but Drinkwitz is the pick here.
Arkansas Razorbacks, Rhett Lashlee
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When Mama comes calling, you pick up the phone. That's why it's going to be tough—but not impossible—for teams to lure away Georgia Tech's Brent Key and Vanderbilt's Clark Lea, who are coaching at their alma maters.
Arkansas, though, is the alma mater of another established, young coaching star in SMU's Rhett Lashlee.
He backed up Matt Jones with the Hogs from 2002-04, and he's also been an SEC assistant with the Razorbacks and at Auburn. Lashlee is a Springdale native who was a Gus Malzahn disciple at that powerhouse high school. He's also coached at Arkansas State.
Lashlee's ties to the Natural State make him a natural fit.
Does he really want to join the meat grinder that is the SEC, or does he think there are built-in resources at Dallas-based SMU to consistently compete for the College Football Playoff in a softer ACC?
The Mustangs made it to the final 12 a season ago in their first year in the league under Lashlee's tutelage. And while they've taken a step back this year, they are still a load to handle.
Lashlee would unite the fanbase and could bring stability to a program that has been mired in mediocrity for years. Plus, he doesn't have any of the baggage of interim coach Bobby Petrino.
This one makes too much sense. Make Lashlee say no—multiple times.
Oklahoma State Cowboys, Alex Golesh
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The hottest commodity from the Group of Five coaching ranks this year is without question South Florida's Alex Golesh. Memphis' Ryan Silverfield and Tulane's Jon Sumrall will get called to the bigger ranks soon, but Golesh has a job as soon as he wants it.
The question is: Would a major rebuild like Oklahoma State be worth it?
The Cowboys moved on from favorite son Mike Gundy, and they have so much work to do to build a contender on both sides of the ball. But even though the Big 12 has depth and better teams than normal this season, that's not a league too tough in which to get better quickly.
Golesh's high-octane offense that was nurtured under Tennessee coach Josh Heupel has shown that it travels. After leading the Vols with Hendon Hooker at the helm, USF has been explosive throughout his tenure.
Prior to coaching with Heupel, Golesh was at Iowa State, so he already has familiarity with the Big 12, and even though he was born in Russia, he spent some time growing up in the Midwest in Dublin, Ohio.
There will be other openings, and Golesh will be called multiple times. Of the spots open right now, heading to Stillwater seems like a good landing spot.
If he wants to go there, the Cowboys should make their move.
Virginia Tech Hokies, James Franklin
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If you'd have mentioned a pie-in-the-sky candidate for Virginia Tech when it fired head coach Brent Pry on September 14, most around Blacksburg probably would have pointed to Shane Beamer.
The South Carolina coach, of course, is the son of Hokies great Frank Beamer, grew up around the program and would have been universally loved. After the Gamecocks closed 2024 hot, they were a dark-horse candidate for this year's College Football Playoff.
Fast forward to now, and there a couple of reasons why that isn't as attractive. On one hand, Beamer's Gamecocks are 3-4 and a disappointment. Most importantly, though, James Franklin is now on the market.
The former Penn State coach had ridiculous success in Happy Valley, even if he struggled to win the big game. Before that, he took Vanderbilt to then-unprecedented heights.
Franklin is a good coach and a great recruiter who has built his roster with star prospects from Virginia, the Washington D.C. area and plenty of other hot beds that the Hokies used to stockpile players from in their glory days.
Franklin told ESPN's College GameDay last weekend that he wants to coach, and there's no place that would be a better geographic and coaching fit for him than Blacksburg. He could have that program contending quickly.
This is the only move if they can get it done.
UCLA Bruins, Tony White
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There are a lot of wacky scenarios out there for UCLA, and the grand-slam hope the Bruins would love is to convince former assistant Jedd Fisch to leave his job at Washington for Westwood.
Maybe they can get that done, and if so, do it. But why would he bolt the Huskies just a couple of seasons after departing Arizona? Unless Fisch just loves UCLA, he won't.
A realistic pick to be the new head coach would be current Florida State defensive coordinator and former UCLA linebacker Tony White.
While White is part of a Mike Norvell staff that is enduring its own coaching-change rumors following a disastrous stretch of losing, he has done a pretty good job in Tallahassee. When asked about returning to his alma mater, he didn't exactly debunk it.
"Until there's something, there's nothing," White told Noles247's Brendan Sonnone earlier this year.
The 'Noles are 35th nationally in total defense and 52nd in scoring defense. White was a three-year starter under Rocky Long at UCLA, and he's been a very successful on-field coach at several stops.
Of course, the way the Bruins are playing, they could just keep interim coach Tim Skipper. If White is the selection, he could keep Skipper on to help with the defense and perhaps convince fellow alum Jerry Neuheisel to stay on with the offense, unless he chooses his own staff.
Regardless, White would be a much better pick than DeShaun Foster, who was a disaster.
Stanford Cardinal, Kliff Kingsbury
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Out of all these candidates, selecting Kliff Kingsbury to be the new head coach of the Stanford Cardinal is by far the biggest long shot.
As a matter of fact, the Washington Commanders' offensive coordinator could hear his name called for NFL head coaching jobs again after his successful tenure following a failed first head coaching gig in Arizona.
There are even rumors going around that Kingsbury's quarterbacks coach—Tavita Pritchard—could be the next guy in Palo Alto. Why not try to get them both? Pritchard could be Kingsbury's offensive coordinator.
Kingsbury is a brilliant offensive mind, and while he doesn't have any known ties to Stanford general manager Andrew Luck, the two probably have crossed paths in the pros. The coach is still young and would likely love to run a team again.
Plus, what if Luck is really zeroing in on Kingsbury, and Pritchard—who played for the Cardinal from 2006-09 as a quarterback and began his coaching career as graduate assistant in 2010 until becoming offensive coordinator—would come with him?
It wouldn't be a bad settle to pull Pritchard, but why not at least kick the tires on Kingsbury while you're at it? That would make waves for Luck.
Oregon State Beavers, Bryan Harsin
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There's no denying Bryan Harsin's shot at coaching big-time college football at Auburn was a disaster, but he's rehabilitated his resume somewhat since then.
Don't forget, this is a guy who had a sterling 69-19 record leading mid-major powerhouse Boise State before getting the shot at coaching the Tigers. Now, he's the offensive coordinator under Justin Wilcox at California.
This year, Harsin is proving he's still a strong offensive mind who is helping to develop one of the most talented, exciting young players in the sport in true freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who torched Oregon State in the season opener.
While The Oregonian's Ryan Clarke includes Harsin as a candidate in Corvallis, he also lists reasons why it wouldn't work.
Let's face it, though: Oregon State isn't the job it was in the old Pac-12, when it was arguably the toughest gig in the league. Harsin would be a winner up there as they take their next foray into the new-look league.
Another intriguing option could come back on the market, too, as former coach Jonathan Smith may not last long at Michigan State. Would the Beavers consider rehiring him after he left, and would Smith return to his alma mater?
If not, Harsin would be a potentially sneaky-good hire with a proven track record.
Klint Kubiak, Colorado State Rams
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When the Colorado State Rams convinced Jay Norvell to make a lateral move after a successful tenure at Nevada, they thought they had their coach for a long time.
That fizzled quickly, though, and now they're back on the market.
Sometimes, a coach with a tie to the program would be the best guy to lead it into the future as we've alluded to several times already in these slides, and that would be the case if the Rams tabbed Klint Kubiak as Norvell's replacement.
The Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator has a long, rich coaching pedigree as the son of long-time NFL coach Gary Kubiak, who is now a senior personnel advisor for the Denver Broncos. In his first season as offensive coordinator for the Seahawks, Kubiak has them 10th so far in total offense.
He's on a nice trajectory to be an NFL head coach someday, and he's made several strong stops as an assistant, but Colorado State has to at least shake that tree, right? He played for the Rams from 2005-09 where he played receiver and safety.
The younger Kubiak has deep ties to Colorado State, and while it would seemingly be a step down, what if it pulls at the heart strings for the 38-year-old to help his college team back to respectability?
Really, it just boils down to whether Kubiak wants a pro path or a college one. That's a decision Colorado State needs to press him to make.
UAB Blazers, Ed Orgeron
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Everybody, come on. Help me will it into existence.
Ed Orgeron needs to get back into coaching, and what better reintroduction than as the head man for the UAB Blazers?
Can you imagine throwing the relentless, legendary recruiter into the SEC wheelhouse of Birmingham, Alabama? I'm not saying he'd consistently beat out the top teams for the best players in the country, but he wouldn't be shy about going after them.
This is a man who won a national championship at LSU not too long ago, and after the failed tenure for Trent Dilfer at UAB, the Blazers are looking for a new coach. Among those mentioned is former head coach Bill Clark, who had a great run there, but Orgeron is among the possible candidates, too.
If he's interested, he would be worth a gamble to a program used to rolling the dice with Dilfer.
There are a lot of great players in the state of Alabama, and while most of them will go play big-time football, there is plenty enough talent for UAB to be a very good Group of Five team, plus who wouldn't love to hear all those Orgeron press conferences again?
This needs to happen, UAB (or another team like Oregon State). Please do not let us down.
Kent State Golden Flashes, Geoff Dartt
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When you think of Division III powerhouses, Mount Union College is the team that comes to mind.
This school has had just four coaches since 1962 and has won 13 national championships. Its latest coach is Geoff Dartt, who is 61-4 in his brief tenure and led the Purple Raiders to the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl last year, where they lost and finished DIII national runner-up.
Would it be a big leap from DIII to the FBS? Sure, it would. But Mount Union is just 24 miles from Kent State, so it would essentially be a seamless transition, and the man knows how to win.
The Akron Beacon Journal's George M. Thomas mentioned Dartt as a possible candidate, but he also noted a more seasoned former Mount Union coach who could get the call, too.
That would be Toledo defensive coordinator Vince Kehres, who took the Purple Raiders to a pair of national championships. He has led some strong Rockets defenses, has experience recruiting the area, now has DI coaching experience and was actually considered for the Akron job, according to Thomas.
So, either of those guys would be potential fits. Dartt gets the nod here, but either would work.
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