It’s not even Halloween yet, and we already have eight head coach openings at power conference schools. Those firings didn’t come cheap either.
Following LSU’s decision to part ways with Brian Kelly on Sunday, schools have committed over $169 million in contract buyouts of head coaches so far this season, according to Front Office Sports. That number includes the firings made by three non-power conference schools (Oregon State, Colorado State and UAB), but it doesn’t include the payout Stanford made to Troy Taylor, who was fired in March and replaced on an interim basis by Frank Reich.
Kelly’s firing was the biggest contribution to that number. LSU is on the hook for over $53 million for firing Kelly, according to USA Today. That’s the second-largest buyout for a head coach ever, surpassing the mark set by Penn State’s firing of James Franklin earlier in October ($48.67 million). It still trails the record set by Texas A&M when it fired Jimbo Fisher in 2023, though, with the Aggies having to pay their former head coach $76.8 million in 2023.
Still, the amount of money owed to coaches fired at this point is pretty staggering. Here’s a closer look at the buyout number for each coach who has been fired so far, outside of Taylor at Stanford.
- Former LSU HC Brian Kelly: $53.2 million
- Former Penn State HC James Franklin: $48.67 million
- Former Florida HC Billy Napier: $21.2 million
- Former Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy: $15 million
- Former Arkansas HC Sam Pittman: $9.8 million
- Former UCLA HC DeShaun Foster: $6.43 million
- Former Virginia Tech HC Brent Pry: $6 million
- Former Oregon State HC Trent Pray: $4 million
- Former UAB HC Trent Dilfer: $2.4 million
- Former Colorado State HC Jay Norvell: $1.5 million
If you’re wondering if any other coach might break Kelly’s mark set for this coaching carousel, only eight have a higher buyout number, per USA Today. Additionally, only one of those eight has a higher buyout number than Fisher’s number at Texas A&M: Georgia head coach Kirby Smart ($105.1 million).
As the calendar gets set to move from October to November, that $169 million in buyouts will almost certainly grow by several million, but the amount we’re already at is staggering and unprecedented.
Still, FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt isn’t surprised by the number of marquee jobs (LSU, Penn State, Florida) that have opened before Halloween.
Who should LSU call to be their next head coach? 🤔 Joel Klatt Show
“Athletic directors are forced to act this way because of the structure of the sport,” Klatt said. “It is the business model that they’re in. So, they have to react to current realities, and the current reality right now is that the structure of the calendar is forcing them to be prepared for roster building in the first week of December.
“With the calendar being broken, this is an unintended consequence of that. We’re going to continue to have these.”
As Klatt mentioned, a lot of roster building for the upcoming season happens in the few weeks after the current regular season ends. The vast majority of recruiting classes are locked up by the middle of December with the recent addition of national early signing day. The advent of the transfer portal added to a hectic December for college football programs, with the first of two windows opening up just days after the end of the regular season in the past.
However, the NCAA has opted to get rid of the December and spring transfer windows, while implementing one in early January instead. Even though the transfer portal changes give programs some breathing room between the end of the regular season and the start of the transfer window, those programs still need more time in order to be prepared for the offseason, according to Klatt.
“Here’s the problem,” Klatt said flatly. “You have to have your ducks in order if you’re LSU, Penn State or Florida to be able to pull the trigger on a singular coach and his support staff in order to take advantage of the early signing period and the transfer portal window. That’s the only way you build your roster. You also have to plan in place and signal that plan to the rest of the boosters, the support staff and the support system around your program so you can have the necessary resources to not only buy out your coach, but hire your next coaching staff and go out in the portal and sign a good class.
“There’s a lot going on, but that’s why we’re getting our firings so early.”
James Franklin recently received one of the largest buyouts for a head coach in college football history. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
The calendar isn’t the only reason Klatt said that these firings are taking place much earlier.
“Boosters have more of a say now than they’ve ever had,” Klatt added. “This has been talked about over the last week or so by many out there, but I would just tell you this, in the past, athletic directors and coaches would raise a lot of money. That money was generally used for facilities, personnel … and the infrastructure of the program. When you’re investing in the infrastructure of the program, you understand as the person investing in that, that the return is long-term.
“The people investing into [long-term projects] understand that the return on investment isn’t going to be immediate. Now, it’s very different. … [Some boosters] might think, ‘I’m not going to give another $1 million or $5 million until that guy is gone.’ An athletic director in college football right now has a lot more voices in his ear, and those voices tend to be a lot more influential because of the resources those voices have.”
While firing some coaches helps programs get a head start on coaching searches and building their rosters for the next season, they could also get stuck playing the waiting game. Lane Kiffin is a popular candidate for the Florida and LSU jobs. But if Ole Miss makes the College Football Playoff, those programs might be stuck waiting for him to take the job until January.
Suffice it to say, the ride along the coaching carousel might be more hectic than ever due to the recent changes in the sport. Klatt thinks there’s only one way to change it.
“Why do most, if not all, firings in the NFL happen after the end of the regular season? Because everyone’s operating under the same structure,” Klatt said. “They’re not building their roster for months. We know what the salary cap is. We know where that money is coming from. So, we don’t have to make a rash decision.”
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