The 2025 college football coaching carousel got off to an early start with a pair of firings — DeShaun Foster at UCLA and Brent Pry at Virginia Tech — just three weeks into the season.
The carousel picked up serious momentum with Penn State’s dismissal of James Franklin following Week 7, when the Nittany Lions — a preseason favorite to contend for the national championship — fell to 3-3 with their third loss in a row. Another big job opened after Week 8, when Florida fired Billy Napier, and again after Week 9, when Brian Kelly was shown the door at LSU.
That sets the stage for what should be a wild ride through the end of the season. Below is a list of every vacancy in the FBS, beginning with the power-conference jobs.
Also see: Ranking the open Power 4 jobs
Out: Brian Kelly (34-14, four seasons) | Fired Oct. 26
Kelly was dismissed a night after LSU’s third loss of the 2025 season, a 49-24 blowout at the hands of Texas A&M. A season that began with national championship aspirations and a road win against Clemson — the Tigers’ first season-opening win under Kelly — went sideways very quickly with losses to Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M over a four-game span. Kelly, who left Notre Dame for a chance to win his first FBS national championship, never even made the College Football Playoff at LSU. He won a division title in his first season in 2022 but never finished higher than 13th in the final CFP standings.
• Top candidates, transfers and recruits to watch
1:37
What’s next for Florida after firing Billy Napier?
Adam Rittenberg reacts to Florida’s decision to fire head football coach Billy Napier.
Out: Billy Napier (22-23, four seasons) | Fired Oct. 19
Even after Florida’s late-season surge in 2024, Napier needed a strong encore, while navigating another brutal schedule, to secure his long-term future as Gators coach. After another slow start that included losses to South Florida, LSU and Miami, he couldn’t dig himself out of the canyon this time, and was fired with a final record of 22-23 in Gainesville.
• Top candidates, transfers and recruits to watch
2:01
Stephen A.: Penn State was justified to fire James Franklin
Stephen A. Smith explains why Penn State made the right decision by firing James Franklin.
Out: James Franklin (104-45, 12 seasons) | Fired Oct. 12
Franklin’s fall was stunning and swift, beginning with the type of big-game loss (Oregon) that came to define his Penn State tenure and continuing with two other losses (against major underdogs UCLA and Northwestern) that did not. Just like that, Franklin’s tenure of 11-plus years at Penn State was over within the same calendar year as the Nittany Lions reached the cusp of the national championship game only to fall to Notre Dame in a CFP semifinal.
• Top candidates, transfers and recruits to watch• How Penn State unraveled under Franklin
Out: Sam Pittman (32-34, six seasons) | Fired Sept. 28
Pittman’s folksy charm could carry him only so far. After initial success, including ending the Razorbacks’ 20-game SEC losing streak in 2020 and winning nine games in 2021, Arkansas topped out at seven wins from there and Pittman was fired following the Hogs’ 56-13 loss to Notre Dame. Bobby Petrino, the school’s most successful head coach before being fired for misleading officials about his extramarital affair with an athletic department employee, was promoted from offensive coordinator to interim head coach.
• Top candidates, transfers and recruits to watch
0:53
Finebaum agrees with decision to fire Mike Gundy
Paul Finebaum explains why it was necessary for Oklahoma State to fire Mike Gundy.
Out: Mike Gundy (170-90, 21 seasons) | Fired Sept. 23
Gundy had barely escaped 2024 with his job after a winless Big 12 campaign that crashed out with a 52-0 loss at Colorado. Gundy replaced his entire coaching staff and entered this season with a tenuous quarterback situation, which became more dire after starter Hauss Hejny broke his foot in the opener. The team’s first home loss to Tulsa since 1951, which followed a 69-3 destruction at the hands of Oregon, spelled the end for Gundy, who was the winningest coach in Oklahoma State history and led his alma mater to nine AP top-20 finishes between 2008 and 2021.
• Top candidates, transfers and recruits to watch• How the Gundy era came to an end• Wetzel: Gundy dug in his heels and got left behind
Out: DeShaun Foster (5-10, two seasons) | Fired Sept. 14
Less than two years after promoting Foster, a standout running back at UCLA and in the NFL, from assistant to head coach, he was sent packing following a disastrous 0-3 start to the season. A solid finish to last season and an offseason highlighted by the transfer addition of quarterback Nico Iamaleava had generated newfound excitement around the program. But then the games began, and it was ugly right away as the Bruins lost to Utah, UNLV and New Mexico by a combined 108-43.
• Top candidates, transfers and recruits to watch
Out: Brent Pry (16-24, four seasons) | Fired Sept. 14
Pry entered the year on the hot seat after the Hokies finished 6-6 in each of the past two regular seasons, and though losses to South Carolina (24-11) and Vanderbilt (44-20) didn’t help his cause, an embarrassing 45-26 home defeat to in-state rival Old Dominion was the last straw. The defeat left Virginia Tech 0-3 for the first time since 1987, the first year of Frank Beamer’s 29-year run that put the Hokies on the map nationally.
• Top candidates, transfers and recruits to watch
Out: Troy Taylor (6-18, two seasons) | Fired March 25
Taylor was dismissed a week after ESPN reported that two outside firms had found he bullied and belittled female athletic staffers, sought to have an NCAA compliance officer removed after she warned him of rules violations and repeatedly made “inappropriate” comments to another woman about her appearance. Veteran NFL coach Frank Reich was hired as interim coach, with Stanford conducting a search for a replacement following this season.
Out: Trent Bray (5-14, two seasons) | Fired Oct. 12
Bray was dismissed with the Beavers winless in their first seven games. It was the worst start for Oregon State since 1991, when it started 0-10. Bray, an all-Pac-12 player at Oregon State in 2005, was promoted to head coach after Jonathan Smith left for Michigan State following the 2023 season.
Out: Jay Norvell (18-26, four seasons) | Fired Oct. 19
Norvell was dismissed after the Rams fell to 2-5 following a loss to Hawai’i. He came to Colorado State from Nevada, where he went 33-26 and guided teams to four consecutive bowl appearances. Colorado State has one winning season since 2017, which came last fall when the team went 8-5 and reached the Arizona Bowl.
Out: Trent Dilfer (9-21, three seasons) | Fired Oct. 12
Dilfer, a 14-year NFL quarterback, was fired after UAB lost its third straight game, 53-33 at Florida Atlantic, to fall to 2-4 on the season. Dilfer was a surprising choice to take over the Blazers following the 2022 season. He had never coached in college and his only experience had come during a highly successful four-year stint at Lipscomb Academy, a private high school in Nashville, Tennessee, from 2019 to 2022.
Out: Kenni Burns (1-23, two seasons) | Fired April 15
Burns was fired for multiple violations of university policies, including how he used a personal credit card. He was placed on administrative leave with pay March 27, a couple of days before the start of spring practice. Former offensive coordinator Mark Carney is interim coach for the 2025 season.
