For the most part, this head coaching cycle has been uneventful. We mainly saw schools hiring from smaller programs and the typical domino effect that happens … until one major move absolutely stunned the college landscape. Arguably the greatest coach in NFL history now runs a college program that has been starving for consistency.
There have also been some reunions between coaches and schools, and jobs where coaches return to a different program in the state they’ve had professional success. There’s a lot of names you may not know, and a couple I’m sure you’ve heard of before. Despite all the movement and that jaw-dropping hire in Chapel Hill, this hasn’t been as glamorous and chaotic cycle as it has been the last few years — last year, for example, saw three of the four schools that reached the College Football Playoff hire new coaches.
One thing that I’ve noticed about this cycle is that we don’t have that head-scratching hire. Every year seems to have one or more hires that were reaches, but not this year. Every job seems to have been filled by a coach who I truly believe can bring success to their new situation.
So let’s rank how we think the hiring went for the upcoming 2025 season.
