The Group of Six has become an interesting home for coaches around the sport. It’s a level where winning is expected and expectations are often very high, but it’s also a level that consistently has its best coaches poached by the Power Four, where there is more prestige and money.
So, with that in mind, it’s worth looking at those coaching ranks. In particular, those who could be fired or hired away.
Given that the Group of Six includes the American, Mountain West, Pac-12, Sun Belt, C-USA, and MAC, it’s hardly an all-inclusive list of coaches to keep an eye on. However, these are some of the bigger names to keep an eye on.
Could be fired: Jamey Chadwell, Liberty Flames
It’s hard to understate how much of a disappointment Jamey Chadwell has been at Liberty. After making Coastal Carolina a G6 powerhouse, Liberty paid him and invested to take their program to the next level.
That hasn’t happened. Instead, Chadwell has won fewer games in each of his three seasons. That includes a 4-8 in 2025. He can’t afford another bad year.
UTSA is a program that started up in 2011, and in their 15 seasons, the Roadrunners have had three coaches. Jeff Traylor is by far the most successful, with two C-USA Championships.
Now, in the American Conference, Traylor has still had the Roadrunners in bowl games. However, they’ve yet to be a real threat to win the conference. Still, he’s a proven coach with deep ties in Texas who has probably maxed out what UTSA can accomplish.
There are a handful of Sun Belt coaches who could be on the hot seat. Clay Helton, Dell McGee, Major Applewhite, and Gerad Parker are all underperforming. However, for now, the focus is on Dowell Loggains and App State.
At the FCS level, App State was a powerhouse. They’d transitioned to FBS and kept rolling, and had five double-digit win seasons and four conference championships in their first eight years, but it’s been a slide since then. The hope was that Dowell Loggains would turn it around, but he put up a 5-8 with two losses to Georgia Southern.
At this point, Spencer Danielson has been at Boise State since 2017. He worked his way up from a GA to becoming the head coach back in 2023, and since then, he has a 24-8 record with a trip to the College Football Playoff.
Danielson doesn’t need to leave Boise State. He can consistently win the new Pac-12 there and occasionally go to the CFP. However, if he wants a shot at a higher level, then there will be opportunities.
