The four most interesting new college football coaching situations

The college football coaching carousel has been a hot topic this offseason, leading a few big-name coaches to land in intriguing circumstances.

From experienced mentors looking for a fresh start in a new environment to coaches reuniting with former teams in pursuit of past success, here are four coaching situations to keep an eye on this season.

Dan Mullen | UNLV

The days of Dan Mullen staying up late in the ESPN studios analyzing games are over as the former Mississippi State and Florida head coach has ventured out to Las Vegas.

He takes over a UNLV program that saw many key departures largely due to former coach Barry Odom leaving for Purdue. However, Mullen put together one of the better transfer classes throughout the offseason, consisting of 16 former four- and five-star players. This includes former Michigan quarterback Alex Orji and Georgia defensive back Jake Pope.

The Rebels host UCLA on Sept. 6 before making tough trips to Boise State and Colorado State later in the year. If Mullen’s group wins two of those three matchups, he could find his squad in the midst of the College Football Playoff discussion.

Bill Belichick | North Carolina

Legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick has made his way to Chapel Hill to take a stab at the college level, something that no one had on their 2025 bingo card.

What will the Tar Heels look like this year? Well, not much is known about this mysterious team at the moment.

South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez looks to be the favorite for the starting quarterback job, but Max Johnson is still hungry for a chance after going down with a season-ending leg injury in Week 1 last year. Running back Davion Gause has big shoes to fill after Omarion Hampton’s 1,600-yard 2024 campaign, and it doesn’t help that the offense lost skilled tackle Howard Sampson to the transfer portal.

If UNC gets by TCU on Labor Day, the Tar Heels could wind up undefeated heading into a home game against Clemson. They also avoid Miami, SMU, Louisville and Georgia Tech the rest of the way.

It seems like either a 4-8 or 9-3 season is on the horizon — no in-between.

Scott Frost | UCF

After his failed stint at Nebraska, Scott Frost is back in Orlando looking to repeat the success he had the first time around at UCF. The Knights have been the definition of mediocre in recent seasons, and Frost knows that.

Although only one starter returns on offense, Frost struck gold in the portal by finding some explosive players, such as Indiana quarterback Tayven Jackson and Western Michigan running back Jaden Nixon.

While the Knights’ Big 12 slate is a little unforgiving, Frost is determined to get the ship turned around quickly.

Rich Rodriguez | West Virginia

In similar fashion to Frost, Rich Rodriguez makes his grand return to Morgantown alongside some former West Virginia studs such as Pat White, who is now on the Mountaineers’ coaching staff.

With the quarterback battle still up for grabs, the offense will look to lean on its appealing rushing attack led by junior Jahiem White.

New defensive coordinator Zac Alley aims to improve upon a defense that finished third-to-last in the conference last season. To help, a pair of elite defensive backs arrive in town in Nevada’s Michael Coats Jr. and Jacksonville State’s Fred Perry.

If Rodriguez can get all the new faces to work together as a cohesive unit, he’ll have the Mountaineers back on track in no time.