As the season gets rolling, the coaching carousel is ready to start spinning. A few Week 1 surprises could send some major programs into a search, and the names waiting in the wings may already be taking shape. Three coaches stand out as possible answers when the next big job opens up.
Jedd Fisch has already surfaced in multiple major searches, including Michigan and Florida, and his stock looks plenty healthy after the quick turnaround he delivered at Arizona and a solid season at Washington. In a sport where offense sells, that kind of profile tends to travel well. Coaches with that kind of flash are going to stay in demand in a financial era where points help sell tickets and drive attention.
Florida State could be one job to watch for Fisch. He graduated from Florida and coached at Miami, which makes that opening an especially interesting fit.
But he would not be limited to the state of Florida. A west coast vacancy could also put him in the mix.
Mario Cristobal’s arrival at Miami may have changed the outlook there, but Mike Elko’s rise at Duke has made Manny Diaz look like a coach whose path is trending upward again. Diaz went from losing the Miami job after three seasons to helping get Duke moving in the right direction, and his 18-8 record in Durham sends a clear message about what he can do.
He has also built a résumé as an assistant in the SEC, Big Ten, and ACC, which only strengthens the sense that athletic directors know exactly what kind of coach they’d be getting. That kind of track record tends to keep a name in circulation when bigger jobs open.
Kalani Sitake belongs in the conversation for a different reason, but the result is the same: athletic directors know him. He has been an excellent match at BYU, where he is both an alum and a Mormon. Even so, a job at a school without the same character requirements the Cougars face could make him an even more attractive hire.
Sitake is 84-45 at BYU and has posted four double-digit win seasons in the last six years. Because most of his coaching career has been on the west coast, he could be a natural fit if Lincoln Riley leaves USC or if Washington needs to replace Fisch.
In Other News...
FSU Football Is About To Wear Something Fans Never Had To See
Florida State is set to take another visible step into the new era of college sports sponsorship, with Florida State Athletics and Kin Insurance announcing a four-year partnership beginning with the 2026-27 season. The deal will make Kin the preferred insurance partner of FSU Athletics and extend well beyond football, reaching 17 additional Seminole teams as the athletic department keeps broadening its commercial reach under the NCAAs updated rules.
The most noticeable change for fans will come on the football side, where the Kin logo is scheduled to appear as a jersey patch during the ACC opener against SMU. It is the kind of uniform addition that would have felt unthinkable not long ago, but now it is part of the evolving business of major college athletics, and Florida State is moving early in a space that is likely to keep growing. [Read more 🡒]
FSU Just Made A Branding Move Fans Will Definitely Debate
Florida States athletic department is stepping into a new era of visible sponsorship, announcing a multi-year partnership with Kin Insurance that will put the companys logo on uniforms across 18 sports programs. The deal makes Kin the first brand to show up as a jersey patch sponsor for the Seminoles, with the placement set to begin Sept. 7 and extend beyond football to the rest of FSUs athletic department.
For a school with one of the more recognizable brands in college sports, the move is bound to spark some conversation among fans who have long associated Florida State uniforms with tradition first. Kin, a Florida-based company best known for home and auto insurance, brings a local angle to the partnership, and its biggest market is already the state where the Seminoles compete for attention. The broader question now is how the patch will look, feel and be received once its on game uniforms across so many different sports. [Read more 🡒]
Florida State Just Made A Change Fans Never Expected On Uniforms
Florida State is making a uniform change that would have sounded far-fetched not long ago. The university announced a four-year jersey patch sponsorship deal with Kin Insurance, and the companys logo will appear on Seminoles football jerseys for the first time, with the same branding also set to show up on uniforms for 17 other FSU athletic teams.
The patch is slated to make its debut against SMU on September 7, giving fans an early look at a new era of visible corporate branding across the athletic department. For a program with one of the sports most recognizable looks, the change is notable not just because of where the logo will go, but because it opens the door to a kind of sponsorship many fans never expected to see on the Seminoles game jerseys. [Read more 🡒]