The American Athletic Conference Championship is set for December 5 in New Orleans, but the real headline isn't just Tulane vs. North Texas-it’s the surreal coaching carousel that’s turned the title game into something of a college football paradox.
Tulane’s Jon Sumrall and North Texas’ Eric Morris have guided their programs to the top of the Group of Five, earning a shot at the College Football Playoff. But here’s the twist: both coaches have already accepted jobs elsewhere.
Sumrall is headed to Florida, and Morris is on his way to Oklahoma State. That means the two men leading their teams into one of the biggest games of the season are also preparing to lead entirely different programs in 2026.
It’s a strange dynamic, and no one’s pretending otherwise. Sumrall, for example, participated in the American Conference’s championship press conference via video from Gainesville-yes, that Gainesville-where he had just been introduced as Florida’s new head coach. One moment he was answering questions as Tulane’s leader, the next he was fielding queries about his future with the Gators.
“When do you sleep?” Sumrall joked. And honestly, it’s a fair question.
This coaching shuffle isn’t limited to just Tulane and North Texas. The American is losing four head coaches to Power Five jobs.
USF’s Alex Golesh is taking over at Auburn, and Memphis’ Ryan Silverfield has accepted the Arkansas job. It’s a wave of departures that reflects the chaotic nature of this year’s coaching cycle-and the growing reputation of the American as a proving ground for elite coaching talent.
American Athletic Conference commissioner Tim Pernetti didn’t sugarcoat the situation. “If you'd given me the choice, and I could wave a magic wand and make the decision, I'd want to keep all four of those guys in the conference,” he said on December 1. “But that’s not the reality of this business.”
Still, Pernetti sees a silver lining. “It’s a positive for the American to see the type of coaching talent we have inside the four walls of the league and the opportunities that are being presented to these coaches,” he added.
And he’s not wrong. The fact that three of these coaches are heading to the SEC and one to the Big 12 says a lot about the kind of football being played in the American-and the kind of coaches it’s producing.
But even with the conference’s rising profile, the timing of all this has created a logistical and emotional mess. Early signing day is December 3, just two days before the title game. That means coaches like Sumrall and Morris are juggling two high-pressure roles: preparing their current teams for a championship and simultaneously trying to hold together recruiting classes at their future schools.
It’s a high-wire act that’s become all too common in today’s college football landscape. Coaches like Golesh and Silverfield have just 72 hours to keep their recruiting classes intact-while some programs don’t even have a head coach in place as signing day looms. It’s a system that’s been stretched to its limits.
Morris didn’t hold back when addressing the issue. “Somebody’s got to get all this stuff under control,” he said.
“It makes no sense at any level that we’re sitting here talking about people that are about to be in the College Football Playoff, a team, and their coach isn’t going to be there to help them get through the whole entire season. It’s not sustainable.”
He’s right. The current model-where coaches are expected to lead one team through a postseason run while building another from scratch-isn’t built to last. And as the American prepares to crown a champion, it does so under a cloud of uncertainty that goes far beyond the outcome of a single game.
Still, Sumrall and Morris will see their current teams through the postseason. That’s no small gesture in a sport where exits are often abrupt and messy. And for Tulane and North Texas, the chance to compete for a playoff spot remains front and center-even if the men leading them already have one foot out the door.
It’s a strange moment for the American, but also a telling one. The league may be losing coaches, but it’s gaining something else: respect. And in the ever-shifting world of college football, that might be the most valuable currency of all.