College Football’s Coaching Carousel Has Officially Gone Off the Rails
If you thought the 2021 coaching cycle was wild - with Brian Kelly’s abrupt exit from Notre Dame, Lincoln Riley’s Hollywood move to USC, and Gary Patterson’s “resignation” from TCU - 2025 just said, “Hold my headset.”
This year’s coaching chaos has taken the usual madness and turned it into something bigger, messier, and frankly, harder to watch. It’s become a spectacle where the off-field drama is starting to eclipse the actual football. And nowhere is that more evident than in the Lane Kiffin saga.
Lane Kiffin’s LSU Jump: The Breaking Point
Kiffin leaving Ole Miss for LSU isn’t just another coach chasing a bigger paycheck. It’s a top-six team in the country, with a legitimate shot at the College Football Playoff, losing its head coach before the postseason even kicks off. That’s not just disruptive - it’s unprecedented.
According to Kiffin, he asked Ole Miss to let him finish out the season and coach the Rebels through their playoff run. He claimed his players were fully behind him.
But Ole Miss wasn’t having it. And honestly, how could they?
Think about it: an SEC coach asking to stick around and lead his team into the postseason while already working for another SEC school. That’s not just a conflict of interest - it’s a loyalty paradox.
You can’t be in two locker rooms at once. You can’t wear two sets of colors.
And in this case, you can’t coach for two rival schools in the same conference.
This isn’t about whether Kiffin has the right to leave. Of course he does.
But asking to stay and coach Ole Miss after signing on with LSU? That’s like trying to finish dinner with your ex while texting your new date under the table.
Sonny Dykes Knows the Game - Because He Played It
Back in 2021, Sonny Dykes was at SMU, leading a strong campaign in the American Athletic Conference. Behind the scenes?
He was in talks with both TCU and Texas Tech. It’s standard practice in college football - coaches balancing current responsibilities while eyeing greener pastures.
But that doesn’t make it any less awkward.
SMU tried to keep him. Offered more money.
But Dykes wanted a bigger stage. The final two games of that season - both losses - felt like the air had already left the room.
By the time SMU played its last home game, it was basically public knowledge that Dykes was heading to Fort Worth.
He didn’t coach SMU’s bowl game. He didn’t ask to. And while he’s still not exactly welcomed back on the Hilltop with open arms, at least he didn’t try to do both jobs at once.
Eric Morris Shows There’s a Better Way
Contrast that with Eric Morris, the North Texas head coach who recently accepted the Oklahoma State job. UNT and OSU are both on board with Morris finishing the season with the Mean Green, including the AAC title game and potential playoff games. That’s a Group of Five program losing a coach to a Power Five job, but doing it with transparency and mutual respect.
There’s a key difference here: Morris isn’t jumping to a direct rival. And he’s not trying to have it both ways. Everyone involved - UNT, OSU, and Morris himself - is on the same page.
That’s how it can work when egos and agendas don’t get in the way.
The NCAA’s Wild West Approach Isn’t Helping
One of the biggest issues here is the complete lack of structure around coaching hires in college football. The NFL has rules.
There’s a hiring window, protocols, and a calendar that makes sense. College football?
It’s the Wild West.
Programs fire coaches in September, search firms start making calls before the ink dries, and agents are already lining up interviews while teams are in the middle of a playoff push. All of this happens while players are juggling classes, transfer portal decisions, and postseason prep.
As Sonny Dykes put it: “There’s a lot of factors at play here. It’s not easy, it’s very complex, very complicated. And so we have what we have right now, which is a mess.”
He’s not wrong. The calendar is a disaster.
Coaching changes are happening earlier and earlier, bleeding into the academic year, recruiting windows, and postseason play. And the result?
A system that’s not good for anyone - not the players, not the coaches, not the schools.
What Now?
There may not be a perfect solution. But there has to be a better one than this.
Right now, the coaching carousel is spinning so fast it’s hard to tell where the game ends and the business begins. And that’s the problem. When the headlines are more about buyouts, agents, and backroom deals than touchdowns and trophies, something’s off.
College football is supposed to be about the game - the passion, the rivalries, the Saturday pageantry. But when coaches are hopping off the ride mid-season, chasing bigger jobs while their current teams are still fighting for titles, it sends the wrong message.
The sport doesn’t need to stop evolving. But it does need a reset. Because right now, it’s hard to tell where the game is headed - and who, if anyone, is still steering the ship.