College Football Coaching Carousel Picking Up Pace Heading Into Bowl Season

November 24, 2021 by Staff

A number of major college football programs are searching for new head coaches. College football programs such as USC, LSU, Washington, and Virginia Tech are some of the major schools seeking new coaches to lead them forward.

It is believed that major college football programs with coaching vacancies have chosen the worst possible time to fire their head coaches, however. There is a low number of available, quality coaches in the market. The number of quality coaches does not current meet the number of jobs available. Fans of college football and NCAA bettors should read this bet365 review before wagering on next week’s football games as bowl season approaches.

The USC Trojans were the first major college football program to make a coaching change in midseason. USC fired coach Clay Helton after a mere two games. The LSU Tigers announced head coach Ed Orgeron’s departure for the end of the season back in October. His dismissal came due to on and off-field issues just two seasons after winning the NCAA championship. In October, Washington State sacked Nick Rolovich and Texas Tech let go Matt Wells.

In November, more head coaching jobs opened up around the NCAA. The Washington Huskies fired coach Jimmy Lake and Virginia Tech let go Justin Fuente. The increasing number of NCAA football coaches to be fired in midseason is alarming, most due to collegiate sports’ historically waiting until the end of a season to make personnel moves. However, the large sums of money now available for college football programs has made it paramount that schools change head coaches and make alternations midseason.

Candidates for the job openings include Baylor's Dave Aranda, Coastal Carolina's Jamey Chadwell, Louisiana's Billy Napier, and Cincinnati's Luke Fickell. With the Cicinnati Bearcats now ranked third in the nation, coaches such as Fickell may not have any reason to leave for the violent waters of a power five school.

Aranda, who worked as LSU’s defensive coordinator before taking over at Baylor, is receiving heavy interest from Washington and USC. Aranda is an example of just how quickly a college football coach’s stock can increase. In September, Aranda’s record was 4-7. In late November, Baylor are 9-2 and coming off of huge wins over Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas State. Due to Aranda’s “west coast roots” it is possible he will leave Baylor at the end of the campaign for either of the Pac-12 schools that wants him.

While the coaching carousel has been busy, it could pick up even more in the offseason. Miami Hurricanes coach Manny Diaz is on the hot seat and likely to go. Florida Gators coach Dan Mullen is already gone. Even his press conferences have been disasters after SEC losses. Ex-Indianapolis Colts coach Herm Edwards has had a questionable spell at Arizona State. His time in charge of the Sun Devils could also be on the verge of ending.

NCAA college football programs are changing coaches more and more quickly. Even with a number of firings in midseason, the offseason is likely to see far more changes once the bowl season kicks off in mid-December.