College football coaching carousel tracker: Grades, analysis on coach changes, 2025-26 firings and hirings
A running list of every open job in what's already been a historic season of turnover
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3 min read
A record-breaking spin on the coaching carousel is already underway across college football.
We're up to five openings in the power conferences midway through the 2025 season -- and that doesn't count Stanford, where Frank Reich was named interim coach in March. Only five power jobs came open all of last season, when 30 total jobs (25 in the Group of 6) were filled.
Overall, the two years leading up to this cycle (2025-26) were the most hectic we've seen this century, with a total of 61 programs changing head coaches. That means an incredible 44.9% of FBS teams changed leadership during a two-year span. That number will skyrocket this fall and winter.
CBS Sports is tracking every move in the 2025-26 cycle and grading each hire below.
College football coaching carousel
| Team | In | Out | Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Troy Taylor | Stanford fired Taylor amid allegations of mistreating female staffers. Taylor posted a 6-18 record in two seasons with the program after coming to Palo Alto after a successful run at Sacramento State. He lost eight of last nine games. The Cardinal hired Frank Reich to serve as interim coach, which reunites him and Stanford general manager Andrew Luck; Reich coached Luck with the Indianapolis Colts for one season in 2018. | |
 | DeShaun Foster | UCLA Foster only three games into his second season. The former All-American running back with the Bruins fished his tenure with a 5-10 record, including 3-6 in Big Ten matchups. | |
 | Brent Pry | Pry's tenure at Virginia Tech came to an end following his team's 0-3 start. The decision came after the Hokies' 45-26 home loss to Old Dominion , which was the third straight by double digits. The Hokies were never ranked in the three-plus years of Pry's tenure as coach. Pry's predecessor, Justin Fuente, went 43-31 at Virginia Tech, but was fired after going 10-11 in his final two seasons at the helm. | |
 | Mike Gundy | Oklahoma State outsted Gundy after he spent more than two decades at the helm of the Cowboys. The move ended a tenure that once positioned the program among the Big 12's elite. Gundy, 58, was the second-longest tenured FBS coach. He departed after a steep decline during the past two seasons, including a 3-9 record in 2024 and a 1-2 start to 2025. | |
 | Trent Bray | Oregon State fired Bray seven games into his winless second season leading the program. The Beavers dropped to 0-7 with Week 7's 39-14 loss to Wake Forest , which marked their fourth double-digit defeat of the year. Bray's first year in his new post got off to a decent start. The Beavers went 4-1 through the first half of the 2024 regular season, with their only loss coming against Oregon, the eventual Big Ten champion. But Oregon State spiraled to 1-6 down the stretch, causing it to miss a bowl game. | |
 | Sam Pittman | Arkansas ' decision came following a 56-13 loss to Notre Dame and a week after the Razorbacks squandered an 18-point lead on the road at Memphis Situated on one of college football's hottest seats entering his sixth season at the program, Pittman finishes 32-34 overall at Arkansas, including a 14-29 mark against SEC competition. Since finishing 9-4 overall and finding a spot inside the final AP Top 25 poll to conclude the 2021 season, the Razorbacks sputtered under Pittman's guidance despite a bevy of coaching staff changes and roster alterations annually in recruiting and through the transfer portal. | |
 | Trent Dilfer | UAB moved on from Dilfer six games into his third season with the Blazers. UAB's decision came just one day after the team dropped to 2-4 on the year in a 53-33 loss to FAU. Dilfer was on track for a third straight losing season with the Blazers. All four of their losses this year came by at least 14 points and only one of their wins came against an FBS opponent. | |
 | James Franklin | Penn State fired Franklin six games into his 12th season with the Nittany Lions -- amid a disastrous three-game slide. The No. 2 team in the preseason AP Top 25 just two months ago, the Nittany Lions slipped to 0-3 in Big Ten play following a stunning 22-21 home loss to Northwestern in Week 7 -- a game in which they were a three-touchdown favorite. The massive upset was Penn State's second in a row after falling at previously winless UCLA on Oct. 4, making it the first FBS team since 1978 to lose back-to-back games as favorites of at least 20 points. |
