From top to bottom, college football has never seen more coaching changes: Study shows unprecedented turnover
The new era of college athletics has ushered in a job market that's never been busier.
The last two years have been the most hectic on the coaching carousel with a total of 61 programs changing head coaches, including 30 during the most recent 2024-25 cycle. That represents an incredible 44.9% of FBS teams changing leadership in less than two calendar years. With those changes at the top come a flood of moves among assistant coaches, too, and unsurprisingly, that number hit 550 total changes this offseason, according to research done by CBS Sports.
The chaotic world of NIL contracts and the transfer portal is fueling the brunt of the turnover as coaches struggle to keep up with the workflow.
"Coaches, by and large, can adapt to a lot of situations but what is challenging is the changing landscape, between roster management and the pending House case being finalized, and the number of players with the ability to transfer," said AFCA president Craig Bohl.
In a four-year span, a staggering 2,163 on-field coaches have changed jobs. The dizzying turnover is likely to have a trickle-down effect on the on-field product as a rotating cast of coaches teach a rotating cast of players -- and that's after the NFL plucks those it deems the best and brightest.
Bohl hears from coaches every day about the challenges they face and has been more proactive over the last two years, campaigning to change the sport's rules and regulations. The AFCA proposed changes to the recruiting calendar last year and received approval, and programs are now allowed to hire an unlimited number of on-field coaches to help lessen the workload.
2024-25 COACHING CAROUSEL| Category | Count | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Hires/promotions | 550 | +4% |
| Head coaches | 30 | -3.2% |
| Offensive coordinators | 57 | -5% |
| Defensive coordinators | 54 | -10% |
| Average hires per team | 4.1 | +5.1% |
| FCS to FBS | 89 | +27.1% |
| Division II/III or NAIA to FBS | 9 | +200% |
| High school to FBS | 5 | +150% |
| Support staff to on-field promotions | 138 | +30.2% |
This year, the association has proposed shrinking the transfer portal from two windows totaling 45 days to one 10-day window in January or in the spring. The association will also soon send a proposal to an NCAA subcommittee to evaluate a more flexible spring practice schedule, which would pave the way for 15 practices and six additional organized team activities to be used at schools' discretion.
The five-year court battle in the landmark House v. NCAA antitrust case is expected to receive final approval in federal court soon. If approved, the $2.8 billion settlement will allow new roster limits and revenue-sharing of up to $20.5 million between schools and players starting July 1.
Until then, chaos reigns and coaches are finding it difficult to stick around at one school.
"Right now, it just seems like the goal post keeps moving every week," Bohl said. "That's troubling for coaches. They're unbelievably resourceful, they care about the players, they care about the game. We're just looking for some stability and clarity, and right now we're challenged with that."
Our annual Coaching Carousel Audit began in an era when programs were allowed to hire one head coach and 10 on-field coaches. The NCAA now allows an unlimited number of on-field coaches, but for the sake of year-to-year consistency with the data in this study, we identified changes among head coaches and the top 10 assistants on each staff for the 2024-25 cycle.
Deep in the data are many evolving trends, including the continued exodus of college coaches for the NFL and support staffers taking their place on the field. Let's take a look at the data and what it means.
Hires by conference| Conference | Hires/promotions | Change (YOY) |
|---|---|---|
AAC | 78 | +90.2% |
Conference USA | 76 | +58.3% |
Big 12 | 64 | +28% |
Mountain West | 64 | +3.2% |
MAC | 61 | +60.5% |
ACC | 57 | +26.7% |
Big Ten | 57 | -34.5% |
Sun Belt | 48 | -22.6% |
SEC | 29 | -62.4% |
Pac-12 | 13 | +18.2% |
Independent | 3 | -62.4% |
Every head coach from last season returns to the SEC, marking only the third time since 2006 that the league has had no turnover atop its programs. That's excellent news for those who survived the hot seat in 2024, but it certainly doesn't translate to safe harbor this fall.
Incredibly, only 29 assistant coaches changed jobs in the SEC during the cycle, the lowest total among all active conferences. History says the stability will be short-lived.
Arkansas' Sam Pittman, Florida's Billy Napier and Vanderbilt's Clark Lea jumped off their hot seats last season with trips to bowl games. Lea should be marked as safe after an excellent seven-win season at the SEC's toughest job; the pressure is still on Pittman and Napier to deliver.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma and Auburn have hit an inflection point. Auburn coach Hugh Freeze needs to at least push the Tigers to a bowl game in his third season to remain on steady ground. Brent Venables's stock fell considerably in the Sooners' first season in the SEC, and he went all-in via the transfer portal to fix the offense with the addition of quarterback John Mateer and new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle.
Kentucky's Mark Stoops, entering his 13th year, is in an interesting era of his career following a four-win season and a second straight transfer portal whiff quarterback. His flirtation with Texas A&M after the 2023 season doesn't help, either. And how will LSU's brass react if Brian Kelly falls short of a 10-win season for the second straight time?
The Big 12 has offered the best job security over the last four years, but the tide is turning. The conference tied for the third-highest turnover in this cycle (64) as Mike Gundy cleaned house following a disappointing 3-9 season at Oklahoma State, replacing 10 coaches. West Virginia also hired Rich Rodriguez for his second stint in Morgantown. He hired 10 new coaches as well.
Still, over a four-year span, the Big 12 has had only 184 coaching changes, tying the MAC for the lowest mark among active conferences.
The Big Ten leads the country with 259 changes over the last four years, averaging 65 changes each cycle.
The NFL brain drain continuesOnly 32 NFL teams mean fewer jobs are available, but the pros continue to outpace college football in the coaching exchange during the carousel season.
Thirty-two college coaches left for NFL jobs, down slightly from the 34 defections a year ago. Meanwhile, the pipeline from the NFL to the FBS has slowed, dropping for a third straight year with 18 defections compared to 23 last year.
"I wanted to go somewhere with more development and less ego in order to grow and become a more well-rounded coach," a coach who left for an NFL job this season told CBS Sports.
Indeed, there are more job responsibilities in the FBS. From game planning to recruiting and the transfer portal, the list of grievances among college coaches is long, but is it it leading to more coaches leaving the business? That's up for debate, but the numbers show a trend of an increasing defections for the NFL.
"NFL lifestyle is definitely better," said a coach who left the NFL for a college job in the offseason. "The NFL has a great offseason schedule and is only getting better. I feel like the NFL has taken a more four-day work week during the offseason and encouraged more days to work from home since COVID showed everybody it's possible."
Bowling Green head coach Scot Loeffler was among the notable defections for the NFL. He left the school after six seasons on Feb. 28, a late move in the carousel cycle. Ten FBS play-callers left for the NFL, led by Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly and Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden, who faced off in the College Football Playoff national championship in late January.
Twenty assistants from power conferences accounted for the 32 departures. Most of the hires from the NFL ranks could be considered promotions. Eleven support staffers from the NFL were among the 18 hires in college football.
"I'd make the move back to college," a coach told CBS Sports, "but when I return, I want to be prepared to be a (Power Four) head coach."
The FBS hired 21 coaches from the pros, including the UFL and European League of Football.
Conference-on-conference crimeBig Ten teams raided their rivals for coordinators, hiring nine assistants from the conference to serve as play-callers.
That list is led by defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who jumped ship to Penn State days after helping Ohio State to a national title. Five offensive coordinators were hired within the conference, though three were promoted from the same staff.
There were 36 play-callers hired within the same conference across the 10 leagues.
Overall, Conference USA led the way with 18 new play-callers, including 10 defensive coordinators. The ACC led the power conferences with nine defensive coordinators, and the conference's three premier programs (Clemson, Florida State and Miami) all made a change after ranking 49th or lower in scoring.
Intra-conference hires| Conference | Hires/promotions |
|---|---|
Mountain West | 20 |
Big Ten | 20 |
Big 12 | 18 |
Sun Belt | 13 |
MAC | 11 |
AAC | 10 |
Conference USA | 9 |
ACC | 9 |
SEC | 8 |
Pac-12 | 2 |
Fifty-three assistants from the Group of 6 schools, including Oregon State and Washington State, were elevated to jobs in the four power conferences. That's a year-to-year decline of 31.2%.
West Virginia led the charge when Rich Rodriguez brought aboard seven such coaches, including five who followed him from Jacksonville State. Wake Forest coach Jake Dickert hired seven as well, including three who followed him from Washington State.
Over the last several years, Mike Gundy has made a habit of hiring coaches from smaller schools and did so again with five position coaches from the Group of 6. Utah's Kyle Whittingham hired four, including New Mexico offensive coordinator Jason Beck. Beck also brought along New Mexico quarterback Devon Dampier to Salt Lake City.
Two power schools managed to snag new coordinators and quarterbacks from smaller schools in the offseason: Utah (Beck and Dampier) and Oklahoma (Washington State offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and quarterback John Mateer).
Power schools hired six offensive coordinators from the G6. Interestingly, only one coach from a small school was hired as defensive coordinator: Purdue's Mike Scherer, who followed head coach Barry Odom from UNLV.
Support staffers continue to excelWant to become a coach? Get your foot in the door as a support staffer. For the fourth consecutive year, the promotion rate jumped for off-field coaches landing gigs on the field.
A record number 138 off-field coaches (analysts, graduate assistants, quality control, strength coaches, etc.), were promoted in the offseason, representing 25.1% of all hires in the FBS.
SEC support staffers had the most success with 36 landing on-field coaching gigs. The 36 promotions exceed the 29 overall hires made in the SEC this year, as most former SEC analysts landed jobs outside the conference.
The Big 12 provided a launching pad for 21 support staffers and the Big Ten had 18.
Over the last four years, a total of 436 support staffers have been elevated to on-field coaching roles.
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