Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football, where Taron Dickens of Western Carolina redefined what it means for a quarterback to be in a zone, completing 46 consecutive passes and 53 out of 56 in the Catamounts’ victory over Wofford. First Quarter: When Your Top Five Team Turns Into a Dumpster Fire.
Other than the Bill Belichick bombshell, last year’s coaching carousel was pretty uneventful. That is poised to change, with four power-conference jobs currently open and many others hanging in the balance. Buckle up.
The Dash takes a walk on the wildest possible side, with a 49% unserious domino theory that could send the sport completely into orbit. Read it in the spirit with which it was written:
Step one: UCLA (11) hires Kalani Sitake away from BYU. Sitake is 77–43 with the Cougars, with three seasons of double-digit victories and perhaps another one on the way this season. The current BYU team is 5–0 and a threat to win the Big 12. In addition to a proven record, Sitake has a big personality that would play well in Los Angeles.
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The opening creates the first of a few big escape moves (12): Steve Sarkisian to BYU. Sark is an alum who may be feeling the weight of the Texas job weighing on him if this season continues trending negatively for the Longhorns. Wealthy BYU alums have shown real vigor in the NIL market, in both football and basketball, which could be an additional attraction for a coach looking to get away and into something different. (Five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons has committed for 2026.)
In response, Texas (13) does what comes naturally: hires Lane Kiffin away from Ole Miss. Replacing one offensive savant with perhaps a better one, Kiffin is viewed as the quarterback whisperer who can unlock Arch Manning. (This also saves Kiffin the trouble of trying to talk Manning into entering the transfer portal and following familial footsteps to Ole Miss.)
Kiffin’s departure, in turn, opens the way for the second big escape move: James Franklin flees Penn State for Mississippi. He would prefer Florida, but we’ll get to that in a minute. It’s clearly time for Franklin to get out of increasingly Unhappy Valley, and his 24–15 record at Vanderbilt stands as testament to his ability to win the SEC without many advantages.
(Franklin could perhaps relocate to Wisconsin, but let’s presume a vacancy there might be filled by Jim Leonhard or Pat Fitzgerald. Or he could go to Northwestern, should it open. But if he can’t beat the Big Ten’s best at Penn State, he’s not going to do it there.)
Next up: Matt Rhule departs Nebraska (14) for Penn State. As of early October, Indiana’s Curt Cignetti looks like the more attractive candidate. But Rhule is 14 years younger, and by the time he brings the 8–2 Cornhuskers to State College, Pa., on Nov. 22, it will be an open job audition for the 1997 Penn State alum. Win the game, call the moving trucks—sending Franklin out and Rhule in. (It’s also a more entertaining domino game with the Nebraska job open than Indiana.)
With a vacancy in Lincoln, Neb., Missouri (15) suffers one more loss to Nebraska in a history full of them—Eli Drinkwitz departs for the Land of Corn. Drink is a savvy portal operator and a relentless recruiter, both necessary traits at Nebraska. Mizzou athletic director Laird Veatch backfills by landing the guy he promoted at Memphis, Ryan Silverfield, although he has to wait out a Memphis appearance in the College Football Playoff to make it official.
Meanwhile, there is other action in the SEC and ACC.
Rhett Lashlee leaves SMU for Arkansas (16), which finally gets over its Bobby Petrino addiction. The Razorbacks try to throw chicken money at a few other candidates but end up with the best man for the job. SMU follows suit by trying to money-whip everyone from Dabo Swinney to Kellen Moore, but end up landing Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson.
Elsewhere in the SEC, embattled coaches at Auburn and Kentucky make escape moves of their own. Hugh Freeze contemplates trying to make the Senior Tour as a golfer, but ends up taking Memphis instead. Mark Stoops becomes the defensive coordinator at Ohio State after Matt Patricia goes back to the NFL. (Patricia follows Chip Kelly’s highly successful, one-and-done coordinator dance in Columbus, Ohio.)
That allows the Wildcats to hire Bluegrass State native Will Stein (17), the Oregon offensive coordinator. Auburn lands Alex Golesh from South Florida, who has to listen to booster entreaties to bring back Kevin Steele, Curtis Luper and Petrino as assistant coaches.
The Kentucky fans want former Wildcat Jon Sumrall from Tulane. But by the time Stoops departs and creates a vacancy, Sumrall is already the head coach at North Carolina (18). Chapel Bill Belichick realizes he made a massive error in trying the college thing and limps out after one terrible season. That allows Carolina to do what it should have done—and nearly did—last year in hiring Sumrall.
(Tulane, in turn, offers its general manager job to Cooper Manning if Arch will transfer to his hometown team. The Mannings decline.)
The other ACC vacancy is filled by Ricky Rahne at Virginia Tech, who brings talented quarterback Colton Joseph with him from Old Dominion.
What, you ask, about Florida (19)? After being fired in the court of public opinion every September since taking the job, Billy Napier survives again. This will disappoint a segment of the fan base, not to mention Franklin and Drinkwitz. But suppose the following happens …
Napier follows up the upset of Texas with a win at Texas A&M; a takedown of nemesis Georgia; a win at Ole Miss as a distracted Kiffin plots his Texas move; a triumph over Tennessee; a beatdown of spiraling rival Florida State; and a berth in the SEC championship game. If a guy can go 9–3 against that schedule you have to keep him … right?
And then, just as the smoke starts to clear and the ground stops shaking, there is this: The NFL comes calling for Marcus Freeman (20) in late January. Notre Dame opens, and the entire nation braces to see who becomes the new coach of the Fighting Irish. (It won’t be Brian Kelly.)
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