The 2021-22 college football coaching carousel was a blockbuster event headlined by landscape-shifting moves by some of the biggest brands in the sport. It wasn’t just that programs like Florida, LSU and USC were looking for replacements for fired head coaches. Those openings created a domino effect that led to openings at several other blue bloods.
Then-Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley emphatically denied reporters’ suggestions that he was going to LSU in a postgame press conference and he stuck to his word — sort of. The next day, news broke that he was headed west to USC. Brian Kelly was just one year removed from a second CFP appearance at Notre Dame when he decided to take the aforementioned LSU job.
Miami did its best to inspire the memories of champions past by bringing home Mario Cristobal, and then Oregon tapped into Kirby Smart’s Georgia tree to offer a young Dan Lanning his first shot as a head coach. Notre Dame promoted defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman instead of making an outside hire, and Florida finally landed on a rising star out of the Sun Belt named Billy Napier.
The twists and turns were dizzying, and when we finally got the 2022 seasons started with all the pieces in new places it was obvious we had reached a new chapter for the coaching landscape. Three years later, we return to grade each coach’s tenure — at least of the ones who completed three years on the job.
Coaches like Mike Elko, Kalen DeBoer, Jake Dickert and Jon Sumrall were so good that they’ve already been hired away to other programs. Others have been fired or opted for retirement from the head coaching ranks, leaving us with just 19 coaches who have completed Year 3 and are preparing for Year 4 in 2025.
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