The opinions published by The Match are solely those of the author and those individuals quoted therein, and not of the entire publication, its staff, or Collegiate School. The Match welcomes thoughtful commentary and response to our content. You can respond in the comments below, but please do so respectfully. Letters to the Editors will be published, but they are subject to revision based on content or length. Letters can be sent to match@collegiate-va.org.

By Crawford Craig

James Franklin in 2021. Photo credit: Tom Wolf via Wikimedia Commons. 

On the morning of October 12, Penn State football fans were stunned by the news alert scrolling across their phone: “Head Coach James Franklin Fired.”

After 12 successful seasons with Penn State and even propelling the Nittany Lions to the College Football Playoffs semifinals last season, Franklin’s team quickly unraveled in recent weeks. Having started the season ranked number two in the country and favored by some to win the national championship, Penn State suffered its third loss in a row on Saturday, Oct. 11, losing narrowly to unranked Northwestern, 22-21. 

The result? Franklin is out, and he walks away with more than $49 million owed to him in his contract. It’s a hefty price for Penn State to pay. But this isn’t a mismanagement of funds. 

The news out of State College, Pennsylvania, might have surprised some college football fans, but Franklin’s firing hasn’t been in isolation. UCLA, Virginia Tech, and Oregon State all fired their coaches this fall. In September, Oklahoma State cast out Mike Gundy after 20 seasons with the Cowboys. Oklahoma State’s Athletic Director Chad Weiberg commented when announcing the firing, “Cowboy Football reached an unprecedented level of success and national prominence under Coach Gundy’s leadership.” Despite decades of commitment, Gundy’s loyalty to the program wasn’t enough to hold his job. 

University leadership doesn’t even pretend that longstanding ties and sentiment matter anymore when it comes to their football programs. Oklahoma State president Jim Hess said in a statement: “This is a decision about what’s best for our football program, our student-athletes and Oklahoma State University, and it reflects our unwavering commitment to championship-level football and competing for national success.” 

College football’s culture is pivoting in real time, and one casualty of this shift is the head coach.

It seems that coaches are slowly being given a shorter and shorter leash to perform as college football adapts to the new landscape of NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) and the transfer portal. With players now able to earn money off their name and switch schools with ease, fanbases and athletic departments alike seem to be losing patience, unwilling to wait around for long-term development. 

According to a Brandon Marcello of CBS Sports, in less than two calendar years, an astonishing 44.9% of NCAA Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) teams got a new head coach. This surge is part of an upward trend: the 2022-2023 cycle saw 24 head coaching changes, which jumped to 32 in 2023-2024 before settling to 30 in 2024-2025. 

These numbers represent a clear pattern. With college football programs making changes faster than ever, coaches are put in tough positions and pressured to win now and fast, leading to even more volatility in the college football landscape.

Blame it on the NIL. Blame it on the transfer portal. You could even blame it on the increased pressure teams face to become contenders for the College Football Playoff due to the new 12-team format.

But these high-stakes changes have been brewing for years, as colleges have made hefty profits. as high as Ohio State’s $1.32 billion in 2024, from high-revenue sports such as football, while hiding behind the illusion that they were running amateur sports programs for student-athletes. 

In a 2020 New York Times opinion piece, John Thompson, Jr., the retired Georgetown University basketball coach, wrote, ”College sports has a lot of hypocrisy. I believe it’s time for the N.C.A.A. to stop pretending that education is its top priority and pay college athletes.” Thompson continued, “The amateurism of big-time college sports is antiquated and needs to be redefined. We shouldn’t act like going to college is a religious experience for everybody.”

Now that college athletes have the ability to negotiate terms, market their name, and transfer schools without penalty, the universities’ priority to make money is on full display. No more hiding.

If colleges are going to run their athletic program like a business, the head coach becomes the CEO. Then, if productivity falls, especially when the customer base is unhappy, the CEO is the first one out the door. 

It’s never been harder to be a coach. Yes, the contracts are substantial, but so are the risks. Gone are the days when buy-outs meant job security, or when coaches’ priorities were top recruitment and team development. 

Instead, coaches now juggle the responsibilities once reserved for a general manager and public relations manager. Not only are they brokering deals in the new NIL era, but they are also keeping the university, boosters, and fans all happy. Additionally, they need to take extra care to retain current players, preventing potential talent loss to the ever-enticing transfer portal. 

And potentially, after one bad play on Saturday, that $30 million buy-out is no longer protection—it’s a reminder that a new head coach could suddenly be coaching your players by Sunday afternoon.

From the players’ perspective, they have more leverage now than they ever have. Not that long ago, if a star cornerback faced a transitioning coaching staff or declines in team performance, he’d have to sit out a year, waiting for permission to enter the transfer pool. Now, if he’s unhappy, he can rewrite his future almost overnight and seek a new team.

So, where does this leave the future of college football? Stuck between old school traditions and modern business transactions. 

Perhaps it means the end of coaching icons and dynasties that lasted decades and nurtured enduring fan loyalty. Think Alabama’s Paul “Bear” Bryant or Nick Saban. Perhaps it means current and future coaches will rally together to shift the power dynamic again, back in their favor.

No matter what comes next, the question isn’t whether another coach will be fired, but whether college football is losing its identity in the process.