2023-24 College football coaching change tracker: Who’s out, who’s in?

The coaching carousel got started early and the Texas A&M Aggies were the first to hop on. Texas A&M fired Jimbo Fisher following a 51-10 win over Mississippi State while he still has a $77 million buyout.

That’s the aggressiveness that we’ll see all over college football with big changes to the conferences and an expanded 12-team College Football Playoff coming in 2024. Teams can’t be patient anymore, so there will be plenty of changes and you can follow each one of them here.

Syracuse

Fired: Head coach, Dino Babers

Interim: Nunzio Campanile

Hired: Fran Brown

Dino Babers coached the Orange to a winning record just twice in his eight years at Syracuse. Babers was let go after Syracuse’s 31-22 loss to Georgia Tech to drop its record to 5-6 and Baber’s career record to 41-55.

Texas A&M

Fired: Head coach, Jimbo Fisher

Interim: Elijah Robinson

Hired: Mike Elko

In 2020, Jimbo Fisher led the Aggies to an 8-1 record and just missed the College Football Playoff, finishing fifth in the final rankings. That was the peak of his six-year tenure in College Station and it earned him a massive extension.

Now, despite the massive buyout, the Aggies are ready to pay Jimbo to hit the road. He never won more than nine games, despite routinely out-recruiting the best programs in the country. There is a lot of money and talent at A&M right now, so the administration will need to move quickly if they hope to keep Jimbo’s loaded roster intact.

Mississippi State

Fired: Head coach, Zach Arnett

Interim: Greg Knox

Hired: Jeff Lebby

Zach Arnett inherited a nearly impossible situation last December after the passing of Mike Leach. New Mississippi State athletic director Zac Selmon is ready for a clean slate in Starkville after just 11 months with Arnett at the helm and only one SEC win.

Boise State

Fired: Head coach, Andy Avalos

Interim: Spencer Danielson

 Hired: Spencer Danielson

Andy Avalos led Boise State to a 10-4 record last season and was named Mountain West Coach of the Year, but a 5-5 start to 2023, just his third season, was enough for Boise State to move on. Avalos went 22-14 over nearly three seasons.

San Diego State

Retired: Head coach, Brady Hoke

Hired: Sean Lewis

Brady Hoke announced on Monday that this will be his final season as the head coach of the San Diego State Aztecs. After a loss in Week 11, SDSU is 3-7 and will miss a bowl game.

Northwestern

Fired with cause: Pat Fitzgerald

Interim: David Braun

Hired: David Braun

Braun inherited a messy situation this offseason and has somehow turned it into a 5-5 record through Week 11 with a chance for the Wildcats to be bowl-eligible. After getting his fifth win in Week 11 against Wisconsin, 24-10, the interim tag was removed from the former defensive coordinator.

Michigan State

Fired with cause: Mel Tucker

Interim: Harlon Barnett

Hired: Jonathan Smith

Tucker was fired earlier this season for violating the ethical conduct portion of his contract at Michigan State.

Michigan State hired Jonathan Smith away from Oregon State after Smith built it up from a two-game winner in 2018 to a 10-game winner in 2022.

Houston

Fired: Dana Holgorsen

Interim: Corby Meekins

Hired: Willie Fritz

Holgerson’s tenure at Houston peaked in 2021 with a 12-2 record, but that success wasn’t sustainable and he was let go after a 4-8 campaign in 2023. Houston’s transition to the Big 12 played a role in the program’s decline, but Houston wants a fresh start amidst the continued realignment.

Indiana

Fired: Tom Allen

Hired: Curt Cignetti

Tom Allen’s best season came in 2020, a pandemic shortened year with Michael Penix Jr. at quarterback. It’s clear now how good Penix Jr. is and was, and Allen was not able to win without him. Indiana went 2-10 in 2021, 4-8 in 2022, and 3-9 in 2023.

Oregon State

Hired away: Jonathan Smith (Michigan State)

Interim: Kefense Hynson

Hired: Trent Bray

Oregon State isn’t just left without a conference as the Pac-12 dissolves into the Pac-2 next season, but the Beavers are without a head coach to guide them through the uncertainty. Smith did a great job building up the program, but another collapse could be on the horizon.

Duke

Hired away: Mike Elko (Texas A&M)

Interim: Trooper Taylor

Hired: N/A

The Duke Blue Devils thought they stumbled into a better version of David Cutcliffe with Mike Elko, a head coach who could provide success and stability at a basketball school. The only problem was that he was a little too good.

Duke went 3-9 in Cutcliffe’s final year, and Elko immediately made the Blue Devils a 9-4 team in 2022. Injuries to Riley Leonard stunted his progress this season, but Texas A&M was sold.

New Mexico

Fired: Danny Gonzales

Hired: N/A

The New Mexico alum, Gonzales, wasn’t able to build up the program in his four-year tenure. This season he went 4-8, and it was his best year. His overall record was 11-32.

UL Monroe

Fired: Terry Bowden

Hired: N/A

Bowden took over a team that went 0-10 in 2020, and he managed to go 4-8 in back-to-back years. This season, he regressed to 2-10, so the administration decided to move on. UL Monroe hasn’t had a winning season since 2012 and has only made one bowl game in its history.

Middle Tennessee State

Fired: Rick Stockstill

Hired: N/A

Stockstill coached MTSU since 2006 and has brought them to a bowl game 10 times. However, his four-win season this year was bad enough for the Blue Raiders to move on.

UTEP

Fired: Dana Dimel

Hired: N/A

Dimel took over a winless UTEP team and went 2-22 from 2018-19, his first two seasons. By 2021, Dimel led the Miners to a bowl game and finished 7-6, the first winning season since 2014. Then he took a step back going 5-7 and 3-9 which led to his firing.

USC

Fired: Defensive coordinator, Alex Grinch

Interim: Brian Odom and Shaun Nau

Hired: N/A

Lincoln Riley brought much-maligned defensive coordinator, Alex Grinch with him from Oklahoma to USC and things went from bad to worse on that side of the football. Riley finally moved on from Grinch after a 52-42 loss to Washington.

Penn State

Fired: Offensive coordinator, Mike Yurcich

Interim: Ja’Juan Seider and Ty Howle

Hired: Andy Kotelnicki

Mike Yurcich is out at Penn State after nearly three seasons and James Franklin will be searching for his sixth offensive coordinator ahead of his 11th season at Penn State. Yurcich was unable to develop five-star sophomore quarterback Drew Allar, who struggled mightily against Michigan in Week 11.

Iowa

Fired: Offensive coordinator, Brian Ferentz

Hired: N/A

Brian Ferentz is finishing out the season as Iowa’s offensive coordinator but has already been pre-fired from his position. He came into the season with a clause in his contract stating that his offense needed to average at least 25 points per game to keep his job. Iowa is 123rd in the country at 18.8 points per game.

Indiana

Fired: Offensive coordinator, Walt Bell

Interim: Rod Carey

Hired: N/A

Indiana’s offense scored a season-high 45 points in a 48-45 loss to Illinois in Week 11.

5 coaches whose jobs will be saved this year by the 12-team CFP in 2024

The College Football Playoff is expanding from four to 12 and that means a lot of coaches who have been kept out of the CFP will get another year to get in.