5 schools who can't afford to fire their terrible college football coaches

Let's be honest, there are plenty of coaches across the landscape of college football who could be on their way out.

As a matter of fact, we're only eight full weeks into the 2024 college footbal season and we're already starting to see coaches fired. On Sunday, both East Carolina (Mike Houston) and Southern Miss (Will Hall) made the decision to fire their head coaches with a little less than half the regular season left.

Of course, they won't be the only ones.

Here's a look at five coaches who could be on their way out, but their respective schools will have to pay quite the financial penalty for that to happen.

1. Mike Norvell (Florida State)

Buyout: $63 million

It shouldn't be surprising to see Mike Norvell leading off this list. Norvell led Florida State to a perfect 13-0 record and an ACC Championship last season, but the Seminoles were excluded from the College Football Playoff. In the Orange Bowl, they were beaten 63-3 by Georgia and that has set up a spiraling out of countrol.

Florida State (1-6) isn't just losing games. The Seminoles look lost, defeated, and undisciplined. When you've got coaches attempting to flex on opposing players along the sidelines and your team looks unmotivated and defeated, you've got a culture problem. Unfortunately, things are much deeper than just that. Mike Norvell has bought into the philosophy of trying to replace his production year-in and year-out with transfers. While it worked in 2023, he fell flat on his face in 2024.

Norvell has just a 32-23 record (.581 winning percentage) and he's going to miss a bowl game for the third time since taking over the program. The problem? Norvell has the third-highest contract buyout in the country ($63 million) and Florida State is already enthralled in a draining legal dispute with the ACC.

Can the Seminoles muster up enough money to keep their legal fights going while paying Norvell's buyout and then bringing in an elite coach? It certainly seems like they'd be hard-pressed to do so.

2. Kalen DeBoer (Alabama)

Buyout: $70 million

Let me clear about one thing: I don't think Kalen DeBoer is a terrible coach. He was a big-time winner at Fresno State and Washington, and he won quickly at those schools. However, there is a growing population of Alabama fans who would disagree with me.

He has been the coach at Alabama for a grand total of seven games, and there are Crimson Tide fans who already want him gone.

DeBoer has already lost two games (Vanderbilt and Tennessee) and the Crimson Tide seem set up to lose even more down the stretch of this season. A simple search on social media will prove that there is already a contingent of Alabama fans who are putting DeBoer on a short leash, but let's be clear: He's not going anywhere.

It was always going to be difficult to be the guy who replaces Nick Saban and DeBoer's leash will likely be very short heading into the 2025 season, but there's no way that Alabama is going to pay the hefty price — to the tune of more than $70 million — to fire him after this season. In addition, you have to think about what kind of message that would send to other potential coaching candidates in the future.

No, for now, Alabama is stuck with Kalen DeBoer. He may prove to be the right guy for the job and he may be able to right the ship, but there are certainly kinks in the armor currently that could be telling for him moving forward.

3. Brent Venables (Oklahoma)

Buyout: $44 million

Brent Venables is one of the most likable personas in all of college football, but that doesn't win you football games.

He's a bright defensive mind, but his stint at Oklahoma has not been one to remember thus far. Overall, Venables holds a 20-13 record (.606 winning percentage) and that's just not going to get the job done in Norman.

His contract buyout is among the highest in the nation at $44 million, but there is growing pressure from many within the Sooner faithful to make the move. Oklahoma has fired offensive coordinator Seth Littrell, but if things don't turn around during the rest of this 2024 season, that might not be good enough.

Oklahoma has the money to pay the buyout, sure, but would that money be better spent bringing in an elite offensive coordinator to pay with Venables' defensive mind? This may be a situation where it's one or the other, and the Sooners may elect to keep Venables around for another year — when his buyout comes down even more — and see if he can put things together with a more experienced and reliable offensive coordinator.

4. Lincoln Riley (USC)

Buyout: Estimated $88 million

Lincoln Riley may have the highest buyout among college football coaches not named Kirby Smart, but he is quickly creating a laundry list of doubters in Los Angeles.

Since taking over the USC program, Riley has yet to make any significant push to postseason success and though he has brought in some talent through both recruiting and the transfer portal, he hasn't been able to put it all together.

USC is currently sitting at 3-4 overall and 1-4 in its first year in the Big Ten. The Trojans are fresh off a loss to Maryland they've lost three straight. Nothing is a guarantee for them moving forward this season, and there's a very good change that the Trojans could even find themselves in a situation where they don't even get bowl eligible with Rutgers, Washington, Nebraska, UCLA, and Notre Dame remaining on the schedule.

Because USC is a private institution, Riley's contract buyout is not public knowledge. The estimated $88 million comes from a report from 247 Sports' Brad Crawford.

5. Hugh Freeze (Auburn)

Buyout: $20 million

The final coach on our list is none other than Hugh Freeze. Freeze is having quite the challenge in attempting to rebuild the Auburn football program, and things aren't looking any brighter currently.

The Tigers are staring down a 2-5 overall record (0-4 in the SEC) and it's clear at this point that Auburn won't be sniffing a Bowl Game, and the Tigers are going to have to work to avoid going winless in conference play.

With Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, and Alabama remaining for SEC games this year, Freeze better hope he finds a way to beat the Wildcats this coming weekend on the road in Lexington. Freeze's seat is already hot and that estimated $20.3 million buyout (if he were fired before December 1, 2024) doesn't look near as monstrous as some of the other buyouts we've shared above.

But, can Auburn truly afford to fire a coach in just his second season?

What elite coach would leave their current position to take a job at Auburn knowing that they might not even have two full seasons before they'll be fired? It's easy to get impatient and to look at the success some of your peers are seeing, but many fans forget that it takes time to build a program.

Is Hugh Freeze the right man for the job? I don't think so. That being said, if Auburn fires him this early into his tenure, will that kind of situation really attract the right candidate to take over the job? I'd be willing to bet it will not.

Honorable Mention: Mark Stoops (Kentucky)

Buyout: $44 million

We promised we'd give you five coaches, but honestly, there's one more who should be included on this list: Mark Stoops.

Mark Stoops has been a staple in leading the Kentucky football program and there are a lot of people in Lexington who have the utmost respect for Stoops. But, what has he done, particularly recently? Kentucky currently sits at 3-4 overall with a 1-4 record in the SEC and things could get much worse for the Wildcats the remainder of this season as they face Auburn, Tennessee, Murray State, Texas, and Louisville the remainder of the year.

The game this weekend between Hugh Freeze and Mark Stoops may quickly determine which coach gets to keep his job and which coach finds himself firmly on the hot seat. The big difference here? Kentucky would likely owe Stoops about $20 million more to fire him than Auburn would if the Tigers fired Freeze after his second season as the head coach.

That lofty buyout — good enough for 11th-highest in the nation according to USA Today — might just keep him around no matter what the Kentucky faithful think at the end of the year.