College Football was for a long time a sport led by the head coaches as roster turnover made the man leading the team onto the field the program's identity. While coaches like Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, and others have built careers so legendary that they'll have a forever place in the minds of fans, other coaches have done the same for other reasons.
The coaching carousel can bring chaos to college football like no other sport as the coaches are constantly looking to climb the ladder in a way they couldn't in the NFL. Whether it's by taking another job or by a program being drawn to a greater option, 10 head coaches have reached a status where they simply shouldn't be trusted for many reasons.
The 10 college football head coaches that no program should trust again
10. Brian Kelly
- Career Record: 297-109-2
- Head Coaching Stops: Grand Valley State (1991-2003), Central Michigan (2004-06), Cincinnati (2006-2009), Notre Dame (2010-21), and LSU (2022-25)
Brian Kelly has a solid career record, but it's hard to imagine he'll get another head coaching gig in the future. The departure from Cincinnati rubbed many the wrong way, as did quitting on Notre Dame to take the LSU job where Kelly flopped despite having high expectations. Kelly has proved he can win games, but the fiery personality doesn't mesh well with this current era while Marcus Freeman has proven that maybe the Notre Dame program did a lot of heavy lifting.
9. Justin Fuente
- Career Record: 69-54
- Head Coaching Stops: Memphis (2012-15) and Virginia Tech (2016-21)
After a solid run at Memphis, Justin Fuente was handed the keys to Virginia Tech by Frank Beamer. Rather than keeping the program rolling, Fuente slowly sunk Virginia Tech, landing the program in the place they are today looking to rebound under James Franklin. Declining to play a Bowl game by player vote snapping the Hokies 29-year streak of making a Bowl game felt like a final straw with the fans. Fuente spent a brief period with Indiana under Tom Allen, and now serves as a broadcaster.
8. Derek Dooley
- Career Record: 32-41
- Head Coaching Stops: Louisiana Tech (2007-2009) and Tennessee (2010-12)
It's rare for a head coach to get a job in the SEC, and never get another head coaching gig after, but Derek Dooley managed just that. Dooley's 4-19 mark in SEC play while leading Tennessee is the worst of all coaches in Vols' history while he's also amassed the worst record among Tennessee coaches to spend multiple seasons at the helm.
7. Scott Frost
- Career Record: 40-45
- Head Coaching Stops: UCF (2016-17), Nebraska (2018-2022), UCF (2025-present)
Scott Frost is the perfect example of what one great season can do for a head coach as his 13-0 season in 2017 opened a ton of doors. Frost has posted just 1 winning season in 8 years as a head coach, and went from a legend at Nebraska to someone the program would like to forget. UCF made the decision to try and catch lightning in a bottle again, but it seems unlikely the decision will ever pan out.
6. Charlie Strong
- Career Record: 74-53
- Head Coaching Stops: Florida (Interim 2004), Louisville (2010-13), Texas (2014-16), and USF (2017-19)
Two seasons in 2012 and 2013 with Teddy Bridgewater helped launch Charlie Strong's career, and landed him at Texas where the expectations were high following Mack Brown. Instead, Strong failed to keep the momentum from Brown's tenure rolling with three straight losing seasons after Brown had 15 winning years in 16 seasons. Strong's chance to rebound was at USF, and after a 10-2 debut, going 11-14 the next two seasons ended his time as a head coach.
5. Todd Graham
- Career Record: 106-72
- Head Coaching Stops: Rice (2006), Tulsa (2007-2010), Pitt (2011), Arizona State (2012-2017), and Hawaii (2020-21)
Todd Graham has a solid record for some of the programs he led throughout his career, but he also made the messy exit popular before Lane Kiffin mastered it. Graham stunningly left Pitt one season into a 6-year contract and notified the team by text. Later in his career, Hawaii players alleged that Graham mistreated them citing that he killed their love for football. The last we saw of Graham, he was making a run in politics back in the state of Arizona.
4. Tom Herman
- Career Record: 60-36
- Head Coaching Stops: Houston (2015-16), Texas (2017-20), and FAU (2023-24)
Tom Herman's two seasons at Houston led to a major bidding war between Texas and LSU who looked like the next great head coach. The Longhorns won out, and LSU ended up with Ed Orgeron who won a National Championship for the Tigers while Herman failed to ever reach the expectations while creating a stir off the field. Given the chance to revive his career at FAU, Herman failed miserably going 6-16 in two seasons, and getting fired.
3. Willie Taggart
- Career Record: 71-80
- Head Coaching Stops: Western Kentucky (2010-12), USF (2013-16), Oregon (2017), Florida State (2018-19), and FAU (2020-22)
For the career record that Willie Taggart has posted, his coaching stops are actually pretty impressive. At Western Kentucky, Taggart never went better than 7-5, yet got the USF job where his combined 24-25 record landed him at Oregon. After a 7-5 season at Oregon, Florida State poached Taggart, and he helped land the program where they are today going 9-12. Even Florida Atlantic where several head coaches have revived their careers, Taggart failed to leave with a winning record going 15-18 in 3 seasons.
2. Les Miles
- Career Record 145-73** (37 wins vacated from 2012-16)
- Head Coaching Stops: Oklahoma State (2001-2004), LSU (2005-16), and Kansas (2019-20)
When Nick Saban left for the NFL, and LSU hired the coach who had went 28-21 over 4 seasons at Oklahoma State, it came as a major shock, but panned out with a championship in 2007. The rest of Miles tenure at LSU felt like a major waste of talent, and his run at Kansas was abysmal. Miles was accused of paying players at Oklahoma State by Sports Illustrated, reprimanded by LSU for his "inappropriate relationships with students, had wins vacated at LSU for paying players in a scheme embezzling money from a children's hospital, and his Kansas tenure ended in controversy.
1. Lane Kiffin
- Career Record (116-53)
- Head Coaching Stops: Las Vegas Raiders (2007-08), Tennessee (2009), USC (2010-13), FAU (2017-19), Ole Miss (2020-25), and LSU (2026)
Two things are certain when you hire Lane Kiffin, he'll bring a ton of buzz, and he'll leave in spectacular fashion creating a world of drama. Kiffin's firing by the Raiders was headlined by Al Davis using a projector to bash him, Kiffin left Tennessee in the middle of the night after one season, USC left him on the Tarmac, Nick Saban fired him as OC ahead of the National Championship, and he left Ole Miss ahead of the College Football Playoff. Will you win games with Lane Kiffin, yes, but the ending will almost certainly erase any good memories from the era.
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