The coaching carousel is nearly complete in college football for 2025, with Michigan remaining as the biggest opening. With a chaotic carousel and major movement, there has been plenty of controversy along the way.
The schools involved should have done their homework, before jumping to make these hires, as red flags were there and known, or just checked their past hires and thought "No, we aren't doing that again."
Jon Sumrall, Florida
While Jon Sumrall has a 43-12 record with Troy and Tulane over the past four seasons, his hiring does little to inspire the Florida fanbase, who really wanted Lane Kiffin. Instead, the Ole Miss coach ended up at SEC rival LSU, another slap in the face to Gators fans.
Tulane is a long way from Gainesville, and it's a different world in the SEC than in the American Conference.
The last few Gators head coaching hires have followed a pattern: guys who were either G5 coaches or SEC coordinators, who got in over their heads in Gainesville.
Billy Napier was the latest victim of this, and he had a similar win/loss record and pedigree to Sumrall. But he went 22-23 in three-plus seasons and was shown the door.
Perhaps Florida is still searching for the next Urban Meyer, who was a G5 hire that actually worked out for them. However that was 20 years ago, and times have changed.
Florida is a program with high expectations and a proud football history, but the school has failed to adapt to the new NIL/portal era and needs a shot in the arm to get back to the top half of the SEC, let alone contend for the CFP.
Sumrall needs to win big by his second year, or he will face a similar fate as his predecessors.
Blake Anderson, Southern Miss
While Anderson was already on staff as the offensive coordinator for the Golden Eagles, which meant that some continuity from a 7-5 season would remain, the Southern Miss administration should have vetted Anderson's history before offering him the head job.
His prior tenure at Utah State ended on a disappointing note - after kicking things off with an 11-3 season in 2021, reality hit once his own recruits were in the program, with back-to-back 6-7 finishes.
Anderson's earlier stint at Arkansas State might fool the Southern Miss brass into thinking he can recruit the South, but he flamed out with a 4-7 mark in 2020 before moving west to coach the Aggies.
Waiting a total of three days after losing Charles Huff to Memphis, then hiring Anderson, doesn't speak to a thorough search process. Southern Miss will likely find out what Utah State and Arkansas State did - Anderson is a good coordinator, but an average coach.
Pat Fitzgerald, Michigan State
Pat Fitzgerald, with his messy exit from Northwestern now settled, is getting back in the coaching game. Michigan State was so excited, they got rid of Jonathan Smith after two seasons, to bring a coach in who finished 1-11 in his last season on the sidelines.
Fitz had a long record at Northwestern with solid defenses and a capable offense, but was slow to adapt to the portal, and while he had a long leash as an alumnus at his alma mater, the Michigan State administration won't give him nearly as much free rein - they will expect results immediately.
The 11-2 mark from the 2021 season by the Spartans has never felt so far away, and it's unlikely that Fitz will come close to that mark anytime soon. Brian Kelly or Jimbo Fisher were available, and it seems the school was happy to pay less on a reclamation project, rather than get an established coach this time around.