These unemployed, but successful college football coaches are itching to return. Here are the top jobs for each, including some yet to open.
is ready to stick his head back into the sausage grinder instead of counting his tens of millions of dollars in severance pay. Franklin immediately becomes the most interesting coach on the market, one who would be an attractive candidate for seemingly every job.
Unless Dabo Swinney decides to leave Clemson, no other coach can slap down a résumé that shows he’s consistently won 10 games a year at the power-conference level.But he’s not the only currently unemployed, longtime successful coach who is out there with an itch to get back in. A couple others who were unceremoniously fired from their last jobs:He was terminated at Northwestern in 2023 amid a hazing investigation, and has since settled a massive wrongful termination suit with the university. Northwestern issued a statement with the settlement saying Fitzgerald did not condone or direct any hazing, which could be enough to ease concerns of any future employer. Fitzgerald was the winningest and longest-tenured coach in Northwestern history, going 110–101 in a tough job. It was trending badly at the end—4–20 his last two seasons—as the NIL era began. But he should have interest on the market., after the crash of 2024 carried over into a dismal start to ’25. Like Fitz, Gundy is by far the winningest coach in the history of his alma mater. For two decades, he went toe-to-toe with Oklahoma and Texas schools on the recruiting trail and on the field. He’s also not the easiest guy in the world to work with, but neither is Franklin.. Would the Bruins worry about hiring a guy who doesn’t win big games? Not when they struggle to even win half their games, big or small—the record over the last decade is 53–60. Franklin is an adept recruiter and program builder, and he loves a big spotlight. UCLA can provide that, if it wins enough to demand attention in Los Angeles. The drawback for Franklin is that he’d be going from a place near the top of the Big Ten hierarchy to one near the bottom. And as someone who isn’t shy about demanding things of his administration, this might not be the place for an unlimited wish list.that he will “win a national championship somewhere else now.” Auburn is a place where it has been done. It remains to be seen whether the Tigers think he could take down their Iron Bowl nemesis, Alabama.Yeah, it might even be a bigger uphill fight there than at UCLA. But the former Terrapins offensive coordinator under Ralph Friedgen is at home recruiting the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. If Maryland fires Mike Locksley and can pony up the money to show Franklin it is serious about winning, he might reciprocate.Fitz has spent his football life at an academically prestigious school in a power conference. He can recruit to the admissions standards at Stanford, and he can recruit with national reach—these are things he’s already done. Moving a South Side Chicago guy to the Bay Area takes some adjustment for both sides, but he could bring back the “Intellectual Brutality” mindset that helped Stanford flourish under Jim Harbaugh and David Shaw. The question is whether Andrew Luck, who is decidedly in charge of football on The Farm, might want someone with more of a high-powered offensive approach.Wisconsin. If the Badgers pull the plug on Luke Fickell and want to return to their physical football comfort zone, Fitz would seem like a fit. He certainly knows the recruiting area and the Big Ten terrain at large. His 5–8 record against Wisconsin while at a weaker program says something.Having disastrously hired Trent Dilfer, no experience necessary, why not replace him with someone who has coached 260 college games and won 170 of them? The American is the top Group of 6 conference at the moment, which means its champion has a good chance of qualifying for the College Football Playoff. Sitting on fertile recruiting soil, the Blazers should aspire to be in the title mix. UAB would be better, simply by conference affiliation. But if Butch Jones gets whacked after five seasons—his current record is 22–35—Gundy could move 6 ½ hours east to take over the Red Wolves and shoot for a Sun Belt title. You don’t necessarily want to follow a power-conference rebound guy with another power-conference rebound guy, but Jones was never as accomplished as Gundy. Former Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy would be an attractive candidate for Group of 6 teams. / William Purnell-Imagn ImagesFour really good coaches are currently doing very well at their respective alma maters. Does that mean they couldn’t be moved for a job with more amenities ? It could be an interesting dynamic to monitor.The Yellow Jackets are undefeated and have an enticingly straight path toward the ACC championship game. The 47-year-old Key is 26–16 at Tech and could probably stay forever if he makes the playoff—but he also has a profile that screams SEC. He’s an Alabama native, and a former Nick Saban assistant who loves physical football.He’s knocking it dead with the Cardinals, having beaten Notre Dame, Clemson and Miami in three seasons on the job. Brohm’s record is 24–9 and he’s an accomplished offensive play-caller and scheme guy. Having taken Purdue to the Big Ten championship game, he could draw the attention of Penn State. Or Florida, for that matter. But would the 54-year-old leave his dream job in his hometown?coming to town Saturday for a paradigm-shifting SEC showdown with Missouri. Lea is just 22–34 in the hardest job in the league, but he’s 13–7 the past season and a half. Is the 43-year-old a Diego Pavia creation, or a guy who could turn any struggling program into a contender?The 35-year-old Dilly took over a comatose program under sanctions and, after a debut season of anticipated struggles, has gone 16–5 the last 1 ½ years. That includes a Big 12 championship last year, and an upset of Top 10 Texas Tech this past Saturday. Dillingham feels like a future coaching superstar; does ASU have the ambition and financial wherewithal to match his talent?Pat Forde is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who covers college football and college basketball as well as the Olympics and horse racing. He cohosts the College Football Enquirer podcast and is a football analyst on the Big Ten Network. He previously worked for Yahoo Sports, ESPN and The Courier-Journal. Forde has won 28 Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest awards, has been published three times in the Best American Sports Writing book series, and was nominated for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize. A past president of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and member of the Football Writers Association of America, he lives in Louisville with his wife. They have three children, all of whom were collegiate swimmers.
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