By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger
Down they go, one after another like bowling pins. But don’t feel sorry for them, for they are getting ejected while being handed platinum parachutes.
The college football coaching carousel in 2025 shows the money insanity that is running (and ruining?) the sport. And you thought the NIL was out of control. James Franklin: $59 million. Billy Napier: $20 million, with half of that due within 30 days and he does not have to look for another job. And with that cash, why would he? I would be on a beach somewhere drinking margaritas all day.
If Florida State pulls the plug on Mike Norville – and that just was set in stone when the AD gave the Norville the dreaded “vote of confidence,” which every sports writer calls the “kiss of death” – it will owe him $55. This is on the heels of paying previous coach Willie Taggert (who lasted a mere 21 games) $18 million.
“Chump change,” declares Auburn (Gus Malzahn, $18 million). “Amateurs,” yells Texas A&M ($76.8 million).
“The market kind of dictates that,” said Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin, who will be making his third head football coaching hire in his nine-year tenue, whiffing on the two previous ones (Dan Mullen and Napier). Do Florida fans really think he can get it right this time? Third time’s charm?
Florida is also still paying Dan Mullen’s $12 million buyout, meaning it will be paying three head coaches when it hires a new one. But hey it’s like a day in the sun for the Gators, also payed three coaches – Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain and Mullen – when Mullen was hired in 2018. The on-field results from all these coaching catastrophes? Not one single win vs. a ranked SEC opponent since 2018. Let that sink in for a moment.
That’s a long introduction to get to my point but this is all a result of what I call the “Nick Saban Factor.” And it’s playing a huge roll in college football. Here is the reason: Saban had such incredible success at Alabama that fans and alumni want the same at thier school. This forces athletic directors at big-name schools to make desperate hires, pay them “market value” as Stricklin would put it and then fire them within 3-5 years when they don’t win enough. Even worse, those ADs foolishly give their unproven coaches raises and contract extensions after one so-so year, further escalating the buyout money.
And that’s great for the coaches, who are paid a lot of money even when they fail. The only two professions where that happens is politics and big business.
Get Real College Athletic Directors
The problem with that philosophy is that is doesn’t work. There was only one Nick Saban and it’s unlikely any current coach or one in the foreseeable future will have anywhere close to his success. Kirby Smart, who of course coached under Saban, is the next closest thing but now, his Georgia teams are hanging on by a thread in several games.
Brian Kelly, Lincoln Riley Buyouts Too Big To Get Them Fired – For Now
LSU fans are learning what Notre Dame ones already knew: Brian Kelly is a solid coach who teases with talent and pre-season bravado, only to disappoint in the end. His buyout: $53 million.
At USC, Lincoln Riley is 4-10 against ranked teams, the team has slid each year under his “leadership” and he is making more than $11 million a year. Not bad for what is now a .500 coach. His buyout? $80-$90 million. That’s A&M territory!
So what happens with these two coaches – and even Kalen DeBoer if Alabama plays many more games like it did at Florida State this year and against Oklahoma and Michigan last season – is that the schools are stuck with them riding out mediocre teams until it becomes financially “reasonable” to boosters to fire him. It’s a win-win situation for the coaches.
And all because of the Nick Saban Factor.
Leave a Reply