Unfortunately, the college football regular season is over. While work on the field may be waning, the end of the regular season opens the door to significant activity in the coaching market. Who are the coaches who were fired? Who moves to another job? The following is a list of the ongoing motion in the college football coaching circuit. This will be updated chronologically.
Tim Lester is out at Western Michigan
Western Michigan announced Monday morning that it has fired head coach Tim Lester. The Broncos were 5-7 in 2022.
“The upcoming expansion of college football and the incredible foundation of success we enjoy within our football program provides an exciting national opportunity for Bronco Football. It is imperative that we seize this opportunity by taking a new direction in our football program,” the Western Michigan sports director said. Dan Bartholomew in a statement.
Lester was 37-23 in six seasons as the head coach of his alma mater. Lester became WMU’s head coach in 2017 after PJ Fleck went to Minnesota State and his 2022 season was the first sub-. 500 season of his tenure.
But while this was Leicester’s first winning season, WMU has only won eight games once in its time with the school. WMU lost six games in each of its first three seasons and was 4-2 in 2020 before going 8-5 with a Quick Lane Bowl win over Nevada in 2021.
OFFICIAL: Wisconsin hires Luke Fickel
Cincinnati Officially Luke Feckle During the transition to the Big Ten.
Wisconsin announced Sunday night that it had hired Fickel to replace Paul Crist.
“I am so excited to announce Luke Fickel as our new head football coach and to welcome his entire family to Madison,” said Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh. “Luke is one of the best soccer coaches in the country. He is a proven winner, recruiter and player developer.”
Fickel added, “My family and I are thrilled to be joining the Wisconsin family. This is an intended job in a program I’ve admired from afar for years. I’m in complete alignment with Chris Mackintosh’s vision for this program. There’s a tremendous foundation here that I can’t wait to build on.”
The 57- to 18-year-old in six years coached the Bearcats and led the famed UCLA to the College Football Playoff in 2021. Prior to going to Cincinnati, he was an assistant coach at Ohio State from 2002 to 2016 and had a stint as interim head coach for Ohio State University in 2011.
Georgia Tech, Willie Fritz about to make a deal?
It looks like Georgia Tech is getting close to leasing.
According to the Atlanta Journal and The Athletic, the school has reached an agreement to hire a new head coach. And that coach, by “all indications,” is Tulane coach Willie Fritz.
ESPN reports that Fritz gave an interview to GT on Sunday but that no agreement was reached.
Fritz, 62, has won wherever he’s been — from junior college, Division II, FCS and FBS. Now he’s getting a chance at a Power Five job.
Two days earlier, Fritz’s Tulane team beat Cincinnati on the road to earn a spot in the American Collegiate Athletic Conference title game. Tulane is scheduled to host UCF in that game Saturday in New Orleans.
Fritz is in his seventh season at Tulane, a program that traditionally struggles to win. Prior to Fritz’s arrival, Tulane had only one winning record in his previous 13 seasons. Under Fritz, Tulane has won a record three times and reached bowl eligibility four times. Before coaching Fritz Tulane to victory in the Cure Bowl in 2018, Tulane had not won a bowl game since 2002.
In 2021, Tulane endured a rough 2-10 season, spending most of it homeless due to Hurricane Ida. This year, the Green Wave rebounded dramatically going 10-2 in the AAC title game. Tulane’s last 10 wins came in 1998.
Prior to his time at Tulane, Fritz was the head coach of Blaine Junior College for four seasons, Central Missouri for 13 seasons, Sam Houston State for four years, and Georgia Southern for two seasons.
If the hire pays off, Fritz will replace Jeff Collins, who was fired after a 1-3 start and had a 10-28 record with the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech finished the year 5-7, going 4-4 under interim head coach Brent Key.
Tulsa parts with Philip Montgomery
Tulsa made a coaching change.
On Sunday, the school announced its dismissal of coach Philip Montgomery. Tulsa beat Houston on Saturday to finish the season 5-7.
Montgomery has been with Tulsa since 2015 after being hired from the Baylor coaching staff and has a career record of 43-53 at the school. Tulsa went on to win four bowl games in his eight years, and even won 10 in a 2016 campaign that culminated in a Miami Beach Bowl victory.
Tulsa followed that up with a 2-10 season in 2017 and hasn’t won more than seven games in a season since. The Golden Hurricane were 7-6 in 2021 and 6-3 in 2020 after three straight losing seasons.
Texas State shoots Jake Spavital
After four seasons, Texas State is moving on from Jake Spavital, who had a 13-35 record in his tenure. The Bobcats went 3-9 in his first season, 2-10 in his second season and then posted a 4-8 record in 2021 and 2022.
Spavital relied heavily on freshman college transfers and adding players from the transfer gate to build his roster rather than recruits from Texas high schools. This approach did not work for Spavital.
Arizona State is hiring 32-year-old Kenny Dillingham
Five years ago, Arizona State curiously tapped 63-year-old Haram Edwards to lead its football program. The new ASU coach is half that old.
The Sun Devils announced the 32-year-old’s hiring Kenny Dillingham Sunday morning. Dillingham, an Arizona State freshman, spent the 2022 season as offensive coordinator at Oregon State. Prior to his season in Eugene, Dillingham served as offensive coordinator at Memphis, Auburn, and Florida State.
The Arizona native becomes the youngest FBS head coach as he inherits a program that went 3-9.
David Shaw resigns after another losing season
David Shaw He never won fewer than eight games during his first eight seasons as head coach of Stanford. During that span, the Cardinals won three Pac-12 titles and two Rose Bowls. Since then, things have taken a massive downward spiral, leading to Shaw’s resignation late Saturday night.
Stanford has gone 3-9 in each of the past two seasons with a record of 3-15 in Pac-12 play. Xu stepped down after a Loss to BYU Saturday night.
“After many prayers and multiple discussions with my wife, one sentence still comes to me—it’s time,” Shaw said. “There are not enough words to describe the love and gratitude I feel for my family, all the players past and present, the staff, this administration and the entire Stanford family. Thank you all.”
In 12 seasons, Shaw has a record of 96-54 at his alma mater. He is the winningest coach in program history.
FAU is moving on from Willie Taggart after 3 seasons
Willie Taggart’s tenure at Florida Atlantic It ended after three seasons. Taggart went 15-18 in three seasons coaching the Owls and only made a bowl once.
FAU lost 32-31 Saturday to Western Kentucky in overtime to drop to 5-7 on the year. Taggart was the head coach of Florida State, Oregon, South Florida, and Western Kentucky.
Nebraska touchdown Matt Rowley
Nebraska and Matt Rowley They agreed to an eight-year contract with Rhule to be the Huskers’ new head coach.
Reul has recently had a difficult career as head coach of a team Carolina Panthersbut he did major rebuilds at Temple and Baylor.
Under Rhule’s direction, Temple went from 2-10 in his first season to win a total of 20 games over his last two seasons with the program, including the conference title. Rolle then went to Baylor in the fallout from the Art Brills scandal. The Bears went 1-11 in Rhule’s first season. By the third year, Baylor had won 11 games and played in the Big 12 Tournament.
There will be a similar difficult rebuild at Rhule’s shop in Lincoln. Nebraska hasn’t had a winning season since 2016. The Huskers finished the 2022 season 4-8 and have a 23-45 community record over the past six seasons.
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