College Football's Costly Buyouts: 3 Coaches on the Hot Seat
The 2025 college football season was a brutal one for coaches, and Iowa fans felt the shockwaves firsthand. Penn State fired James Franklin mid-season after 12 years with the program, paying a staggering $49 million buyout. To replace him, the Nittany Lions hired Iowa State's Matt Campbell, leaving Cyclone fans reeling from the sudden departure.
Penn State was hardly alone in writing massive checks to part ways with underperforming staff. Florida cut ties with Billy Napier a week later. Then LSU axed Brian Kelly after a 49-25 blowout to Texas A&M. By the end of the cycle, Power Four programs had paid out over $167 million in buyouts combined, a staggering sum that raises serious questions about fiscal accountability in college athletics.
The offseason brought fresh faces to the sideline. Along with Campbell's move to the Big Ten, Florida brought in Tulane's Jon Sumrall, and Lane Kiffin left Ole Miss to take over at LSU. But the pressure hasn't left the sport. Several coaches could be on the hot seat again in 2026, including Shane Beamer at South Carolina, Luke Fickell at Wisconsin, Mike Locksley at Maryland, and Bill Belichick at UNC.
The difference is that those programs don't carry the same history, recruiting pull, or championship expectations as the three below. For the coaches leading these blue-blood programs, the 2026 season could define their careers.
Lane Kiffin, LSU
After flaming out in the NFL and disappointing at Tennessee and USC, Lane Kiffin saw incredible success at Florida Atlantic and then Ole Miss. He led the Rebels to four 10-win seasons across his six years in Oxford and clawed his way back to being one of the most coveted names in college football. Now he faces his biggest test yet: winning a national championship at LSU.
LSU is unlike any other job in the country. National titles are expected, and fans won't wait around forever. In fact, analysts across the sport have basically called this season a championship or bust for Kiffin, and he hasn't coached a single game yet. The Tigers have invested over $91 million in Kiffin and more than $40 million in the roster he's built. The time to win is right now.
Unfortunately, they won't have an easy path. LSU opens against Clemson, a projected 8-win team, before a return to Oxford to face Ole Miss just two weeks later. From there, the Tigers take on College Football Playoff participant Texas A&M before a slate of tough SEC matchups. The road is difficult, the expectations are high, and no coach in the sport is under more pressure to perform.
Mike Norvell, Florida State
Bobby Bowden and Jimbo Fisher coached here. Deion Sanders and Charlie Ward played here. Florida State claims three national championships, and the Seminoles remain one of college football's premier brands. They expect to compete for ACC titles and College Football Playoff berths every year. At one point, they thought Norvell could deliver that.
After leading Florida State to an undefeated 13-0 regular season and ACC championship in 2023, the program has since collapsed. Norvell has just seven wins across the last two seasons combined and has now missed consecutive bowl games. The fact that he's even still in Tallahassee is surprising enough, though that's likely due to his massive $58.6 million buyout.
It's no secret that 2026 is a make-or-break season for Norvell. FSU brought in Auburn transfer Ashton Daniels, along with a top-30 transfer class, to help turn things around. The Seminoles' leading rusher last year was a quarterback, Tommy Castellanos, but they've added Texas running back Quintrevion Wisner, along with four-star tackle Xavier Chaplin out of Auburn. But if FSU suffers another losing season, it'll likely be Norvell's last with the program, regardless of how much the school will have to pay him to leave.
Lincoln Riley, USC
The USC Trojans are one of college football's true blue bloods. They've claimed nine national championships, tied for the sixth most in history, and produced more Heisman Trophy winners than any program in the country, with eight. From legendary coaches like John McKay and Pete Carroll to iconic players like Reggie Bush and Caleb Williams, expectations have always been high in Los Angeles. They were especially high when Riley came over from Oklahoma in 2021.
The issue is that the Trojans haven't reached the College Football Playoff once under his leadership and have seemingly gotten worse each year. Riley went 11-3 in Year 1 before dropping to 8-5 and then 7-6 by 2024. Last season, the Trojans rebounded to 9-4, but patience is wearing thin in Southern California.
This is a program that's given Riley everything he could want to compete for a championship, and he has just one double-digit win season to show for it. This year, though, they'll have the No. 1 recruiting class, returning All-Big Ten QB Jayden Maiava, and an array of incoming talent on both sides of the ball through the transfer portal. If the Trojans don't contend for a Big Ten title and make the CFP, Riley's days could be numbered.