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Every offseason, there's a ton of turnover in college football. The NIL era and transfer portal have made this true with players and student-athletes, but head coaches have always come and gone in bunches. There are plenty of programs that will be under new direction heading into the 2024 season.
In this year's coaching change cycle, a legendary figure in college football decided to retire, creating the biggest job opening in college sports of all time. However, there were several other big-time programs with a change in leadership after a disappointing 2032 campaign.
Who are the top names featured in this year's coaches carousel? Let's dive into all the FBS programs with new coaches in 2024.
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Arizona Wildcats
In: TBD
Out: Jedd Fisch
Fisch took the head coaching job at Washington after a quick turnaround of the Arizona program. This happened late in the cycle after Kalen DeBoer took the head job at Alabama to replace Nick Saban, so the program has not yet named a replacement at the time of this writing.
Washington Huskies
In: Jedd Fisch, Former Arizona HC
Out: Kalen DeBoer
Fisch worked under Mike Shanahan, Pete Carroll, Sean McVay, and Bill Belichick in the NFL, and he wasted no time taking advantage of his first head coaching opportunity. With Arizona, he went 1-11 in his first year and ended his tenure with a 10-3 season and an Alamo Bowl victory. The Wildcats had not won more than seven games since 2014, so his impressive season earned him a step up in the coaching ranks.
Welcome @CoachJeddFisch! ☔️#PurpleReign #OneWashington pic.twitter.com/e1bvS7Ea98
— Washington Football (@UW_Football) January 15, 2024
As mentioned above, DeBoer departed for Alabama.
Alabama Crimson Tide
In: Kalen DeBoer, Former Washington HC
Out: Nick Saban
DeBoer has a 104-12 record in nine seasons as a college head coach. He took Sioux Falls to four straight NAIA Championship games before climbing the ranks at the FBS level as an offensive coordinator. After leading Fresno State to a 9-3 season, Washington hired him, and he went 25-3 and took the Huskies to the National Championship game in year two of his tenure. Now he's attempting to replace the greatest college football coach of all time.
Welcome Coach, @KalenDeBoer
🔗: https://t.co/QtEZCrvKfZ#RollTide pic.twitter.com/VNoBACMstO
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) January 13, 2024
As for Saban, not much needs to be said. He's set to retire with a 292-71-1 record, seven National Championships, and ten National Championship Game appearances. His impact on college football will last forever, and despite his age (72), it was shocking to see him hang it up.
Texas A&M Aggies
In: Mike Elko, Former Duke HC
Out: Jimbo Fisher
Elko was Fisher's defensive coordinator from 2018 to 2021 before taking over the Duke head coaching job. He secured 16 victories in two seasons with the Blue Devils, which is an incredible accomplishment given the inability to draw high-level recruits to Durham. Now, he'll look to lead the Aggies toward consistent contention in the always-tough SEC.
Fisher hasn't been able to get his teams back to the grand stage since winning the final BCS National Championship with a redshirt freshman Jameis Winston at Florida State in 2013. To get over the sadness of being fired by Texas A&M, he'll wipe his tears with a $75 million buy-out from his contract.
Michigan State Spartans
In: Jonathan Smith, Former Oregon State HC
Out: Mel Tucker
It's unfortunate that Smith didn't stick around Oregon State after winning 18 games over the last two years, but with the PAC-12 crumbling, his move to Michigan State made sense. The 44-year-old has a creative offensive mind that could thrive in the old-school Big Ten.
A new era of Spartan Football is here!
Please welcome Jonathan Smith as the 26th Head Coach in program history.
📰 | https://t.co/cianmGIS3E#GoGreen pic.twitter.com/3lGTurivLF
— Michigan State Football (@MSU_Football) November 25, 2023
Excluding the 2021 season, Mel Tucker's teams at MSU were awful, and his alleged off-field conduct was even worse. He's out after four seasons with the Spartans.
Mississippi State Bulldogs
In: Jeff Lebby, Former Oklahoma OC
Out: Zach Arnett
Lebby has been a part of high-powered offenses with three schools over the last five years. He worked with Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel at UCF and Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss before being given the reigns to the Oklahoma offense in 2023. The Sooners ranked third nationally in total yards per game (507.0), which quickly earned the 40-year-old an SEC head coaching job. Competing with the big dogs at Mississippi State is a challenge, but Lebby might be up to the task with his creative and high-flying offensive schemes.
Arnett was given just one season at the helm after the death of college football legend and former MSU coach Mike Leach. It didn't seem like a fair and justified firing, so hopefully he lands on his feet as a head coach or defensive coordinator elsewhere.
Syracuse Orange
In: Fran Brown, Former Georgia DBs Coach
Out: Dino Babers
Not much is known about Brown since he's never been a head coach, and he spent just one season as Temple's co-defensive coordinator in 2019. However, Kirby Smart's coaching tree produced Dan Lanning at Oregon, so surely, Syracuse is hoping for the same luck with Georgia's defensive back coach from 2022 to 2023. He's another young gun at just 40 years old.
In Fran Brown's first in-person college football game, Donovan McNabb '98, Donovin Darius ’98 and the 🍊 blanked Wisconsin 34-0 in 1997. @CuseFootball's new head coach vows to return the program to those glory days. "We’re about to go shock the country."
🏈https://t.co/xoGSk29JDS pic.twitter.com/qh0gocIC7p— Syracuse University News (@SyracuseUNews) December 5, 2023
Babers was a stud head coach at Eastern Illinois and Syracuse, winning 37 games in four seasons with those programs. At Syracuse, he won just 41 games in eight seasons and eclipsed five wins just twice. While it didn't work out with the Orange, he should be back in the coaching ranks in no time as an offensive coordinator or head coach at a smaller program.
Oregon State Beavers
In: Trent Bray, Former Oregon State OC
Out: Jonathan Smith
Bray, an Oregon State alum, was promoted to head coach after the departure of Smith (to Michigan State). The 41-year-old spent eight seasons with OSU in two different stints, so he was a natural and obvious choice to be named the head ball coach. With Oregon State's future uncertain after the collapse of the PAC 12, he's a great option to keep things familiar and stable.
Indiana Hoosiers
In: Curt Cignetti, Former James Madison HC
Out: Tom Allen
Cignetti has a 119-35 career record as the head coach of IUP, Elon, and James Madison. The Dukes' program moved from the FCS level to the Sun Belt Conference just two seasons ago, which should've meant they would struggle for a while. Nope. Cignetti posted a 19-4 record in those two seasons and had the NCAA not ruled the program ineligible for postseason play, the Dukes would have played in the Sun Belt Conference Championship game in both years. He's a proven winner, which is what Indiana desperately needs.
Allen has had success as an assistant coach on the defensive side of the ball, which is why Penn State just hired him to replace Manny Diaz as their defensive coordinator. Unfortunately, Allen could only muster 33 wins in seven seasons with the Hoosiers.
Duke Blue Devils
In: Manny Diaz, Former Penn State DC
Out: Mike Elko
Diaz led the No. 2 defense in the nation in 2023, as the Penn State Nittany Lions gave up just 247.6 yards per game. His efforts earned him his second head coaching opportunity in the ACC. Although he struggled at Miami (21-15 in three years), the expectations are much lower at Duke, so he'll have the chance to revive his head coaching career this time around.
BREAKING: Duke has hired Penn State DC Manny Diaz as its next head coach, @RossDellenger reports🚨https://t.co/MvNL31UnGR pic.twitter.com/udsdkxtsvk
— On3 (@On3sports) December 8, 2023
Elko replaced Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M after Fisher won just 11 games in his final two seasons -- despite having a top-five roster in all of college football.
Houston Cougars
In: Willie Fritz, Former Tulane HC
Out: Dana Holgorsen
Fritz, age 63, is one of the oldest coaches hired during this year's cycle, but his resume speaks for itself. 23 wins and a Cotton Bowl victory over Caleb Williams and the USC Trojans over the last two years earned him the head job at Houston. The Cougars are now in the Big 12, so he clearly viewed this job as a step up.
Holgorsen has a solid career record at 92-69 between his time at West Virginia and Houston, but the program's 4-8 record in its first season in the Big 12 wasn't enough to satisfy the athletics department. He's another name to watch to land an offensive coordinator role at a big school or head coaching job at a group-of-five program.
Group Of Five Head Coaching Changes
San Diego State Aztecs
In: Sean Lewis, Former Colorado OC
Out: Brady Hoke
Boise State Broncos
In: Spencer Danielson, Former Boise State DC/Interim HC
Out: Andy Avalos
UTEP Miners
In: Scotty Walden, Former Austin Peay HC
Out: Dana Dimel
Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks
In: Bryant Vincent, Former New Mexico OC
Out: Terry Bowden
MTSU Blue Raiders
In: Derek Mason, Former Vanderbilt HC
Out: Rick Stockstill
First team meeting was last night. The Blue Raiders are ready to get to work.#BLUEnited | @CoachDerekMason pic.twitter.com/vCXBNtPENt
— Middle Tennessee Football (@MT_FB) December 6, 2023
New Mexico Lobos
In: Bronco Mendenhall, Former BYU and Virginia HC
Out: Danny Gonzales
Wyoming Cowboys
In: Jay Sawvell, Former Wyoming DC
Out: Craig Bohl
James Madison Dukes
In: Bob Chesney, Former Holy Cross HC
Out: Curt Cignetti
Tulane Green Wave
In: Jon Sumrall, Former Troy HC
Out: Willie Fritz
Troy Trojans
In: Gerad Parker, Former Notre Dame OC
Out: Jon Sumrall
Nevada Wolf Pack
In: Jeff Choate, Former Texas Co-OC, Montana State HC
Out: Ken Wilson
New Mexico State Aggies
In: Tony Sanchez, Former New Mexico State WRs Coach
Out: Jerry Kill
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