Keeping track of college football's fired, retired and resigned coaches

Zac Al-Khateeb

Keeping track of college football's fired, retired and resigned coaches image

The 2017 season has seen quite a few college football coaching changes.

The SEC is front and center in that coach turnover, with four coaches getting fired since the start of the season. You can make that five if you count former Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze, who was fired before the start of the season.

MORE: College Football Playoff picture

In all, we've seen 14 coaching changes since the start of the season. In 2016, we had 26 coaching changes; in 2015, 28. We're going to need to see a few more firings, retirings and resignations if we match that mark.

Here's a rundown of the college football coaching changes:

College football coaching changes

Sean Kegler, UTEP

Resigned (Oct. 1): Sean Kugler resigned at UTEP after an 0-5 start. Kugler had an 18-36 record during his tenure with the Miners, which began in 2013.

Hired (Oct. 2): The Miners persuaded former coach Mike Price to come out of retirement to be Kugler's interim replacement. Price compiled a 48-61 record in nine seasons at UTEP (2004-12) before retiring. The Miners made three bowl games during his tenure.

Gary Andersen, Oregon State

Resigned (Oct. 9): Andersen and Oregon State agreed to mutually part ways after the Beavers' 1-5 start to the 2017 season. Andersen went 7-23 through two-plus seasons in Corvallis. Cory Hall was named interim coach with Andersen's resignation; he is the only remaining coach on the staff going forward.

Tyson Summers, Georgia Southern

Fired (Oct. 22): Tyson Summers was fired after Georgia Southern's 0-6 start. Summers was 5-13 after being hired in 2016. Chad Lunsford serves as interim coach. 

Jim McElwain, Florida

Resigned (Oct. 29): Jim McElwain and Florida agreed to part ways. McElwain had a 22-12 record in his third season, but the regime unraveled quickly on and off the field in 2017. 

Hired (Nov. 26): Florida hired Dan Mullen away from Mississippi State as head coach. Mullen served as Florida's offensive coordinator under Urban Meyer. 

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Butch Jones, Tennessee

Fired (Nov. 12): Tennessee let Jones go after five seasons. The Vols had a 4-6 record and were winless in SEC play after back-to-back nine-win seasons. Brady Hoke serves as interim coach while the Volunteers continue their coaching search.

Hired (Dec. 7): Jeremy Pruitt will come over from hated rival Alabama to take over the program. A chaotic monthlong search produced a hire that was widely praised

Jim Mora, UCLA

Fired (Nov. 19): UCLA fired Jim Mora after five seasons. Mora had a 46-30 record over that stint, but UCLA fell to 5-6 this season and decided to move on.

Hired (Nov. 25): UCLA hired Chip Kelly on Saturday to replace Mora. The former Oregon coach led the Ducks to four consecutive BCS bowls from 2009-12 and had a 46-7 record during that time.

Joey Jones, South Alabama

Resigned (Nov. 20): Jones resigned at South Alabama after six seasons. He compiled a 52-49 record, but the Jaguars fell to 4-7 at the time of his resignation. 

Paul Haynes, Kent State

Fired (Nov. 23): Kent State fired Paul Haynes after a 2-10 season. Haynes compiled a 14-45 record over five seasons with the Golden Flashes.

MORE: Tennessee's coaching debacle magnifies discord in program

Bret Bielema, Arkansas

Fired (Nov. 24): Bielema was let go at Arkansas shortly after a 48-45 loss to Missouri. Bielema finished 29-34 in five seasons with the Razorbacks, including an 11-29 SEC record. Athletic director Jeff Long also was dismissed during the season. 

Hired (Dec. 6): Arkansas announces its hiring of SMU coach Chad Morris.

Mike Riley, Nebraska

Fired (Nov. 25): Nebraska fired Mike Riley after three seasons. Riley compiled a 19-19 record over three seasons with the Huskers, including a 4-8 record this season. 

Left (Dec. 2): Nebraska brought Scott Frost home to take over the program after a dismal 4-8 season with Mike Riley. 

Todd Graham, Arizona State

Fired (Nov. 26): Arizona State fired Todd Graham after six seasons. The Sun Devils finished 7-5 this season after beating Arizona 42-30. Graham had a 46-31 record, but that includes an 18-19 record the last three seasons. 

Hired (Dec. 3): Arizona State has brought in former New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs coach Herm Edwards to head the program.

Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M

Fired (Nov. 26): Kevin Sumlin was fired at Texas A&M, a move that was expected throughout the season ever since the Aggies blew a 44-10 lead to UCLA. Sumlin had a 51-26 record, but the Aggies lost five games each of the past four seasons.

HIred (Dec. 1): Texas A&M has lured Jimbo Fisher away from FSU

MORE: Fired coaches owed more than $60M in buyouts

Dan Mullen, Mississippi State

Resigned (Oct. 26): Mullen has left Mississippi State to become Florida's next coach. Mullen, a former offensive coordinator at Florida, compiled a 69-46 record at Mississippi State, becoming the Bulldogs' second-winningest coach in program history.

David Bailiff, Rice

Fired (Nov. 27): Rice has reportedly fired David Bailiff, who was the Owls' coach since 2007, after a 1-11 season. Bailiff had a 78-95 record, but took Rice to four bowl appearances.

Jimbo Fisher, Florida State

Left (Dec. 1): Texas A&M lured Jimbo Fisher away from FSU with a massive contract. Here are the best replacement candidates for FSU

Hired (Dec. 5): FSU hired Oregon's Willie Taggart to head the program.

Scott Frost, UCF

Left (Dec. 2): Nebraska brought Scott Frost home to take over the program after a dismal 4-8 season with Mike Riley. 

Hired (Dec. 5): The Knights brought in Missouri offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel, who engineered Missouri's offensive turnaround in 2017.

Mark Hudspeth, Louisiana-Lafayette

Fired (Dec. 3): The Ragin' Cajuns reportedly fired Hudspeth on Sunday after the team's 5-7 season. It was the team's third consecutive losing season and gave Hudspeth a 28-38 overall record over seven years.

Willie Taggart, Oregon

Left (Dec. 5): The Bradenton, Fla., native is heading to Florida State, where he will became only the program's third head coach since the start of the Bobby Bowden era. Oregon's co-offensive coordinator Mario Cristobal has reportedly been named interim head coach.

Hired (Dec. 8): Oregon hired assistant coach Mario Cristobal, a former coach at FIU, to fill the vacant position. 

Chad Morris, SMU

Left (Dec. 5): The third-year Mustangs left SMU after getting hired as Arkansas' replacement for Bret Bielema.

Rich Rodriguez, Arizona

Fired (Jan. 2): Rodriguez was fired at Arizona amid allegations of workplace misconduct.

Hired (Jan. 14): Sources have told Sporting News Arizona is close to hiring former Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin.

Zac Al-Khateeb

Zac Al-Khateeb Photo

Zac Al-Khateeb has been part of The Sporting News team since 2015 after earning his Bachelor's (2013) and Master's (2014) degrees in journalism at the University of Alabama. Prior to joining TSN, he covered high school sports and general news in Alabama. A college sports specialist, Zac has been a voter for the Biletnikoff Award and Heisman Trophy since 2020.