College Football's Power Brokers Face Costly Shakeups

Maryland’s Mike Locksley, Baylor’s Dave Aranda and NC State’s Dave Doeren had all been fired by Sunday, Oct. 25, leaving openings in three of the four Power Four conferences. The coaching carousel keeps spinning. But changing bosses can cost tens of millions: Florida State would owe Mike Norvell $48 million if it fired him without cause.

The Cost of the Coaches’ Carousel

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano is under pressure after the school received an additional $5 million from New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, earmarked for support roles meant to strengthen NIL efforts. Since midway through the 2024 season, Rutgers has gone 6-17 against Power Four opponents; two wins came against Locksley’s Maryland teams, and its latest game was a noncompetitive blowout loss to Northwestern. As of Oct. 25, firing Schiano would cost the school $19.102 million.

Colorado coach Deion Sanders’ last 20 games matched the final 20 games of Karl Dorrell’s tenure. Each coach went 5-10 and had the same number of blowout losses. Colorado led Oklahoma State 24-20 just before halftime, then lost 57-24. New athletic director Fernando Lovo inherited what the report called an expensive burden from Rick George. Sanders was making $10 million that year, with another $34 million in salary due over the next three seasons; Colorado was short of cash.

Florida State won just five games against Power Four opponents from Dec. 3, 2023, through Oct. 25, 2026—a stretch the article put at 1,057 days. The $48 million buyout would fall on an athletic department without a permanent leader and facing financial issues. A person familiar with the situation in Tallahassee told USA TODAY Sports: “The FSU president (Richard McCullough) and board of trustees now are starting to get heat about the football program, and they don't like that — nor are they used to getting heat in those positions.”

UTEP’s Scotty Walden came from FCS program Austin Peay with energy and strong community involvement, but outside investments had brought no significant return; his record stood at 7-27. Sam Houston State’s Phil Longo hadn’t carried his success as an offensive coordinator into the head-coaching job. The Bearkats went 3-16 during his tenure and had no wins that season against FBS opponents. Longo was owed approximately $2.2 million through the end of his current contract, less mitigation.

A Playoff Built by Committees and Projections

Week 8 upsets threw bowl and College Football Playoff projections into flux. Fifteen ranked teams had lost over the past two weeks. The ACC and Sun Belt announced a partnership with the new San Juan Bowl, bringing the total to 42 bowls, not counting the CFP title game. There might not be enough teams with at least a 6-6 record, and NCAA rules now let 5-7 teams fill conference bowl alignments.

The 12-team playoff gives automatic bids to champions of the Power 4 conferences and the highest-ranked Group of 6 team, plus seven at-large teams. Notre Dame gets an automatic berth if the selection committee ranks the Irish in the top 12. The projected field doesn’t capture Saturday’s results; it forecasts how the season might end.

Three FBS teams remained unbeaten. No. 1 Miami (7-0) was scheduled to visit No. 5 Notre Dame (6-1) on Nov. 7, while No. 6 Utah (7-0) was set to host No. 8 BYU (6-1). No. 7 UCLA (7-0) had no ranked opponent left.

The Rankings Keep Moving

In the USA TODAY Sports NCAA Re-Rank 1-138, BYU dropped three spots to No. 6 after losing to Central Florida, a week after beating Notre Dame. Utah climbed to No. 4 after beating Houston. Ohio State stayed No. 1, Miami held No. 2, Georgia rose to No. 3 and Indiana moved to No. 5 after an overtime win over Michigan.

The separate Playoff Predictor called parity a defining feature of the CFP race. It cited roster equalization in the NIL era, possible quarterback injuries, home-field advantage, poor officiating and bad luck. In the three weeks before the article, 10 teams ranked in the Top 10 of the US LBM Coaches Poll had lost. After the Hurricanes beat Pitt, Miami coach Mario Cristobal said, “We have to evolve more and continue.”

UCLA beat Michigan State 28-10 at the Rose Bowl, earning its seventh win and moving to No. 7 in the Associated Press top 25 poll. The Bruins’ defense forced three takeaways and recorded four sacks, holding Michigan State to 156 yards. UCLA ran 48 times for 245 yards and three touchdowns. Coach Bob Chesney said the team could’ve taken more chances late, but it was trying to run out the clock and secure the win.