As Ole Miss prepares for a College Football Playoff run without former head coach Lane Kiffin, who was introduced at LSU on Monday, at least five other CFP contenders are also affected by the timing of the coaching hiring cycle, which has drawn the ire of many fans and pundits across the sport.
Six of the top 21 ranked teams in the final AP Top 25 poll of the regular season (the CFP rankings will be released Tuesday night) are impacted by Power 4 coaching hires:
- No. 4 Oregon: Offensive coordinator Will Stein has been hired as Kentucky’s new coach; he will reportedly remain with the Ducks through the CFP.
- No. 6 Ole Miss: Promoted defensive coordinator Pete Golding to head coach after Kiffin left.
- No. 11 BYU: Coach Kalani Sitake has emerged as Penn State’s top coaching target, according to multiple reports. The Cougars play in the Big 12 championship Saturday.
- No. 19 James Madison: Coach Bob Chesney expected to be named UCLA’s new coach after Friday’s Sun Belt Conference championship game. UCLA has reportedly agreed to let Chesney coach JMU in a potential CFP run.
- No. 20 North Texas: Coach Eric Morris has been hired as Oklahoma State’s new coach but is staying with the team through Friday’s American Conference championship game and any potential CFP run.
- No. 21 Tulane: Coach Jon Sumrall has been hired as Florida’s new coach but is staying with the team through Friday’s American Conference championship game and any potential CFP run.
The North Texas–Tulane winner in the American Conference championship game is likely to earn an automatic CFP bid as one of the five highest-ranked conference champions. Tulane was the sole Group of 6 program ranked in last week’s CFP rankings, at No. 24. But JMU could also potentially steal a spot if unranked Duke were to upset No. 16 Virginia in the ACC championship game Saturday.
Champagne Problems?
The ability for Stein, Chesney, Morris, and Sumrall to finish out the postseason with the teams they’re leaving comes as Kiffin fought hard to do the same at Ole Miss, but ultimately had his request denied. However, no one besides Kiffin is being hired by an in-conference rival. It’s unclear whether BYU would let Sitake coach in the CFP if he chose to accept the Penn State job.
College football’s early signing period for 2026 recruits runs from Wednesday through Friday, so the above coaches will be pulling double duty as they help their current teams prepare for upcoming games while simultaneously making final pitches for top high school players to join them at their next stops.
The first round of the CFP will take place Dec. 19–20, and the quarterfinals Dec. 31 to Jan. 1, meaning several more weeks before some coaches will be able to officially start their new jobs.
