College Football’s Costly Start for Virginia Tech, UCLA: Coaches Out

Yogi Berra’s famous quip that “it gets late early out there” was made in a baseball context about the sun setting in late-season games at Yankee Stadium, but it’s highly apt for college football, too, as the fallout of losing is quickly rising around the sport just weeks into the 2025 season. 

UCLA and Virginia Tech each dismissed their head coaches Sunday, with the Bruins and Hokies falling to 0–3 over the weekend, making ugly turns amid seasons that not long ago had much more promise.

The Bruins fired DeShaun Foster, ending a tenure that had just five wins in 15 games and a minus-65 point differential this year as the team continues to struggle in its second year in the Big Ten. That continued losing prompted online trolling from the Big Sky and Pac-12 conferences, as well as similar mocking from both local and national press. The arrival of former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava in the transfer portal made no difference, as UCLA is also playing this year to increasingly sparse crowds at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. 

Changes Aren’t Cheap

Tim Skipper will be the interim coach for the rest of the season. Foster is owed more than $7 million for the remainder of his five-year contract signed early last year, and that will be honored, barring a settlement or other position offsetting that.

“[Foster] was named to this role at a challenging time of year, on the cusp of a move to a new conference, and he embraced it, putting his heart into moving the program forward,” UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond said.

Virginia Tech, meanwhile, also fired Brent Pry, as school officials called the team’s results “not acceptable” as it fell to 0–3 for the first time since 1987. Pry was in his fourth season with the Hokies, posting a 16–24 record and rising no higher than fourth in any season in the ACC. A home loss Saturday to Old Dominion, a Sun Belt Conference school, was the final straw. Philip Montgomery is now the interim head coach. 

Pry is owed more than $6 million in his buyout, representing another costly coaching separation.

“To our students, alumni, and the rest of Hokie Nation, we understand and share your disappointment with the season so far,” the school said in a statement. 

There could be player ramifications at both schools, as it’s still before the redshirt deadline to retain the year of eligibility. 

Troubles in South Bend

Notre Dame, a finalist in last year’s College Football Playoff before falling to national champion Ohio State, is already facing a highly difficult road back to the tournament after falling to 0–2 to start the 2025 season. 

After losing Saturday to Texas A&M, Notre Dame has no currently ranked opponents left on its schedule, so even running the table would leave the Fighting Irish without a marquee win when the CFP field is determined. After posting double-digit wins in eight of the last 10 seasons, a significant retreat in Notre Dame’s standing this season could have wide-ranging impacts, including viewership in its standalone rights deal with NBC Sports.

Head coach Marcus Freeman, however, is not thought to be on the hot seat. Notre Dame also stayed in the AP Top 25 rankings, barely, falling from No. 8 to No. 24, making the team the first since 1988 to be 0-2 and still ranked.

“We’re 0–2. So what do you control?” Freeman said after the loss to the Aggies. “I can’t sit here and dwell on being 0–2 as much as I need to dwell on how do we find ways to improve.”