Ranking college football's open Power 4 jobs - ESPN

The 2025-26 coaching cycle wasn't expected to be calm, like its predecessor. But few forecast such a robust line of storms rolling through the sport in the first half of the season.

All four power conferences have had a firing. Penn State's ouster of James Franklin, midway through his 12th season and barely 10 months removed from the team playing for a spot in the national title game, sent a message around the sport: Almost no coach is safe. Franklin and Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy, fired Sept. 23 from his alma mater, have a combined record of 298-150 in the FBS. LSU's decision to dismiss Brian Kelly during his fourth season has, again, reset the market.

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There are eight Power 4 schools looking for head coaches: Stanford, UCLA, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Penn State, Florida and, now, LSU. Two other notable non-Power 4 jobs, Oregon State and UAB, also are on the market. More openings certainly could come, including Auburn and Kentucky in the SEC, Wisconsin in the Big Ten and Florida State in the ACC. And that's not even counting the inevitable vacancies that will occur when sitting head coaches leave for other jobs.

The process of ranking the open jobs contains hard data, such as win-loss performance over time, recent postseason appearances and, while controversial to some, recruiting/transfer class rankings. The College Football Playoff is a major factor, both in terms of access and the varying pressure levels coaches face to be part of the 12-team field occasionally or regularly. Money matters more than ever in the sport, although accurately gauging each school's financial strength (or appetite) is tricky. They all