Getting fired from a cushy college football coaching job isn’t great, and losing your job before the season ends is worse. But getting fired before the end of September is just embarrassing and a clear signal from the program that it didn’t have a ton of faith in you to begin with.
Well, a solid handful of college football coaches have already given pink slips — some of whom we predicted would be on the job hunt at some point this season. So as more coaches are looking for a new gig, we’re keeping tabs with a running list of FBS coaches who have been fired so far in the 2022 season.
Going into Week 6, there are already five names on this list to potentially shake up the coaching carousel.
1
Scott Frost: Fired after Week 2
Yeah, you saw this one coming long before the 2022 season started, but after Nebraska opened the season with a 1-2 record — it lost to Northwestern in Week 0 — the Cornhuskers decided they’d seen enough. The school fired Frost at the beginning of his fifth season leading the team following Nebraska’s 45-42 loss to Georgia Southern.
And apparently Nebraska couldn’t get rid of Frost fast enough because had it waited until October, his buyout would have been cut in half from $15 million to $7.5 million. Instead, the school was willing to pay him an extra $7.5 million to fire him as soon as possible.
Statement from Vice Chancellor, Director of Athletics – Trev Alberts. pic.twitter.com/weczB1ghoB
— Nebraska Huskers (@Huskers) September 11, 2022
2
Herm Edwards: Fired after Week 3
If nothing else, Edwards was on our preseason hot-seat watch because of an NCAA investigation into alleged recruiting violations, including allegations that it hosted prospects on campus during the COVID-19 recruiting dead period. That’s automatically not great for the program. But an early 30-21 home loss to Eastern Michigan led Arizona State to make a change the next day. Or, rather, the two decided on a “mutual parting of the ways” after that Week 3 loss.
The Sun Devils opened the season with a 1-2 record, also losing to Oklahoma State after starting with a win against Northern Arizona. In four-plus seasons with the team after three decades of not coaching in college, Edwards had a 26-20 record, which wasn’t good enough for Arizona State. And after the news broke, fans, of course, made a bunch of Kliff Kingsbury jokes.
Statement from Vice President of University Athletics Ray Anderson. pic.twitter.com/4Rj77Gnhkt
— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) September 18, 2022
3
Geoff Collins: Fired after Week 4
Collins started his fourth season with Georgia Tech in a rough way, but it was the Yellow Jackets’ 27-10 loss to UCF in Week 4 that did him in. Georgia Tech started the season with an expected but ugly loss to Clemson, beat Western Carolina and then got shut out by Ole Miss in a disastrous 42-0 defeat.
Couple a 1-3 start to this season with three consecutive three-win seasons, and Collins was unsurprisingly toast. Collins finished with a sad 10-28 record with the Yellow Jackets and was fired two days after the Week 4 loss to UCF. And he’s going to get at least $10.5 million in the buyout.
4
Paul Chryst: Fired after Week 5
OK, this has to be the most surprising early season firing in 2022. Yes, Wisconsin is off to a poor 2-3 start this year and is comfortably at the bottom of the already sad Big Ten West standings after Week 5, but you would have thought his past success with the Badgers would have offered him a little more breathing room. Instead, after back-to-back losses to Ohio State and then Illinois in Week 5, Wisconsin fired Chryst the next day in the middle of his eighth season with the program.
He racked up a 67-26 recored with the Badgers, which also included Cotton and Orange Bowl wins and three Big Ten West titles. Last year, despite losing three of their first four games, they turned things around and finished with a 9-4 record. And now, Chryst will get a reduced buyout of $11 million.
Statement from University of Wisconsin Director of Athletics Chris McIntosh
📝 https://t.co/n7mOEAeTeM pic.twitter.com/Qz5AS72juf
— Wisconsin Badgers (@UWBadgers) October 3, 2022
5
Karl Dorrell: Fired after Week 5
While we didn’t predict Colorado firing Dorrell this season, it’s hardly a surprise because the Buffaloes are… not doing great. In fact, their start to the season is historically bad. Not since 1957 has a Power 5 team opened the season with four consecutive losses by at least 25 points each, as one Colorado beat writer noted. And although the Buffs didn’t lose their fifth game by 25 points, they still lost by 23 to Arizona in Week 5, and Colorado fired Dorrell the next day.
Dorrell — who was in his third season in Boulder and finished with a 8-15 record with the Buffs — will get about $8.7 million in the buyout.
AD Rick George announced that the Colorado Buffaloes will part ways with head football coach Karl Dorrell. The process of searching for a replacement begins immediately.
Full Release: https://t.co/vD8StU8vDG pic.twitter.com/hQ3U22JgrK
— Colorado Buffaloes (@CUBuffs) October 2, 2022
