Mike Gundy’s time at Oklahoma State is officially over. Through most of Gundy’s career, the Cowboys were a strong team and a threat to contend in the Big 12 each year. In 2024, it looked like yet another vintage Gundy-led Oklahoma State team until it went winless in the Big 12 after starting 3-0 and getting inside the top 15.
Gundy is the latest of college coaches to be fired just as the season started, joining Brent Pry and DeShaun Foster, who were fired from Virginia Tech and UCLA, respectively. But will they be the only ones? Probably not and the way this season is going for some teams, there’s quite a few coaches on the chopping block.
Here are three other coaches that could be out of job sooner rather than later as conference play picks up.
Billy Napier and three other coaches that could get fired next
Billy Napier, Florida Gators
It’s no surprise that Billy Napier is on the hottest seat in college football now that Gundy is out at Oklahoma State. If the Cowboys were disappointed in Gundy, imagine how some of the Florida administration feels about Napier. The only reason Napier is allowed to coach is that Scott Stricklin, the Florida athletic director, likes Napier enough to not fire him yet.
But it may be inevitable at this point. Napier hasn’t beat an FBS team yet this year with losses to Miami, South Florida and LSU. It’s not a matter of if Napier will get fired but when. Florida may not want the embarrassment of firing their coach midseason, but it would be more embarrassing to let him continue to run this team into the ground.
Luke Fickell, Wisconsin Badgers
Luke Fickell left Cincinnati a year after their historic run to the College Football Playoff to chase Big Ten stardom. He’s done everything but and the Wisconsin administration has to be fed up with mediocre results. Fickell has just one winning season his first year and ended last year on a five-game losing streak, missing out on a bowl game. This year, after starting 2-0, Wisconsin has dropped the last two, getting dominated in both games.
This is a make-or-break season for Fickell who has to prove he can actually turn Wisconsin around. They’ve been a middle-of-the-pack team since his arrival and that won’t cut it. If the losses pile up, he won’t survive the 2025 season.
Sam Pittman, Arkansas Razorbacks
Sam Pittman probably saved his job with a win over Tennessee last year, but it’s likely one win won’t save him this year. The Arkansas Razorbacks have lost the last two games with a loss to Memphis foreshadowing what could be a rough SEC slate this year. Pittman will probably be fortunate enough to finish the season, but it feels like this team is as good as it’s going to be under Pittman.
The loss to Memphis has pretty much summarized the last few years for Pittman. Regardless of the expectations, they win some games they were expected to lose and carry some bad losses with them as well. Pittman doesn’t need to dominate in the SEC, but he does have to improve his play tremendously if he wants to be in Fayetteville next season.
Shane Beamer, South Carolina
This season, with all the expectations and a solid returning quraterback, South Carolina was projected to be a surprise in the SEC. All they've done is surprised people about how quickly their season turned sour. They opened the year 2-0 and then fell apart, getting whooped by Vanderbilt, 31-7 at home, and then losing to top 25 ranked Missouri last week.
Shane Beamer won't survive this season if he doesn't get this team back on track. the College Football Playoff is probably out of the question at this point, but he has yet to have a 10-win season at South Carolina so he could accomplish that this year. If not, he'll be out in Columbia and I'm sure Virginia Tech fans will want to see what he's learned from his dad in bringing Beamer Ball back to Blacksburg.