It’s a fair question to ask how some of these coaches still have a job after a miserable tenure is highlighted by an underwhelming 2025 season. Luke Fickell is the poster child for failed coaches this year, though you could make an argument for a few more to join him on the list. I will say, with Billy Napier and James Franklin getting fired in consecutive weeks, it magnifies the scope of these coaches.
How coaches like Fickell are still able to have a job after how things have gone this season is a complicated question. There are a lot of factors that go into letting a coach go, highlighted by what their buyout is and how long it will take boosters to conjure up the funds. But that’s not the only reason.
Luke Fickell, Wisconsin Badgers
The most obvious reason here is that Fickell has a $25 million buyout that is just too hefty for the Badgers’ boosters to put together. It’s not the highest buyout by any means, but $25 million isn’t just sitting around for teams to make a college football coach go away. Fickell and the Badgers have lost the last five games, have been shutout in the last two games and during their losing streak and haven’t scored more than 14 points in the last five games.
This isn’t just a team that has no identity that can win, it’s a team that seems lost. However, there's a good chance they don’t have an interim coach lined up they like, which would mean firing Fickell doesn’t really solve the problem.
If Fickell is fortunate enough to finish the 2025 season, he probably won’t survive the bowl season. There’s quite a few Group-of-5 program coaches that would jump at the chance to lead a Big Ten school and even some smaller P4 coaches that could make the leap. Fickell’s days are numbered, but between his buyout and the interim candidates, it just might not be the right time for Wisconsin to move on.
Mike Norvell, Florida State Seminoles
The Seminoles are at an impasse with Mike Norvell. He started the year 3-0 with the No. 8 ranked team in the country and in a matter of four games, has once again found himself on the hot seat. Florida State might already have his buyout ready, but their biggest fear is going down the same path it did with Willie Taggart. Florida State gave up on Taggart sooner than they should have and it forced them to cough up $17 million to fire him. They were criticized for that so it's not surprising they are hesitant to pull the plug on Norvell.
They could have given up on Norvell after last season, but that would've been far too short of a leash. Because the Noles have spiraled, it makes you wonder if they still want Norvell to be the guy. They went all in on him in bringing him in from Memphis. After he had a really successful 2023 season, the program has gone awry.
Florida State can still get back to their 2023 high, but the question they have is if Norvell will be the coach when they do it. They aren’t making any knee-jerk decisions for now.
Mark Stoops, Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky riding it out with Mark Stoops is very similar to Florida sticking with Billy Napier and Penn State sticking with James Franklin as long as they did. Stoops is consistently inconsistent. He’ll have bad seasons, but then put together a strong campaign that makes BBN think Kentucky might be turning the corner.
Sometimes you have to know when enough is enough, which is hard to accept. It makes it easier to bring him back year after year thanks to a near $40 million buyout. It’s also hard to fire a coach that can still pack the stadium. Stoops is doing just enough to keep his job, but not enough to elevate the Wildcats.
Vanderbilt has improved over the last few seasons – along with Missouri – while the Wildcats have been left behind. If they want mediocrity then they’ll continue to employ Stoops, but when they’re ready to become a contender, they’ll make the tough decision.
Hugh Freeze, Auburn Tigers
This one is hard to put my finger on. Hugh Freeze really hasn’t done anything of note since he took the job at Auburn, and in a year where he had a lot to prove, he’s shown he can’t get it done. A hot start that landed the Tigers in the AP top 25 has turned cool after four-straight losses.
Auburn doesn’t want to give Freeze $15 million despite how bad they've looked. There’s quite a few options as replacements so that’s not necessarily a factor, but maybe they want to give him the benefit of the doubt. Either way, waiting for the inevitable doesn’t make sense here.
Freeze needed to prove he was going to turn Auburn into a contender and for three games he looked like it. Then SEC reality hit, and now Auburn can’t figure out what to do with Freeze. It might be best to foot the $15 million bill and move on.
Bill Belichick, UNC Tar Heels
UNC won’t part ways with Bill Belichick after a season from hell for one reason, and that’s because they don’t want the embarrassment of bringing Belichick in only for that decision to blow up in their face. Rebuilding is always hard, but with Belichick’s championship pedigree he has a lot shorter of a leash than most coaches.
If North Carolina fires him now or even after his first season, it would be an even bigger story than when they hired him. He deemed UNC to be the 33rd NFL team and they look worse than some FCS schools right now. Belichick will get at least one more crack at it and it’s not necessarily because he’s the right guy.
The Tar Heels want to save face, because admitting they’re wrong now looks a whole lot worse than a year from now – though they won’t ever escape the Belichick era.