It’s getting expensive for these schools to knee-jerk fire head coaches these days and it’s probably already reached a record number this year.
And Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin is topping the list at several of the places to replace the guys getting fired.
Considering Kiffin hasn’t remotely indicated he has the slightest interest in leaving Oxford, it does have Rebels fans glued to these coaching searches and social media keeping up with it.
NEW: Nick Saban suggests to @clowfb that Lane Kiffin may already have a better job at Ole Miss than he would at LSU or Florida🤔
“Jobs that weren’t great jobs before are now. Lane is the first name up for Florida and the first name up for LSU, but I think you can have a long… pic.twitter.com/T9LQNrxLAT
— On3 (@On3sports) October 29, 2025
College football programs across the Football Bowl Subdivision owe nearly $168 million in buyouts to head coaches fired during the 2025 season, according to data compiled by ESPN.
The figure represents one of the largest totals in college football history and continues a trend of escalating “dead money” payments tied to high-stakes coaching contracts.
Leading the list is Brian Kelly, who was dismissed by LSU and is owed about $54 million. His payout ranks second all time behind the $76 million Texas A&M paid to Jimbo Fisher in 2023. LSU athletic director Scott Woodward said the move came after the Tigers failed to meet program expectations.
“We had high hopes that [Kelly] would lead us to multiple SEC and national championships during his time in Baton Rouge,” Woodward said. “Ultimately, the success at the level that LSU demands simply did not materialize.”
Kelly’s contract includes offset provisions that could reduce the total if he accepts another coaching job, but his buyout remains the largest of 2025.
According to ESPN, here is the complete list of fired FBS head coaches and their estimated buyouts this season:
- Brian Kelly, LSU — $54 million
- James Franklin, Penn State — $49 million
- Billy Napier, Florida — $21 million
- Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State — $15 million
- Sam Pittman, Arkansas — $9.8 million
- Brent Pry, Virginia Tech — $6 million
- DeShaun Foster, UCLA — $5 million
- Trent Bray, Oregon State — $4 million
- Trent Dilfer, UAB — $2.4 million
- Jay Norvell, Colorado State — $1.5 million
Florida’s agreement with Napier did not include an offset clause, requiring the school to pay half of his $21 million buyout within 30 days of his dismissal.
The totals account only for head coaches terminated during the 2025 season and exclude assistant coaches and offseason departures.
Athletic directors and financial analysts say the ballooning buyouts illustrate the growing tension between competitive expectations and fiscal responsibility. As donor-backed revenue and media contracts continue to climb, universities are reassessing how they structure coaching deals to manage long-term risk.
With payouts nearing $170 million this fall, schools are expected to place greater emphasis on performance clauses, offset provisions, and contractual safeguards designed to prevent future record-breaking buyout totals.
