The 2025 college football coaching carousel is shaping up to be one of the most interesting of the past several years. With mid-season partings becoming more and more common, there are, as of Week 11,
currently head coaching positions open at the following programs:
- Penn State
- LSU
- Florida
- Arkansas
- Auburn
- UCLA
- Others
That’s not even factoring in programs that have decisions to make at the end of the season. Wisconsin has fallen all the way to the bottom of the Big Ten under Luke Fickell and things seem to be getting tense for Jonathon Smith in year two at Michigan State. Given the jobs that are currently open, this isn’t exactly a great time to need to hire a head coach.
Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti’s name came up for a few of these openings, namely Penn State, before he agreed to terms with the athletic department on a new contract that was put together pretty quickly.
So Cignetti is off the table, which is obviously good news for Indiana, but what about his staff? One name that’s bound to come up for openings, either the current ones or if there’s any further movement, is defensive coordinator Bryant Haines, a strong candidate for this season’s Broyles Award, given to the top assistant coach in college football.
There’s a few things to consider here, namely what kind of job Haines would appeal to and vice versa. In the current structure of the sport, is just any Group of Five opening as good as a coordinator job at a top power conference program, especially one in the Big Ten? Kane Wommack, who held Haines’ current position under Tom Allen, left for the head coaching job at South Alabama before leaving that program to take on the defensive coordinator gig for Kalen DeBoer, who was the Hoosiers’ offensive coordinator for one season while Wommack was in Bloomington, at Alabama.
Haines is one of the highest-paid defensive coordinators in the country at Indiana with a starting salary of $2 million per season. Only nine assistant coaches in the country made that much or more during the 2024 season. There’s definitely some G5 jobs that could outdo that, but Indiana might be persuaded to match that offer if it comes down to financials.
For instance, current JMU head coach Bob Chesney makes less than $1 million. If Chesney moved on and that job opened up, would Haines be interested in a return to Harrisonburg that would come with a salary reduction? His boss, Cignetti, made a bit of a similar move to become a head coach after being on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama, albeit to a much, much smaller school. One way or another, he bet on himself, and Haines could be interested in a similar approach.
What about power conference jobs? A high-major coordinator being hired at one of the sport’s biggest jobs isn’t out of the ordinary. Oregon made that move with Dan Lanning, then Georgia’s defensive coordinator, a few years ago. That could make Haines a candidate at the Penn States and Floridas this cycle. Maybe UCLA comes calling, having become very familiar with Haines’ coaching prowess these past two seasons.
Unlike a lot of possible candidates, who are head coaches, Haines likely won’t be made available to comment on these matters until the postseason. He’d probably give a similar answer on being focused on the situation at hand, but you won’t hear from Haines during the regular season.
It’s a safe bet that Haines’ name gets floated for some of these jobs, either publicly or in private meetings. That’s natural. We’ll have to wait and see, but it’s a scenario on the fast-approaching horizon.
