There are currently twelve (12!) FBS College Football programs without a permanent head coach before November. Big buyout numbers getting tossed around like actual dollars always makes me think about how
I’m not coaching LSU for free like a chump. With seats heating up every day, there may be more firings before anyone finds “their guy.” In addition to rich dudes getting even richer for failing, many of the less-rich got a midweek phone call, asking their headset size for Saturday. The interim coaches are plentiful, and many of them are leading squads out of the tunnel for the first time. Could be fun.
Here’s your Week 10 TV Preview
THURSDAY
Tulane at UTSA ESPN 7:30 EST (6:00 CT)
From the jump, I broke my own rule! No interim coaches here, as both Tulane and UTSA should be fairly satisfied with their head coach. Both Jon Sumrall (Tulane) and Jeff Traylor (UTSA) have created a solid culture and winning atmosphere where once there was none. Both coaches’ successes make them attractive options for bigger market teams looking for the next big thing. Tulane is having a hell of a season and certainly has a playoff berth in mind. Sumrall has made a lot of magic in New Orleans, and the big fellas have noticed. Perhaps Tulane writes a check that convinces Jon Sumrall to pick out a spot on the Parade Route (or just off it), and perhaps he wears a different color polo next year. A win this week would make those stakes higher.
FRIDAY
North Carolina at Syracuse ESPN Noon EST (11:00CT)
Still-employed-head-coach, Bill Belichick, leads “the 33rd NFL team” to Syracuse to face a fully operational Carrier Dome and the Orangemen inside it. Since 2000, Syracuse has only faced one interim coach in a football game. The 2024 Holiday Bowl, when they played to a 52-35 victory against Washington State, who were coached by interim Pete Kaligis. Statistically, despite his 2-5 record in college football, Bill Belichick is the Tar Heel’s best current choice against Syracuse.
SATURDAY
Penn State at 1 Ohio State FOX Noon EST (11:00 CT)
Terry Smith took the Nittany Lions’ reins after James Franklin’s seemingly eternal potential ran out. Smith played wide receiver for Penn State, and his homecoming could be a fun feel-good story. It still might, but after losing to Iowa last week, Terry’s heading to the Horseshoe to face the dreaded Buckeyes, who have been chewing and spitting out every team they’ve faced this year. Perhaps he needed the week to get sorted. Maybe he didn’t know which button did what on his controller. Though the outcome will likely not surprise, I’ll be checking in occasionally for excitement while I watch the Vanderbilt buzzsaw chew on Texas (ESPN Noon EST).
5 Georgia vs Florida ESPN 3:30 pm EST (2:30 CT)
The only interim head coach I’ll actively root against this week is Billy Gonzalez. Anyone without a hatred of the Fightin’ Jorts could see his appointment as a reward for loyalty, a long time coming. Gonzalez has been sort of in waiting at Florida; he’s coached under Urban Meyer, Dan Mullen, and, most recently, Billy Napier. This is the only time he got the headset nod, and in true team player fashion, the only personnel change he made was to install QB coach Ryan O’Hara as the play caller, a choice that makes sense to keep familiar voices as close to the team’s on-field leadership as possible. Gonzalez has reportedly not moved into the head coach’s office for the remaining five games of the season in a show of respect for the office. He sounds like a glue guy that could foundationally establish something special at Florida, and I hope they instead pay some other dude way more money and keep fumbling in the fading marshes of north Florida.
During the Dawgs’ game, there is some good SEC interim play in Starkville. Bobby Petrino somehow got back on the hog at Arkansas, and they’ll play Mississippi State (SEC Network 4:00 EST). In the past five years, Gene Chizik, Jimbo Fisher, and Billy Napier have all been fired the week after beating Mississippi State in a sort of reverse scalp situation. Sam Pittman is already headed to do whatever he wants to from Little Rock, and Bobby is likely to get more latitude than to be fired on a 1-0 record, but magical things do happen.
18 Oklahoma at 14 Tennessee ABC 7:30 EST (6:30 CT)
A huge conference matchup, the prime-time ABC game features a surging but imperfect Oklahoma traveling to Knoxville to face the ever-explosive Volunteer offense. Hopefully, I’ll be in a good mood to hate-watch the Day-Glo orange team lose a home game against the other crimson team. The Sooners took a surprising loss in the Cotton Bowl not long ago, but everything looked fixable with them, so the Davy Crockett fan club should have its hands full Saturday night.
We’re seeing the effects of the influx of TV/streaming dollars in real time this season. Coaches are getting shown the door more quickly because the money is cheaper. I love watching interim-coached games because there really are singular moments for those coaches and the players. Let’s see who gets their squad back on the bus and who out-kicked their coverage this week!
Go Dawgs!
