College football used to give coaches who have been successful iime to figure it out.
But patience is wearing thin among administrators who sense the program is headed in the wrong direction.
LSU coach Ed Ogeron, who coached the Bengals to a perfect 15-0 record and the national championship in 2019, was gone two years later.
And five Power 5 coaches– Scott Frost of Nebraska, Herm Edwards of Arizona State, Geoff Collins of Georgia Tech, Karl Dorrell of Georgia Tech and Paul Chryst of Wisconsin– got pink slips five games into the season this fall.. The administrators don’t seem to mind. they paid out more to $55 million to the five not to coach because they want to win the favor of powerful alumni and big boosters.
It’s crazy.
ASU, which plays Stanford, is paying a third coach Shaun Aguano, who will be entering his third game seeking a win. Aguano replaced Herm Edwards, who is due his entire salary this year, not to mention his salaru for 2024, $10.8 not to coach. This move comes just five years after AD Ray Anderson paid former coach Todd Graham $12.5 million to go away.
Nebraska had the option of letting Frost coach into October then pay him $7.5 million to go away. But after a loss to Georgia Southern Sept. 10, the school couldn;t watch any more and paid him $15 million in a divorce settlement..
That’s more money than Kirby Smart of defending national champion Georgia– who makes $10.25 million to coach, gets in his current contract.
Chryst, a two time Big Ten coach of the year who led the Badgers to the coference title game in 2019, coached seven plus years at Wisconsin, winning 67 games. the Badgers were 2-3 this season with a blowout loss to Ohio State and Chryst got the bad news after UW lost to Illinois, 34-10, a Big Ten rival that was coached by former Wisconsin coach Brett Bielema. the Badgers were .
“My job is make sure the program is headed in the right direction,” UW AD Chris McIntosh said. “This was by no means a decision based on one gmae. But I felt a change in leadership was needed. The expectations at Wisconsn are to win championships and I felt like it was thec right time to make a chance.”
The program had been on a downward spiral since 2019, failing to re-strock the talent pool. The offense, with franchise running back Braelon Allen, sputtered in its two Big Ten games, averaging just 15.5 points agaisnt Ohio State and Illinois. .
Chryst, who will be paid a $11 mdillion buyout, will be replaced by defensive coordinator im Leonard on an interim basis. The school will conduct a nationally search after the season.
