5 College Football Coaches on Hot Seat for Firing & Their Buyouts: Billy Napier Leads the List

One bad Saturday can light the match. And one terrible fourth-down decision can burn the whole house down. That’s college football. And that’s exactly what Billy Napier and Florida lived through when they were booed off their own turf after paying half a million dollars to South Florida for what was supposed to be a cupcake game. Instead, the Bulls walked out with an 18-16 upset, and the HC walked off to the sound of ‘Fire Billy’ chants echoing through the Swamp. But the Gators HC isn’t alone on the hot seat. 

Five college football HCs on hot seats

From Alabama to Iowa, a handful of coaches are starting to sweat under the weight of buyouts, boosters, and brutal fan bases. The seats are scorching, the numbers are ugly, and the excuses are running thin. Let’s break down the five college football HCs feeling the flames the most. 

Billy Napier (Florida)

The USF matchup was an embarrassment for Billy Napier and Florida. The Gators were flagged 11 times for 103 yards, got outgained 391-355, and somehow managed to look unprepared against a team that they literally paid $500K to beat. His career mark in Gainesville now stands at 20-20, and then, there’s the buyout. 

The 18-16 scoreline won’t tell the real story of how the Gators gifted the win to USF. Late in the 4th quarter, Florida was forced to punt the ball after some questionable play-calling. To make matters worse, DL Brendon Bett thought it was wise to spit on an opponent and get ejected from the game. More than the ejection, the 15-yard penalty did the damage. USF moved up the field, and a few plays later, they were at the 2-yard line with 3 seconds left on the clock. The Bulls’ kicker did his job, and the home team was booed off the field. Now Florida heads into a meat-grinder stretch, at LSU, at Miami, and then Texas and Georgia, where 1-1 could quickly become 1-5. If the Swamp sounded angry on Saturday, October could be roaring. 

And in case you’re wondering about the cost, Billy Napier has a rough $22 million buyout. Thanks to super-agent Jimmy Sexton, Florida would owe him 85% of his remaining deal, with $14 million due in the first 30 days alone. But if Florida boosters are angry enough, not even $30 million might stop them from striking the match. 

Brent Pry (Virginia State)

When Brent Pry came to Blacksburg in 2021, Hokies fans hoped for a gritty rebuild that would bring back the lunch-pail glory days. Instead, they’ve gotten a 16–23 slog punctuated by Week 1’s ugly 24–11 loss to South Carolina and a 44–20 collapse against Vanderbilt. A third losing season in four years feels inevitable, and so does a coaching search.

The problem is money. Brent Pry’s buyout is about $10 million if he’s cut after this season, with $6 million guaranteed in equal quarterly installments through 2027. It’s not SEC money, but it’s still enough to make Virginia Tech think twice before pulling the plug. What hurts the HC is optics. Virginia Tech hasn’t had a coach stick since Frank Beamer retired, and Hokie Nation is tired of being the almost program in the ACC. 

Back-to-back bowl games in 2023 and 2024 bought him some time, but the patience is evaporating faster than their defensive backs against SEC receivers. And if Blacksburg is restless, Stillwater is practically begging for change.

Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State)

Mike Gundy used to be untouchable. He’s the mullet-wearing cowboy who built Oklahoma State into a consistent Big 12 contender, racking up 165-plus wins and 12 bowl victories. But time waits for no man, and right now, he looks like he’s out of tricks. The Cowboys went 3–9 in 2024 without a single conference win. They barely scraped past FCS foe UT Martin, then got obliterated by Oregon in Week 2. That flat-footed 41–3 halftime deficit felt like a scar for Mike Gundy’s legacy.

His restructured deal locks in a flat $15 million buyout until 2027, which isn’t cheap but also isn’t unpayable for a Big 12 program with playoff ambitions. His loyalists argue he deserves to go out on his own terms. Critics say the game has passed him by, and a new voice is desperately needed in Stillwater. Either way, the rope is shorter than it’s ever been. And if Mike Gundy’s legacy is hanging by a thread, the same can be said for the longest-tenured coach in the entire sport.

Kirk Ferentz (Iowa)

No one in college football has the resume Kirk Ferentz does. 26 years, one school, and a reputation as the steady hand of the Big Ten. But legacy alone isn’t cutting it anymore. He’s discovering just how cold Iowa winters can feel when the offense is this bad. The Hawkeyes lost the Cy-Hawk rivalry 16–13 to Iowa State thanks to QB Mark Gronowski, who managed just 127 passing yards across two weeks. Fans are done! They’re even burning the QB’s jersey after that 83-yard game. 

Kirk Ferentz makes $7 million annually and is under contract through 2029, which makes cutting him loose more complicated than most fans realize. But patience is thin. Last year, the same rivalry loss sparked “Fire Ferentz” chants. This year, it’s déjà vu with even less hope that things will improve. Iowa’s next stretch includes ranked opponents like Indiana, Penn State, and Oregon. If the offense keeps sputtering, the HC’s record-setting tenure could end with boos.

Kalen DeBoer (Alabama)

Talk about an impossible act to follow. Kalen DeBoer was picked to step into Nick Saban’s shadow, and the results so far have Crimson Tide fans scratching their heads. Alabama is 10–5 since his arrival, including a season-opening 31-17 loss to Florida State that had fans wondering if the dynasty had crashed. However, the Tide recovered in Week 2. A 73-0 thrashing of Louisiana-Monroe meant that the ‘Fire DeBoer’ movement slowed a bit, but it hasn’t gone away completely. 

But for those chanting for dismissal, Kalen DeBoer is sitting on a fortress of contract security. His buyout is a jaw-dropping $70 million. You’d need a Powerball jackpot to move him out of Tuscaloosa. One fan, Susie Conerly, literally told WHNT her first order of business if she won the $1.8 billion lottery would be paying the HC’s buyout. That’s how deep the frustration runs. His 5–5 record over the last 10 games has fans growling. 

For now, the only thing hotter than the coach’s seat is the number Alabama would have to write on a check to make him disappear. And while Kalen DeBoer wrestles with impossible expectations, another coach across the country is simply wrestling with relevance.