Lincoln Riley buzz, Lane Kiffin wisdom and the latest in college football’s coaching carousel
Just when it seemed the drama at LSU had subsided, Monday brought an unexpected twist, as a lawsuit revealed the school’s apparent pivot to try to get out of Brian Kelly’s buyout, leaving industry sources dubious and baffled.
Kelly sued LSU’s Board of Supervisors on Monday, saying school officials told him earlier that day that he had not actually been fired the week prior, that there may be grounds to fire him for cause (which would negate his buyout) and that former athletic director Scott Woodward did not have the ability to fire Kelly or negotiate a settlement. The school has declined comment.
“It seems unlikely that LSU could set a new precedent when everyone in college sports is laughing at them for taking a position that’s absolutely absurd,” lawyer Tom Mars posted on X. Mars has represented several football coaches in lawsuits over their firings.
The suit claims Kelly was open to LSU’s desire to negotiate a smaller lump-sum settlement, rather than commit to his full $53 million buyout, which requires him to attempt to find another job to partially offset that buyout. Kelly declined offers of $25 million and $30 million, each with no offset. Former coach Les Miles negotiated a smaller settlement with LSU two years after he was fired as part of his plan to get back into coaching; the Tigers’ next coach, Ed Orgeron, had no offset clause.
The record of schools trying to fire coaches for cause is shaky, and in those cases, the distinction was rarely made so late in the process.
In 2018, Kansas fired coach David Beaty, then later tried to declare the move to be “for cause” over possible NCAA violations to avoid a $3 million buyout. After a protracted legal fight, Beaty received a $2.55 million settlement from the school. Former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald recently settled a lawsuit with his former school over his for-cause firing. He was initially suspended following an investigation into hazing within the program, then fired in an about-face from the school’s president after public pressure.
Tennessee fired Jeremy Pruitt for cause in 2021 to negate his $12.6 million buyout after the school’s internal investigation into NCAA violations. Pruitt and a lawyer threatened a lawsuit against Tennessee, but none ever came. Pruitt did sue the NCAA earlier this year, claiming it conspired with Tennessee to get him fired. That case remains ongoing. Mel Tucker sued Michigan State in 2024 after his for-cause firing over conduct toward sexual violence educator Brenda Tracy, but there has been no update to that case since February.
LSU had already attributed Kelly’s firing to his team’s on-field results in public comments. Any attempts to retroactively cite something else, especially after multiple LSU employees made Kelly settlement offers, feel unlikely to succeed.
So what’s up with Lincoln Riley?
Industry sources had mentioned Riley, in his fourth season as USC coach, as someone to keep an eye on in this coaching carousel for weeks before college football personality Josh Pate mentioned it on a recent episode of the Bussin’ With The Boys show. Riley was asked about that chatter after Friday’s win against Northwestern and largely brushed it aside.
“You guys know what I sacrificed to come here,” he said. “I’m where I need to be.”
But when you’re the first coach in 75 years to leave Oklahoma for another college job, no one’s ever going to fully believe you’re set. UCF even kicked the tires on Riley last year, as The Athletic reported at the time, but Riley stayed put.
In the offseason, some agents and administrators wondered whether Riley could go back to Texas Tech if the Red Raiders had a disappointing 2025 season. Riley is from West Texas, and he coached and played at Tech with Red Raiders mega-booster Cody Campbell. But with Texas Tech up to No. 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings after beating BYU last week, extending its hopes of a dream season under Joey McGuire, that notion seems to be off the table.
Even if Riley wanted to leave, it’s not clear how much it would cost to get out of his current contract, as USC is a private school. The cost to fire Riley (which is not happening) is believed to be in the tens of millions, but the cost for a coach to get out of his deal is usually much lower than the buyout to fire him.
All the while, USC is ranked No. 17 in the College Football Playoff Top 25 and has 247Sports’ top-ranked recruiting class for 2026. The rebuild has gone slower than fans have liked, but the Trojans’ trajectory has swung back upward. Still, Riley has not hidden his frustration with Big Ten travel and even the Notre Dame rivalry. And as is the case with any coach, nobody fully believes you’re staying unless you say so clearly and directly.
The ‘Top Gun’ offense putting up wild numbers
The most prolific offense in college football can be found at Division III Wisconsin-River Falls, where 32-year-old offensive coordinator Joe Matheson’s “Top Gun” offense is putting up eye-popping numbers and helping the Falcons to their best season in a generation.
River Falls is averaging 598.9 yards per game. A week ago, it was the only school in NCAA football above 600 yards per game, which was 75 yards per game more than anyone else at any college level. The Falcons are 8-1 and ranked No. 8, clinching a share of their first conference title since 1998 after last week’s 41-7 win against No. 9 Wisconsin-La Crosse. That came after a 52-14 win over D-III powerhouse and then-No. 8 Wisconsin-Whitewater — the Falcons’ first over the Warhawks since 2001.
“This breakthrough year, we’re doing all the same things we’ve been doing since 2020, we’ve just had better results,” Matheson told The Athletic. “It’s that consistent and relentless commitment to our process.”
Matheson’s offense utilizes run-pass option calls, the quarterback run game, wide splits from receivers, bunch formations, option-choice routes and all kinds of unique formations. Matheson has pulled ideas from the Noel Mazzone tree, the Art Briles offense and some veer-and-shoot. He says he had to because River Falls is the smallest school in its SEC-like Wisconsin-based conference, the WIAC. Whitewater has more than double the enrollment and a roster that can line up and run the ball. Matheson didn’t have that.
“We’ve kind of Moneyballed our way into, how do you play four quarterbacks and still win in the toughest league in the country?” Matheson said, referring to QB injuries in previous seasons. “We’re going to have a lower threshold of arm talent because we’re willing to run the quarterback, create more space and create more one-on-ones.”
Quarterback Kaleb Blaha leads D-III with 416.8 total yards per game, nearly 40 yards per game more than the next closest player. That includes 330.3 passing yards per game.
Matheson didn’t play college football. A former high school center in Green Bay, he was a student assistant for Jerry Kill at Minnesota in the mid-2010s, arrived at River Falls in 2019 as wide receivers coach and moved up to offensive coordinator in 2020. He was furloughed during the pandemic and used the full year without games to get players used to running this offense.
The Falcons went 9-2 in 2021, their first winning season in 21 years, and they’ve had a winning record every year since. Matheson credits head coach Matt Walker for giving him freedom to experiment and being open to change after being in the head coaching role since 2011.
“No one on our team had been born the last time we won a title here,” Matheson said.
Keep an eye on the Falcons in the D-III playoffs.
Lane Kiffin explains how the market has changed
Ahead of an important game against Florida, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin was asked at his Monday press conference what makes a good coaching job — a creative way to get a non-generic answer about the carousel. Kiffin, as he is wont to do, said out loud what a lot of coaches say in private: It’s all about how much money you have for players.
“People used to say when they’d interview you and ask if you have questions, it’d be facilities, how many practice fields, those things,” Kiffin said. “That’s changed and is going to change to, how much NIL do you have? … Some people think that’s not a big deal, but just look at professional sports when it’s not the same, like baseball and the payrolls. Over time, who wins and who doesn’t win? Somebody may have an outlier year once in a while.
“That’s a little equated out now (in college football), but how much are you giving rev to your football program and how much do you have collective-wise is a big question. People will talk about how it’s narrowed, and I heard Coach Saban say it. Some stuff has narrowed because you can’t stockpile at those blue bloods. But there’s still things there you’re going to struggle to beat those guys because guys are recruited and they see the size of stadiums and tradition and Heismans and national championships, and your location to talent. All those are in there. But it’s slid over time. The question used to be, what is your assistant coach pool? Now it’s, what is your player pool?”
Lane Kiffin asked how he would define what makes a head coaching job good 👀
“I wasn’t ready for that one.” 😂
He mentions rev share/collective figures, history, tradition, Heismans, and championships pic.twitter.com/bRIVh65ZZI
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) November 10, 2025
I can think of a few open jobs that fit the criteria Kiffin mentioned when it comes to Heismans and national championships. Meanwhile, Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter made it clear and public last month that he would love to sign Kiffin to a Curt Cignetti-like contract to keep him in Oxford. If Kiffin leaves, Ole Miss wants you to know it’s not for lack of trying.
It’s also worth noting another relevant job opened up on Monday, one that has Kiffin’s former quarterback Jaxson Dart. Could Kiffin be a name to watch for the New York Giants? The normally restrictive NFL hiring timeline is not in play here anymore.
Meanwhile, Bill Belichick stayed mum about the Giants’ job.
The new coaching carousel trend: Staying put
One of the big storylines of the coaching carousel thus far, aside from the buyouts, are the coaches who have already said they’re not leaving.
Could you ever have imagined a coach committing to Indiana when Penn State is open? Pennsylvania native Curt Cignetti did it. Could you have imagined a few years ago the SMU coach not leaving for an SEC job, especially when his alma mater had an opening? Arkansas grad Rhett Lashlee did it. Nebraska coach and Penn State grad Matt Rhule also re-committed himself to the Huskers.
The day before Lashlee’s extension was announced, I went down to SMU and chatted with Lashlee. On the topic of the coaching carousel, Lashlee indicated that he really has everything he needs at SMU right now: an aligned administration, supportive boosters, an incoming recruiting class that is SMU’s best in the modern era, and a path to the Playoff, as last year showed.
If coaches feel they have what they need, the risk of starting over at a new job is greater than ever.
Two more rising coaches whose names have come up for “bigger” jobs seemed to also indicate recently they’re not interested in leaving their alma maters.
Georgia Tech’s Brent Key this week told reporters, “Slice me open and see what colors I bleed” when asked about being linked to other jobs, adding, “It’s just beginning.”
At Arizona State, 247Sports reported that Dillingham recently went into multiple position rooms to tell players he’ll be back in 2026. Asked about that on a radio show late last week, Dillingham didn’t exactly confirm it, but didn’t deny it either.
“I’ve said this from the beginning — my next-door neighbor is my sister, my parents live three doors down, my wife’s parents live five doors down,” Dillingham said. “Having the family support here is a really cool thing.”
Oregon State buys one, gets one free
Oregon State’s coaching search is getting assistance from a search firm, but it won’t cost the Beavers anything. Here’s why.
DHR International, run by Glenn Sugiyama, is one of the major search firms in college sports. A search firm’s duties could range from as much as recommending candidates to as little as handling communications to keep the search process out of public records.
But most, if not all, of DHR’s coaching search contracts include a two-year guarantee. That means that “If the employment of a DHR placed executive is terminated (voluntarily or involuntarily) within two years from the hiring date with (school) we will, at your option, refill that position for no additional fee,” according to copies of multiple DHR contracts.
Oregon State promoted Trent Bray to head coach when Jonathan Smith left for Michigan State less than two years ago. After Bray was fired earlier this season, DHR is once again assisting Oregon State AD Scott Barnes, and Barnes confirmed to The Athletic that the firm’s work is coming at no cost.
Barnes has frequently used DHR. A public records request for the 2023 agreement did not receive a response, but the 2017 coaching search with DHR that resulted in Gary Andersen cost Oregon State $200,000.
The list of names to watch for the Beavers’ job continues to include former Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst (a former Oregon State assistant), Montana State head coach Brent Vigen, former LSU head coach Ed Orgeron, Cal offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin, Cal assistant Nick Rolovich, BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill and perhaps UConn head coach Jim Mora, among others.
Fan Application of the Week
Arkansas has actually had several joke applications to replace Sam Pittman, which were obtained by The Athletic through a records request, but one stood out. A fan named Carson Lowe emailed athletic director Hunter Yurachek expressing interest with these highlights on his resume:
- I love the Razorbacks
- I have unmatched experience at the collegiate level (beer)
- I have not played a single down of organized football in my entire life
- I know what the wildcat formation is, and it rocks
- I met KJ Jefferson one time, taught him everything he knows
- I have a track record of doing things
- I’ll say things like “We’re gonna run the damn football” or “Go for 2”
- The size of the fight in the dog
He added, “Some are saying that I’m delusional in my aspiration to coach in Fayetteville. To that I say ‘Screw that!’ or even ‘Cut that malarkey!’ as these thoughts are not representative of my ability to succeed in this position.”
Lowe did get a response from Yurachek, as did many people who emailed the AD: “Thank you for your email. We are just now beginning the process, and we will note your interest in the position.”
If Arkansas wants someone who will run the damn football, it has at least one option.
