Kirk Herbstreit predicts staggering number of college football coaching changes

The calendar has yet to reach November and college football coaches are biting the dust left, right and center, while reaping the benefits of some gawkish buyout numbers.

Historic financial numbers aside, the sheer volume of programs upheaving their regimes is staggering. You've got Penn State, Florida and LSU, three of what, the best 20 jobs in America, that are standing wide open with several weeks left to go in the regular season. That's not even mentioning the other handful of other power conference programs who already pulled the trigger.

On his Monday afternoon YouTube live stream with Joey Galloway, ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit noted that we're on trajectory for an enormous number of power conference jobs to open up this cycle when it's all said and done.

"What is there 65 or 66 power four schools if you include Notre Dame?" Herbstreit asked himself. "Talking to Pete Thamel and others, it sounds like, you know, they’re saying that this could get up to
low 20s."

With at least half-a-dozen open right now, the end of the year could bring a change to a third of the power conference schools in the country.

"You're talking about almost a third, you know, once one coach leaves one school to go take another job," Herbstreit added. "I mean, you’re going to look at maybe 20 to 25 jobs open up in the power four alone."

He makes a good point about the collateral damage, because even if, say, 10-15 jobs ultimately come open by the end of the year, those hires could come from other power conference school, opening even more jobs up. The hits just keep coming on this season's coaching carousel.

"Last night with Brian Kelly getting let go by LSU, James Franklin’s already been let go," Herbstreit continued. "Brent Key at Virginia Tech. We saw Billy Napier. I mean, the names continue to
fall."

The SEC alone has produced three head coach openings and others could be on the way with Auburn and Kentucky seeming pretty likely to land new leaders at the end of their disappointing campaigns thus far. And while the microscope has largely been in the south thanks to recent firings from LSU and Florida, plenty of other schools in other leagues could very well be waiting until the end of the season to consummate their severances.

Stay tuned and keep your head on a swivel, the annual coaching melodrama came early this year.