College football team names new head coach after abrupt firing for cause

A college football team has named a new head coach after firing its previous one with cause.

Dec 23, 2025; Frisco, TX, USA; Ohio Bobcats interim head coach John Hauser is doused with water following a game against the UNLV Rebels at the Ford Center at The Star. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

The college football coaching carousel is beginning to slow down as December nears its end.

In the Power Four ranks, Michigan made the decision to part ways with head coach Sherrone Moore due to cause on Dec. 10. While Moore's rocky departure has reasonably dominated national headlines, it was not the only firing with cause at the FBS level.

Ohio terminated head coach Brian Smith for both a relationship with a female staffer and due to public intoxication on Dec. 18. He had been on administrative leave since Dec. 1.

NEWS: Ohio University fired head football coach Brian Smith for having a romantic relationship with an undergraduate student and for an allegation that he was intoxicated during a public appearance, according to documents obtained Thursday through a public records request. pic.twitter.com/h2hw4rv2EQ

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) December 18, 2025

A little more than a week after its decision to part ways with Smith, Ohio decided upon its next head football coach. Interim coach John Hauser was promoted from his interim post to permanent head coach on Friday.

The decision comes after the Bobcats' 17-10 win over UNLV in the Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl on Tuesday.

Sources: Ohio University is promoting defensive coordinator John Hauser to be the program's new head coach. He was Ohio's interim coach in the 17-10 Frisco Bowl win over UNLV. He's been at Ohio since 2022. pic.twitter.com/7Rm1f9GXBN

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 26, 2025

The Columbus, Ohio, native played free safety in college. He began his college playing career at Ball State in 1998 before transferring to Wittenberg, a Division III university in Springfield, Ohio.

After working as an assistant for Wittenberg the season after he graduated, Hauser began working his way up the coaching ranks as a defensive backs coach, outside linebackers coach, safeties coach and defensive coordinator. His rise included stops at Northern Illinois, Wayne State (Division II), The Citadel and Miami (OH).

Hauser joined the Bobcats' staff in 2022 as the safeties coach. He has held the additional roles of defensive coordinator and defensive passing game coordinator in his four seasons at Ohio.

With Hauser's promotion to permanent head coach, Ohio has not hired a coach from outside the existing staff since hiring Frank Solich in 2005.

When Solich stepped down in the 2021 offseason, the Bobcats promoted offensive coordinator, associate head coach and running backs coach Tim Albin as their next coach. When Albin left for the Charlotte head coaching vacancy in the 2025 offseason, Ohio promoted Brian Smith to head coach from the same posts Albin held before he was named head coach.

Ohio Bobcats interim head coach John Hauser is doused with water following a game against the UNLV Rebels | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images