College football's 10 worst coordinator hires of last five years

Key Points:

• The role of college football head coaches is increasingly focused on management rather than direct coaching, making assistant coaches and coordinators critical hires, with costly buyouts for poor performances becoming more common, as seen with Michigan's $10 million buyout for offensive coordinator Jason Beck.
• Several recent high-profile coordinator hires have failed spectacularly, including Dino Babers at Arizona in 2024, whose offense collapsed after a historic season, and Todd Grantham at Oklahoma State in 2025, who was fired after a disastrous 1-11 start.
• Other notable failures include Alex Grinch's defensive struggles at USC in 2022, Freddie Kitchens' disorganized offense at North Carolina in 2025, and Seth Littrell's poor offensive results at Oklahoma in 2024, highlighting the high stakes of coordinator hires.
• Oregon's Drew Mehringer and Clemson's Chad Morris both tanked talented offenses in 2026, with Oregon plummeting from a top-5 offense to 49th and Clemson ranking near the bottom nationally, putting coaches under intense pressure.
• Additional coordinator failures include Mike Shula at South Carolina in 2025, Tony White at Florida State in 2025, and Holman Wiggins at Texas A&M in 2026, all contributing to significant team regressions and coaching instability.