The coaching pipeline stretching from the American Conference to those of the power conferences was flowing rapidly Sunday. Not that it was an unexpected development considering the number of vacancies around the country, especially in the SEC.
Auburn announced Alex Golesh was on his way from USF while Jon Sumrall will depart Tulane after the Green Wave’s final game, which could be in the CFP, to take the job at Florida. Ryan Silverfield was headed to Arkansas from Memphis. Earlier in the week, Eric Morris accepted the job at Oklahoma State and will remain at North Texas for the Mean Green’s postseason, including Friday night’s American Conference championship game at Tulane in a matchup of programs in need of new coaches.
Golesh, Sumrall, Silverfield and Morris add to the list of coaches that left the American for power conferences since its first season of 2013. It was a 10-team league at that point and has only three members (USF, Memphis, Temple) that remain. Beginning with the most recent hires, here is a look at how coaches have fared after making the move.
2024
Willie Fritz, Tulane to Houston
During an eight-year run, Fritz built Tulane into a leading G5 program, including back-to-back double-digit win seasons and three straight bowls, both of which had never happened for the Green Wave. Fritz left for Houston after the 2023 season and went 4-8 in his first year with the Cougars. He has turned things around this season (9-3) with a chance to pick up a tenth win in a bowl.
2022
Sonny Dykes, SMU to TCU
After compiling a 25-10 mark at SMU in his final three seasons of a four-year stint (2017 bowl, 2018-21) on the Hilltop, Dykes went 45 miles west on I-30 to Fort Worth. He was previously at TCU where he served as an offensive analyst on Gary Patterson’s staff in 2017 before taking over at SMU. He led the Horned Frogs to the CFP championship game in his debut season of 2022 and heads into this year’s bowl with a 35-17 mark in four years.
Luke Fickell, Cincinnati to Wisconsin
Fickell had the distinction of coaching two teams in the same season. His six-year run at Cincinnati concluded after the 2022 regular season, the Bearcats’ final year in the American before moving to the Big 12. Fickell, who was 57-18 (.760) with two conference titles at UC, took over at Wisconsin prior to the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against Oklahoma State and was in charge for a 24-17 win. In three seasons plus the bowl, he is 17-21 with the Badgers, including 4-8 this year. Wisconsin went 5-7 in 2024 to snap a 22-year bowl streak.
Josh Heupel, UCF to Tennessee
Heupel took over for Scott Frost and led the Knights to a 12-1 mark and a conference title in 2018. He went 28-8 in three seasons at UCF before taking over at Tennessee in 2021. He is 45-19 on Rocky Top in five seasons, a stint that includes a CFP appearance last year and three bowl wins. Alex Golesh was an assistant under Heupel at UCF and moved with him to Knoxville to be the Vols’ offensive coordinator (2021-22) prior to taking over at USF.
2020
Lane Kiffin, FAU to Ole Miss
This entry differs from the others in that FAU proved to be a soft-landing location for Kiffin before returning to the big time. He coached Tennessee (2009) and USC (2010-13) prior to serving as Nick Saban’s offensive coordinator at Alabama for three years. That was the length of his stint in Boca where he led the Owls to a pair of 11-win campaigns and two bowl victories. Kiffin returned to the SEC at Ole Miss in 2020 and went 55-19 (.743) before accepting the LSU job on Sunday.
Mike Norvell, Memphis to Florida State
Norvell was 38-16 at Memphis with three straight conference championship game appearances, including a 2019 win over Cincinnati in what was his last hurrah on the Tigers’ sideline. Norvell has since had an up-and-down time of it in Tallahassee. His ‘Noles went 8-13 his first two years, 23-4 the next two and 7-17 the last two to put him at 38-34. The 2023 team was 13-0 and left out of the CFP. That led to mass player departures ahead of an embarrassing (63-3) Orange Bowl loss to Georgia, which commenced the current slide.
2018
Scott Frost, UCF to Nebraska
Frost took the Knights from 0-12 under George O’Leary in 2015 to an undefeated season and No. 6 AP final ranking in 2017. He returned to Nebraska, where he quarterbacked the Cornhuskers to a shared (Michigan) national title in 1997, following a conference championship win over Memphis. There were no such titles in his four seasons on the sideline in Lincoln where he went 16-31. Frost returned to Orlando this year and the Knights, who moved to the Big 12 in 2023, went 5-7.
Willie Taggart, USF to Oregon
Taggart flipped the scrip from 2-10 in 2013, his first season at USF, to 10-2 in 2017. He parlayed that successful year into an opportunity at Oregon, which lasted all of the 2018 regular season (7-5) as he opted to return to the Sunshine State to lead Florida State. He was fired less than two seasons (9-12) into his tenure with the Seminoles, then headed south to Boca Raton to take over for Lane Kiffin at FAU, then in Conference USA. He went 15-18 in three seasons with the Owls.
2017
Tom Herman, Houston to Texas
In 2015, his first season as a head coach, Herman led the Cougars to 13-1 record and a top 10 finish. Following an 8-4 regular season in 2016, he left for Austin to take over for Charlie Strong and went 32-18 in four years with the Longhorns. His only Big 12 championship game appearance was a 2018 loss to rival Oklahoma, who the ‘Horns beat in the regular season. Herman returned to the American to replace Willie Taggart at FAU in 2023. He was fired before he could complete his second season, going 6-16.
Chad Morris, SMU to Arkansas
Morris took over a team coming off a one-win season and by 2017, his third and final year at SMU, he had the Mustangs at 7-5. He left prior to the bowl – that’s when SMU hired Sonny Dykes — after accepting the job at Arkansas. Morris was fired after going 4-18 in less than two seasons with the Razorbacks. His son, Chandler, is the quarterback at Virginia.
Matt Rhule, Temple to Baylor
Rhule did something in North Philly that was not done before and has not been done since: lead the Owls to consecutive double-digit win seasons (2015-16) and a conference title. He took over a mess left by Art Briles at Baylor and in his third and final season in Waco led the Bears to an 11-1 regular season before losing to Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game, then to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl to finish 11-3, and 19-20 overall at Baylor. Rhule left for the NFL and the Carolina Panthers before returning to the collegiate ranks at Nebraska in 2023. He is 19-18 in Lincoln.
2016
Justin Fuente, Memphis to Virginia Tech
Fuente took over at Memphis in 2012, the Tigers’ final season in Conference USA, and went 26-23 in four years. That included 19-6 in his final two years before landing at Virginia Tech in 2016. He went 19-8 in his first two seasons with the Hokies, then 24-23 over his final four seasons before he was dismissed 10 games into 2021. In September, the College Football Playoff named Fuente a senior adviser.
2014
Charlie Strong, Louisville to Texas
This was a one-year deal in that Louisville was a member of the American only for the conference’s inaugural season of 2013. What a season it was as the Cardinals went 12-1, won the conference title and finished in the top 10. Strong, who spent four seasons at Louisville with the first three in the Big East, left for Austin where he took over for Mack Brown. He went 16-21 in three seasons and was let go following the 2016 regular season finale. He was back in the American with USF (2017-19) and went 21-16, though lost 14 of his last 18.