The 2021 FBS Coaching Carousel is evolving rapidly and we are only just getting started in November.
Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente was fired on Tuesday after six seasons. Fuente is the 12th coach change of the 2021 season. That list includes seven Power 5 openings. Washington’s Jimmy Lake was fired on Sunday.
There were 18 coach changes last season, a number that will likely be surpassed by the number we’ve seen so far.
Sporting News looks at all the changes for 2021:
2021 FBS changes in training
Randy Edsall, UConn
Resigned (September 6): Edsall resigned after the 0-2 loss to the Huskies. Edsall has two separate jobs at UConn. The first, from 1999 to 2010, saw the show rise to FBS ratings and culminated in a trip to the Fiesta Bowl in 2010. Edsall returned in 2017, and that set a record. Appendix 6-32. UConn is not operating in 2020 due to concerns about COVID-19. Lou Spanos is the Huskies’ interim coach.
Clay Helton, USC
Activation (September 14): Helton, who had been in the hot seat for the past few seasons, was fired after Trojan’s 42-28 loss to Stanford in Week 2. Helton replaced Steve Sarkisian in 2015 and set a 46-24 record. That mark includes the show’s final Pac-12 championship in 2017. However, USC slipped to a 19-14 record from 2018-21. Donte Williams replaces Helton as interim coach.
THAN: USC . Coaching Candidate
Chad Lunsford, Georgia Southern
Activation (September 26): Lunsford has been sacked after a 1-3 defeat this season. It was a strange decision when the Eagles had hit a losing streak in the previous three seasons. Lunsford has profiled 28-21 and previously served as the program’s assistant coach from 2013-17. Kevin Whitley has been appointed interim coach.
2021 Change of training by school
| SCHOOLS | CHOOSE / REGISTERED | INSTEAD OF, REPLACE |
| UConn | Randy Edsall | Jim Mora |
| USC | Clay Helton | |
| Georgia Southern | Chad Lunsford | Clay Helton |
| LSU | Ed Orgeron | |
| Washington state | Nick Rolovich | |
| Texas Technology | Matt Wells | Joey McGuire |
| TCU | Gary Patterson | |
| Akron | Tom Arth | |
| UMass | Walt Bell | |
| Washington | Lake Jimmy | |
| FIU | Butch Davis | |
| Virginia Technology | Justin Fuente |
Ed Orgeron, LSU
Resigned (October 19): Orgeron and LSU have reached a separation agreement that will take effect after the end of the 2021 season. This comes a day after the Tigers beat Florida 49-42. Orgeron replaced Les Miles in 2016 and became the third LSU coach in a row to win the national championship (2019). The Tigers ended 15-0 with Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow that year, but the show has been a disaster since. Issues include a Title IX lawsuit and self-imposed penalties.
THAN: LSU . Coaching Candidate
Nick Rolovich, Washington State
Activation (October 20): Rolovich was fired during his second season with the Cougars for failing to comply with the state’s COVID-19 vaccine regulation. Rolovich cites religious beliefs as his reason for not getting vaccinated, and he plans to sue the university over his dismissal . Rolovich, who previously coached in Hawaii, had a 5-6 at Washington State. Jake Dickert interim replacement for Rolovich.
THAN: Warm up again on Harbaugh | Is the OSU monster too big for Franklin?
Matt Wells, Texas Tech
Activation (October 25): Wells was fired after a 25-24 loss to Kansas State on October 23, a negligible three-year limit to the Red Raiders. Wells replaces Kliff Kingsbury, who took the job as head coach in the NFL with the Cardinals. Wells had a record 13-17 but it seems Texas Tech is on track this year with a 5-2 start. Sonny Cumbie, a former Red Raiders defender, is the interim coach.
Gary Patterson, TCU
Resigned (October 31): Patterson and TCU have agreed to part ways after a record 3-5 in the first two months of the season. It’s still a shock move considering he’s the second longest-serving coach in FBS after Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz. Patterson took over at Horned Frogs in 2000, and he led the show to six conference championships and 11 seasons with 10 or more wins. The highlight was 2010, when TCU finished 13-0 and won the Rose Bowl. The Horned Frogs moved to Big 12 and succeeded in Power 5.
Tom Arth, Akron
Enabled (November 4): Arth was fired two days after the 31-25 loss to Ball State, bringing the Zips down 2-7 in 2021. Arth, a friend of nearby John Carroll, simply couldn’t get Akron to go on for three seasons. prize. Zips had a 3-24 record in that span, including a 3-17 record in the Central American Conference game.
Walt Bell, UMass
Activate (November 8): Bell was fired after a 35-22 loss to Rhode Island on Nov. 6. Bell, who took the UMass job following his stint as offensive coordinator at Florida State, has had a 2-23 record since upon taking over in 2019.
Lake Jimmy, Washington
Fire (November 14): Lake was suspended from college for hitting Huskies guard Ruperake Fuavai in a drugged helmet during a game. He did not coach the Huskies’ loss to Arizona State on Nov. 13. Earlier that day, The Seattle Times published an article contains allegations Lake pushed former wide-field recorder Quinten Pounds into a locker at halftime of a 2019 game in Arizona. Lake denied the allegations. Washington is 7-6 below the Lake. Assistant coach Bob Gregory was appointed as interim head coach.
Butch Davis, FIU
Activation (November 15): Davis will not return to the FIU when his contract expires at the end of this season. The decision comes a week after the FIU’s longtime athletic director Pete Garcia stepped down. Davis said the school administration is “sabotage the program.” Davis, who previously coached at Miami and North Carolina, was successful in his first two seasons at the FIU. However, the show has slipped for the past two years and is September 1, 2021.
Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech
Activated (November 16): Fuente has left after six seasons with the Hokies. Fuente, who was hired in 2016 after three years at Memphis, had a 10-4 season and appeared in the ACC championship game in his first season. However, Hokies have been aged 24-23 for the past four years and they are a middle school program in the ACC Coastal Division. Fuente scored with the score 43-31.
