How much schools are spending on college football fired coaches buyouts
Seven FBS coaches have been fired since the start of the 2025 season after James Franklin, Trent Bray and Trent Dilfer were dismissed Sunday, Oct. 12. And being a fired college football doesn’t seem all that bad.
The combined buyouts are pushing $100 million. And it won’t be long until we get there. So far, the number is at $93.5 million, according to contracts and term sheets obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
Franklin’s buyout is doing most of that lift at nearly $50 million, second-highest ever behind only Jimbo Fisher’s $76.8 million Texas A&M gave him to go away.
Here’s a look at the buyouts for the seven coaches fired so far this season:
College football 2025 fired coaches buyouts
These buyouts may be subject to coaches’ duty to mitigate by getting new jobs with the firing schools getting to offset the buyouts based on the new employment income.
- James Franklin, Penn State $49 million
- Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State, $15 million
- Sam Pittman, Arkansas, $9.3 million
- Brent Pry, Virginia Tech, $6.8 million
- DeShaun Foster, UCLA, $6.4 million
- Trent Bray, Oregon State, ~$4 million
- Trent Dilfer, UAB, $3 million
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