It’s Hard to Fire a Power 4 CFB Head Coach

“Fire Franklin! Fire Franklin!”

The chants could probably be heard for miles from the Nittany Mountains in Centre County, Pennsylvania, where Penn State University is located. Franklin would be James Franklin, the head coach (for now) of the school’s Nittany Lions.

Penn State was ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation in Week 4 of the 2025 college football season. They were No. 3 when they lost to No. 6 Oregon 30-24 in overtime in Week 5. The loss gave Franklin a 4-21 record against Top 10 teams. Against Top 10 teams in Big Ten play, Franklin has exactly one win in 19 tries.

The Happy Valley faithful are tiring of Franklin especially after he and the Blue & White traveled to a previously winless UCLA and served up the Bruins first win of the season last Saturday. It was an embarrassing loss. UCLA, 0-4 heading into last week’s game, led 27-7 at halftime. Penn State fought back in the second half but ended up on the wrong end of a 42-37 defeat.

Franklin is just one of many FBS Power 4 head coaches whose name has come up as being on the “hot seat.” Florida’s Billy Napier has been seated on a smoldering fire for most of the past two seasons. Even the legend himself, Bill Belichick, is feeling the pressure at North Carolina.

The average college football fan just says “fire the coach” as an easy solution. However, firing a Power 4 college football coach isn’t as easy as you think.

Belichick Isn’t Going Anywhere

Over the past week or so, there have been some stories coming out about Belichick, his staff, and the underperformance of the North Carolina football team. Belichick, of course, won six Super Bowls as the head coach of the New England Patriots, but that success hasn’t automatically transferred to UNC. 

There are a number of reasons why the Tar Heels aren’t a very good football team and that’s a story for another day. Why Belichick isn’t going anywhere is simple. Money.

If North Carolina fires Belichick it will owe him the balance of his guaranteed money. Currently, that is whatever is left of the $10 million salary this season and $10 million for each of the next two seasons. The first three years of Belichick’s $50 million contract were guaranteed.

Now, $20 million-plus may not seem like a big deal, but the university would have to buy out all of the assistant coaches’ contracts as well. All were multiple-year deals that were all guaranteed. The grand total comes to roughly another $10 million. 

Thirty million or so to fire a legendary football coach after just one season? Probably not going to happen. But, it might happen in Florida.

Is Billy Napier Gone?

Napier was hired by Florida after the Gators fired Dan Mullen. Napier had gone 40-12 over four seasons at Louisiana where he produced conference champions in his last two seasons. After going 6-7 in his first season, Napier was given a Mulligan and responded by going 5-7 in 2023.

That didn’t sit well in Gator Country, where football has a long tradition of excellence. The 2024 season started with five losses in the first nine games. Granted, three of those losses came to top-10 ranked teams, but in Florida that doesn’t matter.

Napier saved his job by winning the last four games in a row last year, beating LSU and Ole Miss in SEC play, beating rival Florida State, and then claiming a bowl victory over Tulane to end last season at 8-5.

It has started already this year as Florida is now 2-3 heading into their next game against fifth-ranked Texas A&M. Last week, the Gators beat No. 9 Texas, calming the Napier haters for at least another few days.

But would Florida simply pull the trigger and fire Napier before the end of this season? The Gators remaining schedule is absolutely brutal. As mentioned, Texas A&M, is next. Then it’s Mississippi State, No. 10 Georgia, Kentucky, No. 4 Ole Miss, No. 12 Tennessee, and the season finale against No. 25 Florida State.

Even if Florida waits until the season ends, they will still owe Napier somewhere between $20 and $21 million. It would be the remainder of his guaranteed contract. The school would have to pay $10 million of that within 30 days of his dismissal date.

Most coaching contracts have language in them that covers what happens if a coach takes another job. In those cases, the school that has fired a coach either ends up not having to pay the buyout or pays a reduced portion of the buyout. In Napier’s contract, there is no language concerning future earnings. That means Florida is on the hook for the entire buyout.

Again, Florida will have to buy out some or all of Napier’s assistant coaches’ contracts. Then, they will have to pony up another big chunk of change to hire another head coach. SEC head coaches are some of the highest paid in the country.

All in all, firing Billy Napier could cost the University of Florida somewhere in the neighborhood of $30 to $50 million when it’s all said and done.

Fire Franklin?

Like Napier, firing Franklin at Penn State isn’t as simple as it was on the former reality show, The Apprentice. First off, aside from the COVID season in 2020, all James Franklin has done at Penn State is win. Overall, he is 104-44 (70.3%) as the head coach of the Nittany Lions.

Before this season, Penn State was 34-8 over the last three seasons. Yet, because the Nittany Lions haven’t been able to beat Ohio State, Michigan, and other ranked opponents, there is an overwhelming majority that wants to see Franklin go.

Like Napier, there are several million reasons why getting rid of Franklin isn’t likely to happen. At least not this year. If Penn State decided to part ways with Franklin, it would cost the school somewhere between $50 and $56 million. That would be the second-largest buyout ever in the history of college football. Remember Jimbo Fisher?

And don’t forget, there is the issue of any or possibly all assistant coaching contracts. Another cost that many overlook are legal fees associated with negotiating buyouts. Often, schools will contract attorneys to help them negotiate settlements with previous coaches. That costs money.

Then, there are the costs associated with hiring a new head coach and a new staff which, of course, will have new contracts that may or may not be fully guaranteed. It’s also entirely possible Penn State would have to pay for a new coach’s buyout at his previous school.

All said and done, Penn State could be looking at nearly $75 to $100 million to “Fire Franklin.” Cutting him, or any other Power 4 coach, loose just isn’t that easy.