With the Indianapolis Colts' second head coach now in place, the head coaching carousel at the NFL and FBS levels for the 2017-18 cycle is now complete. Key phrase: For now. Two jobs changed hands at the FBS level from the time I published the 2017 edition of this list to the beginning of fall camp.
It's like the old Chuck Norris joke: At the highest levels of football, the coaching carousel doesn't sleep, it waits.
Before we get to the list, a few notes:
- We have a new No. 1. Oklahoma was one of the three jobs to change hands after I published the 2017 list, as Bob Stoops handed the reins as the longest active, continuous FBS head coach to Iowa's Kirk Ferentz.
- In 2017 we celebrated the end of Mike Gundy's iconic "I'm a man! I'm 40!" rant. That 40-year-old was in his third year on the job at Oklahoma State. The 50-year-old Gundy is now the fifth-longest tenured head coach in FBS.
- Remember when everyone said Nick Saban wouldn't last until Season ___ at Alabama? The 2017 season was his 11th at Alabama and his now in the top 10 of longest-tenured coaches. Prior to Alabama, the longest Saban had stayed at any of his 12 stops was five seasons.
- With Mark Hudpseth getting let go at Louisiana-Lafayette, not a single head coach hired in the year 2010 remains employed.
- Kevin Sumlin and Jim Mora were hired at Texas A&M and UCLA, respectively, on the same day in 2011, and both lasted seven seasons on the job -- but the Sumlin era was, technically, one week longer. Mora was officially pushed out on Nov. 19, 2017, while Sumlin formally lasted until Nov. 26.
- When this project began in 2012, Mark Stoops was the "oldest" new coach, ranking in the low 100's. He's now No. 30.
- The median hire date for FBS head coaches is Nov. 29, 2015, when Matt Campbell was hired at Iowa State and Justin Fuente landed at Virginia Tech. The average FBS head coach has been on the job for 26 months.
- Jeff Tedford has coached one season at Fresno State, and he's been on the job longer than 31 percent of his peers.
- The December signing period had a major effect on how FBS athletics department do business. The 2013-14 hiring class, for instance, still has five coaches who were hired after Jan. 1. The 2017-18 class? Just one: Arizona's Kevin Sumlin, who was hired after Rich Rodriguez was forced out due to an off-the-field issue that could have popped up at any point in the year. Outside of Sumlin, the latest hire in the 2017-18 class was Kent State's Sean Lewis. He was hired Dec. 21.
- The census of FBS programs remains at 130 from 2017 to '18, though the roster has changed. Idaho has dropped down to the FCS Big Sky Conference, while Liberty has joined FBS as an independent. New Mexico State, kicked out of the Sun Belt alongside Idaho, remains in FBS as an independent.
With an eternal shoutout to Patrick Stevens, the originator of this idea, see the full list below:
1998
1. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa - Dec. 2
2000
2. Gary Patterson, TCU - Dec. 8
2004
3. Kyle Whittingham, Utah - Dec. 9
4. Frank Solich, Ohio - Dec. 17
2005
5. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State - Jan. 3
6. Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee - Dec. 12
2006
7. Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern - July 7
8. Mark Dantonio, Michigan State - Nov. 27
9. Troy Calhoun, Air Force - Dec. 22
2007
10. Nick Saban, Alabama - Jan. 3
11. Bobby Wilder, Old Dominion - Feb. 13
12. Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech - Dec. 7
13. Ken Niumatalolo, Navy - Dec. 8
14. David Cutcliffe, Duke - Dec. 15
2008
15. Dabo Swinney, Clemson - Oct. 13
16. Bill Snyder, Kansas State - Nov. 24
2009
17. Brian Kelly, Notre Dame - Dec. 11
18. Doc Holliday, Marshall - Dec. 17
2011
19. Rocky Long, San Diego State - Jan. 12
20. David Shaw, Stanford - Jan. 13
21. Brad Lambert, Charlotte - March 1
22. Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia - June 11
23. Bob Davie, New Mexico - Nov. 17
24. Urban Meyer, Ohio State - Nov. 28
25. Mike Leach, Washington State - Nov. 30
26. Larry Fedora, North Carolina - Dec. 8
27. Turner Gill, Liberty - Dec. 14
28. Joe Moglia, Coastal Carolina - Dec. 20
29. Terry Bowden, Akron - Dec. 22
2012
30. Mark Stoops, Kentucky - Nov. 27
31. Dave Doeren, NC State - Dec. 1
32. Rod Carey, Northern Illinois - Dec. 2
33. Steve Addazio, Boston College - Dec. 4
34. Gus Malzahn, Auburn - Dec. 4
35. Mike MacIntyre, Colorado - Dec. 10
36. Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech - Dec. 12
37(t). Skip Holtz, Louisiana Tech - Dec. 14
37(t). Scott Satterfield, Appalachian State - Dec. 14
39. Matt Wells, Utah State - Dec. 20
2013
40. Doug Martin, New Mexico State - Feb. 1
41. Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio) - Dec. 3
42. Chris Petersen, Washington - Dec. 6
43. Craig Bohl, Wyoming - Dec. 8
44. Dave Clawson, Wake Forest - Dec. 10
45(t). Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan - Dec. 11
45(t). Bryan Harsin, Boise State - Dec. 11
47. Blake Anderson, Arkansas State - Dec. 19
48. Jeff Monken, Army - Dec. 24
2014
49. Bobby Petrino, Louisville - Jan. 9
50. James Franklin, Penn State - Jan. 11
51. Mark Whipple, Massachusetts - Jan. 14
52. Derek Mason, Vanderbilt - Jan. 17
53. Bill Clark, UAB - Jan. 21
54(t). Neal Brown, Troy - Dec. 1
54(t). Lance Leipold, Buffalo - Dec. 1
56. David Beaty, Kansas - Dec. 5
57(t). Philip Montgomery, Tulsa - Dec. 11
57(t). Tony Sanchez, UNLV - Dec. 11
59. Paul Chryst, Wisconsin - Dec. 17
60. Mike Bobo, Colorado State - Dec. 23
61. Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh - Dec. 26
62. Jim Harbaugh, Michigan - Dec. 30
2015
63. John Bonamego, Central Michigan - Feb. 8
64. Nick Rolovich, Hawaii - Nov. 27
65(t). Matt Campbell, Iowa State - Nov. 29
65(t). Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech - Nov. 29
67. Clay Helton, USC - Nov. 30
68(t). Jason Candle, Toledo - Dec. 2
68(t). D.J. Durkin, Maryland - Dec. 2
70. Barry Odom, Missouri - Dec. 3
71(t). Bronco Mendenhall, Virginia - Dec. 4
71(t). Mike Norvell, Memphis - Dec. 4
71(t). Mark Richt, Miami - Dec. 4
74(t). Dino Babers, Syracuse - Dec. 5
74(t). Seth Littrell, North Texas - Dec. 5
76(t). Kirby Smart, Georgia - Dec. 6
76(t). Will Muschamp, South Carolina - Dec. 6
78. Chris Ash, Rutgers - Dec. 7
79. Mike Jinks, Bowling Green - Dec. 8
80. Willie Fritz, Tulane - Dec. 12
81. Scottie Montgomery, East Carolina - Dec. 13
82. Matt Viator, Louisiana-Monroe - Dec. 14
83. Kalani Sitake, BYU - Dec. 19
2016
84. Everett Withers, Texas State - Jan. 6
85. Mike Neu, Ball State - Jan. 7
86. Frank Wilson, UTSA - Jan. 15
87. Jay Hopson, Southern Miss - Jan. 30
88. Lovie Smith, Illinois - March 7
89. Jeff Tedford, Fresno State - Nov. 10
90. Butch Davis, Florida International - Nov. 15
91(t). Ed Orgeron, LSU - Nov. 26
91(t). Tom Herman, Texas - Nov. 26
93. Tom Allen, Indiana - Dec. 1
94. Jeff Brohm, Purdue - Dec. 5
95. Matt Rhule, Baylor - Dec. 6
96. Brent Brennan, San Jose State - Dec. 7
97. Shawn Elliott, Georgia State - Dec. 8
98(t). Major Applewhite, Houston - Dec. 9
98(t). Jay Norvell, Nevada - Dec. 9
100. Luke Fickell, Cincinnati - Dec. 10
101. Charlie Strong, South Florida - Dec. 11
102(t). Geoff Collins, Temple - Dec. 13
102(t). Lane Kiffin, Florida Atlantic - Dec. 13
104. Mike Sanford, Western Kentucky - Dec. 14
105. Randy Edsall, Connecticut - Dec. 28
2017
106. P.J. Fleck, Minnesota - Jan. 6
107. Tim Lester, Western Michigan - Jan. 13
108. Justin Wilcox, California - Jan. 14
109. Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma - June 7
110. Matt Luke, Ole Miss - July 20
111. Chip Kelly, UCLA - Nov. 25
112. Dan Mullen, Florida - Nov. 26
113. Chad Lunsford, Georgia Southern - Nov. 27
114(t). Joe Moorhead, Mississippi State - Nov. 29
114(t). Jonathan Smith, Oregon State - Nov. 29
116. Scott Frost, Nebraska - Dec. 2
117. Herm Edwards, Arizona State - Dec. 3
118. Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M - Dec. 4
119(t). Josh Heupel, UCF - Dec. 5
119(t). Willie Taggart, Florida State - Dec. 5
121(t). Mike Bloomgren, Rice - Dec. 6
121(t). Dana Dimel, UTEP - Dec. 6
121(t). Chad Morris, Arkansas - Dec. 6
124(t). Steve Campbell, South Alabama - Dec. 7
124(t). Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee - Dec. 7
126. Mario Cristobal, Oregon - Dec. 8
127. Sonny Dykes, SMU - Dec. 11
128. Billy Napier, Louisiana-Lafayette - Dec. 15
129. Sean Lewis, Kent State - Dec. 21
2018
130. Kevin Sumlin, Arizona - Jan. 14