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5 Head Coaching Hires That Are Destined to Fail

Originally posted on Mike Farrell Sports
By Mark Pszonak | Last updated Dec 27, 2025 9:11 AM ET

With the current coaching carousel coming to an end, at least for now, it is time to assess the hires that have occurred. And while there were plenty of top-level hires, others immediately created some doubt. Here are the five P4 hires that have the biggest potential of imploding first.

Jon Sumrall – Florida

The skinny: Sumrall is walking into a very difficult situation. He is replacing Billy Napier, who Florida fans are quick to point out, has numerous similarities to Sumrall. Both were defensive-minded G5 head coaches who failed to provide much immediate excitement or spark after their hire. Napier continued to fail at this, which unfortunately for Sumrall, won’t give him any honeymoon period. Florida has become a mid-tier program in the SEC, but the fans still see it as a top-tier program. This will not be a nurturing environment for a first time P4 head coach.

Ryan Silverfield – Arkansas

The skinny: While Silverfield finished 50-24 and 4-0 in bowl games at Memphis, he continuously failed to win the biggest games. On top of this, the last two Memphis head coaches who got promoted to the P4 level failed: Justin Fuente and Mike Norvell. Arkansas fans were hoping for better news and quickly let the administration know this by protesting the hire on campus. This isn’t the warm welcome that any new head coach expects and quickly shows that patience amongst the fanbase will be limited.

Dec 4, 2025; Fayetteville, AR, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Ryan Silverfield during his introductory press conference and vice chancellor and director of athletics Hunter Yurachek pose with a jersey with the number 35 signifying the 35th Arkansas head coach at Frank Broyles Center. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Pat Fitzgerald – Michigan State

The skinny: Fitzgerald to Michigan State was one of the more out-of-the-box hires of this cycle. The Spartans moved very quickly to replace Jonathan Smith, which was possible since Fitzgerald hasn’t coached a game since the 2022 season. Michigan State was either in discussions with Fitzgerald for several weeks or they panicked and quickly made his hire official. Considering Fitzgerald’s time at Northwestern concluded due to a hazing scandal, it is an interesting hire for Michigan State considering the issues the program dealt with after the firing of Mel Tucker in 2023.

Bob Chesney – UCLA

The skinny: With a 132-52 career record, Chesney has won at every level he has coached. This includes a 21-6 record during his two-season run with James Madison, where he took over for Curt Cignetti. This introduces a question though. If it wasn’t for Cignetti’s monumental success at Indiana, would have Chesney received this opportunity? Finding the next Cignetti has quickly become a priority for programs, with UCLA going to the extreme by hiring his replacement at James Madison. The UCLA fanbase is a bit more apathetic than some of the other programs on this list, so that should give Chesney more time, but he will need more commitment from the program and university if he is to succeed.

Tavita Pritchard – Stanford

The skinny: In some ways this hire made sense, as Pritchard is a former Stanford player who knows the logistics and difficulties affiliated with the program. However, this is an extremely difficult job for a first-time head coach. And if Stanford doesn’t do a better job of adjusting to the current NIL landscape, then it may not even matter how good of a head coach Pritchard ends up being.

This article first appeared on Mike Farrell Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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