3 Notable College Football Teams Hired New Coaches Sunday

The regular season is over, and now it's on to the next part of the college football calendar. We're not just talking about the postseason; we're talking about the coaching carousel.

Hiring and firing season is underway Sunday, and three SEC programs reportedly have new head coaches. More changes could be coming as the day rolls on.

As of Sunday morning, Arkansas (Ryan Silverfield), Auburn (Alex Golesh) and Florida (Jon Sumrall) are under new leadership.

AU goes with Golesh

According to CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz and Chris Hummer, Auburn is hiring the 41-year-old Golesh as its new head coach. He'll replace interim D.J. Durkin, who took over for the fired Hugh Freeze midseason.

A longtime college football assistant with stops at Illinois, Iowa State, UCF, Toledo and Tennessee on his resume, Golesh was hired as head coach of the Bulls in 2023. In three seasons, he went 23-15, including a 9-3 mark this year.

Auburn has posted five consecutive losing campaigns, so if Golesh can be .500 or better in 2026, he'll be on the right track.

Sumrall gets the call

Once it became known that Florida was backing out of the Lane Kiffin sweepstakes, eyes turned to Sumrall, who led Tulane to a 10-2 record and a birth in the American Athletic Conference title game this year. With a win over North Texas on Friday, the Green Wave would make the College Football Playoff.

Sumrall went 19-7 in two seasons in New Orleans. Prior to that, the 43-year-old former Kentucky linebacker was 23-4 as head coach at Troy.

ESPN's Pete Thamel and others reported the Sumrall news. Thamel says Florida has offered Sumrall a six-year deal worth more than $7 million annually.

The Gators have posted four losing seasons in five years and haven't won double-digit games since 2019.

Razorbacks cash in on Silverfield

Arkansas went to three bowl games in Sam Pittman's first five seasons at the helm, but the bottom fell out in 2025. The Razorbacks fired Pittman after a 2-3 start and finished the season with seven straight losses under interim coach Bobby Petrino.

Enter Silverfield, 45, who has been at Memphis since 2016 and has been the head coach since 2020. Overall, he went 50-25 with the Tigers, reaching a bowl game every year.

On3Sports' Brett McMurphy and others have reported the Silverfield hire.

Waiting on Kiffin

Of course, the biggest coaching domino is expected to drop sometime later today. Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin is widely expected to take the job at LSU, leaving his program after an 11-1 season.

The Rebels will be in the College Football Playoff, but Kiffin likely won't be allowed to coach the team, despite reports that he initially asked to stay on the job through the playoff even after accepting LSU's offer.