SEC football has one interim head coach going into the first Saturday in October. In a move that was nearly inevitable when Bobby Petrino was hired as the Arkansas Offensive Coordinator, the plug was pulled on Sam Pittman.
The chance that no other SEC football head coach will get the axe in October is close to zero percent. Paul Myerburg of USA Today gave college football's two hottest seats to Florida's Billy Napier and Auburn's Hugh Freeze. Due to the buyout cost, Kentucky may be stuck with Mark Stoops, but Wildcat fans don't like it.
For Napier and Freeze, rumors of immediate firings have circulated for days. Napier could get a brief reprieve with an upset of Texas. Auburn will not beat Georgia in Week 7, so no cooling seat lies ahead for Freeze.
SEC Football Fans and Buyout Costs
Florida, Auburn, and Kentucky fans have given up on their head football coaches. They don't care what it costs to cut them loose. The attitudes are not just based on emotion. Fans understand, sooner is better than later in roster rebuilds for the 2026 season.
Urban Meyer has stated that Florida can't afford the $21M buyout for Billy Napier. Hail Florida Hail explained why Meyer is wrong, "The Florida Gators are still paying off the buyout of former head football coach Dan Mullen, which could be a big reason why the Gators don't want to take on yet another buyout. However, is a buyout worth years of losing because Napier can't pull it together to give the fans a true winning season? ... there is no point in just waiting out the buyout."
The situation in Lexington is almost bizarre. During the 2022 season, Stoops passed Paul 'Bear' Bryant as the all-time winningest Wildcats' football head coach. Stoops received a raise to $9M per season and an extension. Now, the buyout is $38M. If Stoops is fired, the buyout comes due in 60 days. The Lexington Herald-Leader called the contract a "curse."
Auburn has again proven that, despite its experience at firing football coaches, the program is inept at hiring them. Hugh Freeze is a bust, and plenty of Auburn fans know it. Going into the season, Auburn fans were thinking 8-4 as Auburn's floor, with a ceiling high enough to be a Playoff contender. Fly War Eagle recently wrote, "As far as AU's offense is concerned, 4-8 might be more likely."
Florida has Texas, Texas A&M, Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and FSU remaining, along with Mississippi State and Kentucky. There are not enough future wins to save Napier. Hugh Freeze has it easier than Napier, but the remaining Auburn schedule includes Georgia, Missouri, Vanderbilt, and Alabama.