The title of this piece may sound blunt, but that’s the world we live in now a days. For fans of Group of 5 football, you may enjoy highs of regular season success, but one thing looms over you like a predator ready to strike- Power 4 Jobs.
Throughout this week, the American Conference became the premier poaching ground for Power 4 jobs. The top dogs of the AC have been the subject to coaching search rumors all season, and since Tuesday- it’s been a frenzy.
Tuesday night, the Oklahoma State Cowboys announced their intentions to hire former North Texas HC Eric Morris. Morris has been responsible for development of numerous elite QB talents over his coaching career, playing a role in the growth of Cam Ward during his time at Incarnate Word, alongside now Virginia QB Chandler Morris and the storybook underdog season of Drew Mestemaker when he was the head man of the Mean Green.
The North Texas Mean Green are playing in the 2025 American Conference title game next week.
The Lane Kiffin sweepstakes are (hopefully) coming to close, as any moment now the final report will break that he’s taking his talents to LSU. As we wait for that big fish hire out of the ‘Sip, numerous high caliber SEC programs are diving into the American to find their next head man. About an hour ago, the Arkansas Razorbacks reignited the coaching sweepstakes by hiring former Memphis HC Ryan Silverfield.
Silverfield spent the past 6 seasons at Memphis, leading the Tigers to a 50-24 record with bowl appearances in every season, going 4-2 in post season games. Despite the flashy record, Silverfield’s Memphis squad’s finished 12-20 against opponents over .500, with a 3-12 record against bowl eligible opponents on the road. Memphis had also not reached the American Conference Championship since Silverfield’s arrival.
Within minutes of the Silverfield news releasing, another bombshell was announced as the Auburn Tigers secured a contract with South Florida HC Alex Golesh. Over the last three seasons, Golesh led the Bulls to a 32-21 record, including bowl berths each year, securing two. USF was the Cinderella darling of the first few weeks of the 2025 season, as the Tampa Bay Bulls took down ranked Boise State and Florida, shocking the world.
A late season stumble may have hindered South Florida’s chances to reach the College Football Playoff, but there was a lot to be excited for, as QB Byrum Brown recorded a 3,000 passing yard and 1,000 rushing yard campaign.
Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Golesh secured a 6 year deal with the Tigers.
The final domino that’s fallen before noon this fine Sunday comes from Gainesville. The University of Florida was one of the top players in the Lane Kiffin sweepstakes, before they ultimately turned their attention to Tulane’s Jon Sumrall. To put it blankly- Coach Sumrall has won every stop he’s been at, as during his 4 year head coaching career (Troy, Tulane), Sumrall has made a Conference Championship each season. Sumrall had a 17-7 record as the Head Coach of the Green Wave, before becoming a Florida Gator.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that Sumrall will be signing a 6-Year $7.5M annual deal with the Gators.
To tie the bow on everything stated in this piece, I’d just like to say this is the unfortunate reality we live in when it comes to college football. Four elite mid-major head coaches were reportedly fielding calls from high market programs well before their seasons came to a close. Two of these top American Coaches should be focused on leading their squad to claim a Conference title and potentially a College Football Playoff berth- but they’re instead building towards their own professional future.
What comes next for the American Conference? Will these four perennial powerhouses be able to bounce back? Will the service academies of Army and Navy continue to dominate this league, or will this open the door for other programs like East Carolina, Florida Atlantic or UTSA to step into the limelight? Only time will tell.
