Ranking college football’s open coaching jobs: Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech, Stanford or UCLA?

This could be the most active coaching carousel college football has seen in many years. Before the end of September, four Power 4 programs were searching for new head coaches for 2026.

The 2024-25 hiring cycle was historically slow at the Power 4 level, with only five P4 jobs changing hands as schools waited to see the impact of budgeting more than $20 million for athletes in the House v. NCAA settlement. (A sixth job opened in March when Stanford fired Troy Taylor after investigations into complaints from athletic department employees over hostile behavior went public in an ESPN report.) With that revenue sharing now set, the focus will turn back to coaching changes.

Here is our ranking of college football’s open head-coaching jobs. The ranking leans heavily on the chances for a coach to succeed there. That might mean more stock put in a program’s upside than its recent success, but it’s not just coach pay or quality of life. Coaches want to take jobs where they believe they can win, and this is how most coaches would view these jobs. This list will be updated throughout the fall as jobs open and close.

1. UCLA

Five-year record: 30-24
The Athletic’s estimated program valuation: $343 million (T-43rd among Power 4 programs)
Job grade: B

The idea of UCLA has long seemed better than the reality of UCLA. The Bruins haven’t won a conference championship since 1998 and haven’t posted a 10-win season in more than a decade. Fan apathy is showing up in the attendance figures at the Rose Bowl, and the athletic department’s financial problems have been piling up — the Bruins have been operating at a cumulative deficit of over $200 million over the last five years.

But it’s a Big Ten job in Southern California. That’s why it opens at the top of this list. The future is secure, and the recruiting upside is obvious, which is why UCLA is expected to draw the best pool of candidates among the early open jobs. That doesn’t mean all Big Ten jobs are better than all ACC or Big 12 jobs. But it means the Bruins’ ceiling and the floor should be higher, and the path to success is easy to envision.

The school needs a coach capable of setting up a better recruiting operation in California and exciting the fans and donors to spend for success. The expectation should be annual bowl games with periodic 10-win seasons.

2. Oklahoma State

Five-year record: 33-24
Estimated valuation: $373 million (39th among P4)
Job grade: B

The bottom fell out from under Mike Gundy so quickly, but the Cowboys played for the Big 12 championship in 2021 and 2023, including a Fiesta Bowl win in 2021. They had made 18 consecutive bowl games until last season. The flip side is that the program had a sub-.500 all-time record before its native son Gundy took over.

The program has a pipeline to Texas for talent and sits in a winnable Big 12 conference. This should be a top-third job in that league, which means a fairly clear path to the College Football Playoff. The Cowboys’ financial investment must increase, however, and the school’s leadership has spent some of this year on somewhat shaky ground.

Oklahoma State needs a coach who can take advantage of its proximity to Texas and meet the expectations of regularly competing for a Big 12 championship.

3. Virginia Tech

Five-year record: 23-31
Estimated valuation: $455 million (31st among P4)
Job grade: B

Under Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech played for a national championship to cap the 1999 season and won at least 10 games 13 times from 1995 to 2011. But those days are long gone, and it’s not clear whether they can come back. Dominating recruiting in the Hampton Roads region and consistently finding diamonds in the rough, as Beamer did, is a lot harder in today’s game.

The program has been underfunded and understaffed relative to the rest of the ACC for a long time. Athletic director Whit Babcock has proposed a sizable budget increase, though it’s not clear where all the money would come from. The location isn’t ideal for recruiting, either.

The school needs a coach who can better develop talent, and the expectation should be to compete to reach the ACC Championship Game, which the Hokies haven’t played in since 2016.

4. Stanford

Five-year record: 14-39
Estimated valuation: $202 million (60th among P4)
Job grade: C+

The Cardinal won at least 10 games five times from 2010 to 2016, but that was a different era of college football. They haven’t won more than four games since 2018, and the NIL/portal era has limited the program’s upside. General manager Andrew Luck has been tasked with running the football program, and he’s all-in. Luck loves the school, but he has never done this before. Will he let the next coach run the program the way that coach wants?

Stanford is also now an ACC member, receiving less money in conference payouts after the Pac-12’s collapse. There is no identity around this program right now.

The school needs a coach who can do more with less, maximizing development. The expectation should be to regularly reach bowl games.

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