Sep 20, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; South Florida Bulls head coach Alex Golesh looks on against the South Carolina State Bulldogs during the second quarter at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
By Chris Marler
Jerry McGuire came out 30 years ago this year, but the iconic line of “Who’s coming with me?” still remains an iconic movie moment. Not only is it one of the most quotable lines in movie history, it’s quickly become one of the new blueprints to success in college football.
An unprecedented level of turnover occurred in college football this season. Not only the players, but the head coaching jobs as well. There were 17 vacancies at the Power Four level, and 32 jobs that opened at the FBS level. In the last three years there have been 93 head coaching changes in the FBS. That’s over 68 percent of FBS programs.
Last weekend, the SEC saw six coaching changes in a 48-hour span 😮@MartySmithESPN breaks down the timeline and the moves shaking up the conference ✍️ pic.twitter.com/HWQUfjgveE
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) December 6, 2025
These constant changes mirror the same incessant movement in the college football transfer portal. Now more than ever, the wait and see approach college programs once had with new hires has fallen by the way side. One would expect the sentiment of patience to only worsen after watching Curt Cignetti take the historical worst program in college football to a 27-2 record and an undefeated national title season in year two at Indiana.
One of the cornerstones of building Indiana’s roster was Cignetti’s use of the transfer portal and importing key players from his time at James Madison to his new roster in Bloomington. Cignetti took 31 transfers in his first cycle as Indiana head coach and 13 of those were from JMU. With the incredible amount of new head coaches this year in college football, here’s a look at which head coaches took the most former players from their old school to their new school at the Power 4 level.
Thirteen JMU players followed Curt Cignetti to become Hoosiers. Those who remain are on the verge of CFB history 👀 @ESPNRittenberg with the full story ➡️ https://t.co/AXK2CvawTU pic.twitter.com/VmF5Xl3psn
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) January 17, 2026
By the Numbers (SEC Teams in Bold)
Matt Campbell: Iowa State to Penn State – 23
Eric Morris: North Texas to Oklahoma State – 17
Jimmy Rogers: Washington State to Iowa State – 15
Alex Golesh: USF to Auburn – 13
James Franklin: Penn State to Virginia Tech – 12
Bob Chesney: JMU to UCLA – 10 (of 41)
Ryan Silverfield: Memphis to Arkansas – 7
Kyle Whittingham: Utah to Michigan – 5
Lane Kiffin: Ole Miss to LSU – 4
Jon Sumrall: Tulane to Florida – 2
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