Sunday has already brought 4 new SEC head football coaches

The landscape of Southeastern Conference football changed completely within an hour on Sunday morning.

In under 60 minutes, several reports from major outlets announced three coaching changes throughout the SEC. It started with Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield reportedly being hired by Arkansas, and quickly continued with news surfacing of South Florida’s Alex Golesh taking the Auburn gig. Auburn has already gotten ahead of the leaks, officially announcing Golesh as the new head coach soon after the reports broke.

Silverfield has been the full-time head coach at Memphis since 2020. During his time with the Tigers, he posted an overall record of 50-25 (27-21 in conference). The 45-year-old is 4-1 in bowl games and has posted a winning record in every season. Memphis won in 10 games in 2023 and 11 in 2024 before winning just eight this season (4-4 in conference). Arkansas fans aren’t too happy online with this hire.

As for Golesh, he coached South Florida for three seasons with an overall record of 23-15 (14-10 in conference). After a pair of seven-win seasons to begin his tenure (and a pair of bowl wins), the Bulls went 9-3 this season. The 41-year-old will reportedly make $7.4 million per season over a six-year deal. Auburn fans are much happier online than Arkansas fans with their program’s hire.

A few minutes after the Golesh news came out, it was reported that Tulane’s Jon Sumrall intends to take over as the next head coach of the Florida Gators. Of the new hires, this one especially stings the Big Blue Nation, with many fans hoping Sumrall would be the eventual successor at Kentucky. It stings even more so considering Florida will be an annual opponent against the Wildcats over the coming years, with the 2026 matchup happening in Lexington. Sumrall is reported to make $7.5 million per season over a six-year deal.

But wait, there’s more! The college football world has been focusing on Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss. National reporters fully expect Kiffin to leave the Rebels for the head coaching job at LSU. At this point, all that’s left is the signed piece of paper. A team meeting between Kiffin and the Ole Miss players has been pushed back from Sunday morning to Sunday afternoon. A press conference to officially announce him as the LSU head coach has been set for Monday. This one has gotten a bit ugly. With Kiffin on his way to join the Tigers, that will create another opening at Ole Miss.

But as the clock continues to tick and more coaching moves are being made, the Wildcats have yet to announce any sort of statement regarding the job status of current head coach Mark Stoops.