Two offseasons ago, the coronavirus pandemic created one of the quietest coaching carousels we've seen in a long time. Only one power conference program (Wake Forest) changed coaches. At the outset of last season, some in the industry wondered whether we might see a continuation of that trend, with few changes and teams hesitant to pay big money for buyouts and hires in a college sports environment were resources had become strained.
That certainly wasn't the case.
Fourteen jobs in the top seven leagues changed hands, and while not all 14 openings came as a result of the school firing its head coach, there were nonetheless more vacancies than expected.
What does that mean for the 2022 coaching carousel? It could be a bit slower than last spring. For one, we're not walking into a season with two jobs already open like we did last season with Penn State and Wichita State. Two, some of the jobs that opened last spring came perhaps a year earlier than expected.
There will undoubtedly be some surprises along the way, though, so this list will look awfully different in five months.