D.J. Durkin (Maryland)The most botched firing of a head coach in perhaps the history of college football. Durkin's issue wasn't performance as they had been to a bowl game in 2016, but instead it was his role in the tragic death of Jordan McNair back in June. While many point the finger at strength and conditioning coach Rick Court, Durkin was the overseer of the Terrapins and some, including players, felt he was no fit to lead Maryland.
After beginning the season on administrative leave, he was reinstated on Oct. 30 after the board of regents said there was no evidence of a "toxic culture." University President, Wallace Loh, then announced his retirement after the boards decision. There was public backlash from players, students, faculty, and alumni about the decision and by the next day, Loh announced that he had made a new decision to fire Durkin.
Durkin did not coach in a game this season as Matt Canada filled in as the interim coach. Canada led Maryland in an emotional win over Texas in week one and a near victory against Ohio State.
Bobby Petrino (Louisville)Apparently, Louisville is not that good without Lamar Jackson. Louisville started 2-1, but had lost seven straight when the school decided to part ways. Petrino had led the Cardinals to four straight bowl games, but apparently you can't give up 51 to Alabama, 66 to Georgia Tech, 56 to Wake Forest, 77 to Clemson, and 54 to Syracuse and still keep your job.
Kliff Kingsbury (Texas Tech)Former Red Raider quarterback and student of the Air Raid offense, Kliff Kingsbury, has been let go by the university. Texas Tech missed a bowl appearance for the third straight year and were just 35-40 in the six years under Kingsbury. His biggest accomplishment was unveiling Patrick Mahomes to the world, but Texas Tech often fell short of expectations under one of the younger minds in college football. The decisive blow came when the Red Raiders lost their final game to Baylor, allowing the Bears to become bowl eligible and Texas Tech to finish 5-7.
Starting off 5-0 is almost a guarantee to make a bowl game and make noise in the PAC-12. However, the Buffaloes dropped seven straight and had another last place finish in the PAC-12 South. MacIntyre parlayed a winning season at San Jose State into a job at Colorado back in 2013, but only had one winning season back in 2016.
David Beaty (Kansas)Beaty finally got things going this year to some extent. The Jayhawks ended their 46-game road losing streak at Central Michigan. Then they beat Rutgers for a win against a Power 5 school for the first time since Nov. 19, 2016. That game was also the first time Kansas had won back-to-back games since 2011 and the first time they won two games against FBS opponents in the same season since 2014. They also beat TCU for their first win in the month of October since 2009.
However, they also lost to FCS Nicholls State to start the season and finished losing eight of their last nine. The last straw was blowing a fourth quarter lead against rival Kansas State to give the Wildcats their tenth straight win over Kansas.
He's already been replaced by former LSU coach, Les Miles.
Larry Fedora (North Carolina)The Tar Heels finished with nine losses for the second straight year and that was all she wrote for Larry Fedora. Fedora started the year saying football was declining in toughness and that if football goes down, "our country will go down too." Instead of focusing on world issues, maybe he should've prepared for ECU who won as many games against Power 5 schools this year as UNC. The Tar Heels do have an impressive win over ACC Coastal Champs, Pitt. The Heels were 45-43 under Fedora in the seven seasons he coached. He replaced Butch Davis who was fired after a probe uncovered some shady business and got UNC a brief postseason ban.
Brad Lambert (Charlotte)The only man to lead the Charlotte 49ers football team, Lambert went 22-48 in six seasons, including two in the FCS. As a nice going away gift, Charlotte won his final game against Lane Kiffin's Florida Atlantic Owls, who missed out on going to a bowl game with the loss.
Scottie Montgomery (ECU)East Carolina was so cold towards Scottie Montgomery, that they fired the third year coach just days before their final game against NCST. The Pirates were 3-8 and 9-26 under his guidance, but they did notch wins against NCST and UNC during his tenure. Of course they also lost to FCS schools like James Madison and NC A&T. David Blackwell will coach in the finale.
Mark Whipple (UMass)"We had a chance there with 16 down and they rape us, and he picks up the flag." Famous last words for Mark Whipple? Those were actually said back in a loss to Ohio on Sept. 29 and he was suspended without pay the next week. Whipple led the Minutemen to a record of 16-44 in his five seasons including a 4-8 finish this year. This was his second stint with UMass, who brought him back after Charley Molnar led the transition to the FBS, but went 2-22 from 2012-13.
Terry Bowden was brought in as a big name to fix a smaller program in the same way Frank Solich did to Ohio. Unfortunately, Bowden made just one MAC Championship appearance and two bowl games on his way to a 35-52 record in seven seasons. This year the Zips went 4-8 despite stunning Northwestern. He had previously coached at Akron in 1986 as the quarterbacks coach.
Mike Jinks (Bowling Green)Jinks was just 7-24 in his not quite three years guiding the Falcons. They never made a bowl appearance in the Jinks era after Dino Babers led them to a bowl game in both seasons before heading to Syracuse.
John Bonamego (Central Michigan)Bonamego led the the Chippewa's to three bowl games in his first three years, but went a dismal 1-11. One of those losses was to Kansas, who snapped their 46 game road losing streak. The lone win came in a 17-5 struggle against FCS Maine. Back in 2015, he proved an inspiration to his new team when over beat tonsil cancer. In 2018 the athletic department opted to go in another direction as CMU failed to make a winning season for the first time since 2011. He was 22-29 overall.
Everett Withers (Texas State)The Bobcats were 7-28 under Withers including a 3-8 campaign before he was let go. Texas State will now look for their third coach since coming up to the FBS level in 2012. They were the lone victory for Rutgers this season, with other bad losses to South Alabama (3-9) and UTSA (3-9).
Mike Sanford (Western Kentucky)This is an example of the wrong person becoming available. Tyson Helton, brother of could've been fired USC coach Clay Helton, served just one year as the offensive coordinator at Tennessee, but was at Western Kentucky as the OC from 2014-15. Sanford was 9-16 in his two years that included an appearance in a bowl game last year. The Hilltoppers struggled to a 3-9 season that featured blowing a double digit lead to FCS Maine and then losing to Old Dominion after three untimed downs.
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