Lubbock, Texas
The move came a day after the Red Raiders finished their third consecutive losing season with a 35-24 loss to Baylor when they had a chance to get bowl eligible. That was their fifth straight loss after a 5-2 start this year, though it seems unlikely that a win in the finale would have saved Kingsbury’s job.
“It’s not based on one game. This type of decision is not based on one season. This decision was made based on a three-year pattern, a three-year pattern of inconsistency,” athletic director Kirby Hocutt said during a campus news conference. “We saw progress, but we also saw lapses of progress in key critical areas.”
Kingsbury finished with a 35-40 overall record, a .467 winning percentage that is better than only two of the other 14 Texas Tech coaches in the program’s history.
Texas Tech was 19-35 in Big 12 games under Kingsbury, including 3-6 in the conference each of the past three seasons even while consistently having one of the nation’s top offenses with quality quarterbacks. The Red Raiders have now gone nine consecutive seasons without a winning record in Big 12 play.
UNC Coach Out
Raleigh, n.c.
The school announced the decision in a news release on Sunday morning. That came less than a day after an overtime loss to rival North Carolina State that dropped the Tar Heels to 2-9 and concluded with a brawl between the teams in the end zone after the Wolfpack scored the winning touchdown.
Fedora’s exit completes a swift fall. The program won 11 games and an Atlantic Coast Conference division championship in 2015. UNC slipped to 8-5 the next season and then went 5-18 over the past two seasons marred by injuries, inexperienced players and close losses.
The move will cost UNC about $12 million owed on Fedora’s contract that runs through the 2022 season.
Fedora arrived in Chapel Hill before the 2012 season to take over a program at the end of an NCAA investigation into improper benefits and academic misconduct.
USC Keeping Coach Despite Subpar Season
Los Angeles
USC athletic director Lynn Swann made the announcement on Sunday, one day after the Trojans finished 5-7 with a narrow loss to Notre Dame.
Despite widespread dissatisfaction with Helton among USC’s boosters and fans, Swann elected to keep the embattled coach. Nine months ago, Swann gave a contract extension through 2023 to Helton, who is 32-17 in his first head coaching job.
Helton’s Trojans won the Rose Bowl two seasons ago to cap a nine-game winning streak, and they won the Pac-12 title last season.
Illinois Extends Smith
Champaign, Ill.
Athletic director Josh Whitman announced the deal on Sunday. Whitman hired Smith, the former NFL head coach who led the Bears to the Super Bowl, soon after he was named AD in 2016.
Smith is 9-27 in three seasons with the Illini and 4-23 in the Big Ten, but there were clear signs of progress this season for an inexperienced team that went 2-10 and winless in the Big Ten in 2017.
Ohio State Rises to No. 6
Ohio State moved up to No. 6 in The Associated Press college football poll after trouncing rival Michigan.
The Buckeyes jumped four spots and the Wolverines fell four to No. 8, but overall the rankings were relatively stable after the last weekend of the regular season.
Going into next week, when each FBS conference will play a championship game, Alabama, Clemson and Notre Dame are the top three for the sixth straight poll.
Georgia moved up a spot to No. 4 and Oklahoma is fifth. Unbeaten UCF also moved up a spot to No. 7. No. 9 Texas and Washington round out the top 10.
Washington State and LSU both dropped out of the top 10 and are tied for No. 12.