Coaching carousel: Tracking the hirings and firings in the Power Four

Just when college football’s coaching carousel started to slow to a halt, Michigan fired coach Sherrone Moore with cause. Moore was let go Wednesday after the Wolverines found evidence of an “inappropriate relationship with a staff member."

Moore became the 12th coach in Power Four conferences to get dismissed this fall. Another one was shown the door in March.

Unprecedented parity, revenue-sharing and access to the expanded College Football Playoff have created a win-now approach for administrators.

Florida State’s Mike Norvell, Maryland’s Mike Locksley, Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell and Baylor’s Dave Aranda got hot-seat reprieves and will return in 2026.

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin’s decision to leave for LSU sped up the hiring cycle, with Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield, North Texas coach Eric Morris, South Florida coach Alex Golesh and Tulane coach Jon Sumrall getting called up from the Group of Five to lead Power Four programs.

Now, Michigan is searching for its third head coach in four years.

Here are the programs in the spotlight (in alphabetical order):

Fired: Sam Pittman, 63, on Sept. 28, 2025.

Record: 32-34 over six seasons, including 14-29 in the SEC.

Buyout: Nearly $9 million.

Interim: Offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino.

Noteworthy: Petrino guided the Razorbacks between 2008 and 2011, showing improvement every year. His tenure ended after a motorcycle crash led to the admission of an affair with a former Arkansas volleyball player.

Replacement: The Razorbacks hired Silverfield on Nov. 30.

Fired: Hugh Freeze, 56, on Nov. 2, 2025.

Record: 15-19 over three seasons, including 6-16 in the SEC.

Buyout: $15.8 million.

Interim: Defensive coordinator DJ Durkin.

Noteworthy: The 56-year-old Freeze failed to fix Auburn’s offensive issues in his three years on the Plains. The Tigers scored 24 or fewer points in 17 of his 22 league games.

Replacement: The Tigers hired Golesh on Nov. 30 and kept Durkin as DC.

Fired: Justin Wilcox, 49, on Nov. 23, 2025.

Record: 48-55 over nine seasons, including 26-47 in conference play (21-37 in the Pac-12, 5-10 in the ACC).

Buyout: Roughly $10.9 million.

Interim: Former Hawaii and Washington State coach Nick Rolovich.

Noteworthy: Longtime NFL coach and first-year Cal general manager Ron Rivera made the move following a lopsided loss to Stanford that assured Wilcox of never having a winning record in conference play with the Bears.

Replacement: The Golden Bears hired Tosh Lupoi on Dec. 4, bringing back a former player and assistant who has been Oregon’s defensive coordinator for the past four seasons.

Fired: Billy Napier, 46, on Oct. 19, 2025.

Record: 22-23 over four seasons, including 12-16 in the SEC.

Buyout: About $21 million.

Interim: Receivers coach Billy Gonzales.

Noteworthy: Napier was almost always in the crosshairs, in part because he declined to give up play-calling duties as the Gators’ offense failed to make progress.

Replacement: The Gators hired Sumrall on Nov. 30.

Fired: Mark Stoops, 58, on Dec. 1, 2025.

Record: 82-80 over 13 seasons (with 10 wins vacated), including 25-68 in the SEC.

Buyout: Approximately $37.7 million, due within 60 days. But the sides were working to spread that out over time.

Interim: None.

Noteworthy: Stoops was the longest-tenured coach in the SEC.

Replacement: The Wildcats hired Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein hours after Stoops’ dismissal.

Fired: Brian Kelly, 64, on Oct. 26, 2025.

Record: 34-14 over four seasons, including 19-10 in the SEC.

Buyout: About $54 million, which the school agreed to pay after Kelly sued for the full amount.

Interim: Associate head coach/running backs coach Frank Wilson.

Noteworthy: Kelly’s buyout is the second largest in the history of college athletics. It was the first time Kelly had been fired in his coaching career.

Replacement: The Tigers hired Kiffin on Nov. 30.

Fired: Sherrone Morre, 39, on Dec. 10, 2025.

Record: 16-8 over two seasons, including 11-6 in the Big Ten.

Buyout: None because he was fired with cause.

Interim: Associate head coach Biff Poggi.

Noteworthy: College football’s winningest program is now seeking its third head coach in four years, following Jim Harbaugh's departure for the NFL's Los Angeles Chargers and Moore's sudden dismissal.

Replacement: TBD.

Fired: Jonathan Smith, 46, on Nov. 30, 2025.

Record: 9-15 over two seasons, including 4-14 in the Big Ten.

Buyout: More than $30 million.

Interim: Defensive Coordinator Joe Rossi.

Noteworthy: Smith was under fire from the moment Michigan State hired him late in 2023. He previously went 34-35 in six years at Oregon State.

Replacement: The Spartans hired former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald on Dec. 1.

Fired: Mike Gundy, 58, on Sept. 23, 2025.

Record: 170-90 over 21 seasons, including 102-72 in the Big 12.

Buyout: $15 million.

Interim: Offensive coordinator Doug Meacham.

Noteworthy: Gundy went viral in 2007 for shouting “Come after me! I’m a man! I’m 40!” while defending one of his players.

Replacement: The Cowboys hired Morris on Nov. 25.

Fired: James Franklin, 53, on Oct. 12, 2025.

Record: 104-45 over 12 seasons, including 64-36 in the Big Ten.

Buyout: More than $49 million, although it was negotiated down to $9 million before he got another job (Virginia Tech).

Interim: Associate head coach Terry Smith.

Noteworthy: Franklin became the first coach since 1978 to lose consecutive games (UCLA, Northwestern) while being favored by 20 or more points.

Replacement: Penn State hired Iowa State's Matt Campbell on Dec. 5 after failing to land BYU’s Kalani Sitake.

Fired: Troy Taylor, 56, on March 25, 2025.

Record: 6-18 over two seasons, including 4-13 in conference play (2-7 in the Pac-12, 2-6 in the ACC).

Buyout: Unknown.

Interim: Longtime NFL coach Frank Reich.

Noteworthy: General manager Andrew Luck fired Taylor in March following reports that the coach allegedly mistreated staffers and then asked Reich to fill in for a season.

Replacement: The Cardinal hired Tavita Pritchard on Nov. 28.

Fired: DeShaun Foster, 45, on Sept. 14, 2025.

Record: 5-10 over two seasons, including 3-6 in the Big Ten.

Buyout: $6.43 million.

Interim: Special assistant Tim Skipper.

Noteworthy: Foster was fired three games into his second season, with athletic director Martin Jarmond acknowledging he made a mistake by giving the inexperienced Foster the job.

Replacement: The Bruins officially hired James Madison’s Bob Chesney on Dec. 6.

Fired: Brent Pry, 55, on Sept. 14, 2025.

Record: 16-24 over four seasons, including 10-13 in the ACC.

Buyout: About $6 million.

Interim: Offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery.

Noteworthy: Since Pry’s dismissal, the university voted to increase the athletics department budget by $229.2 million over the next four years. The bump for 2026 ups Tech’s athletic budget to $190.1 million, placing it among the top third in the ACC.

Replacement: The Hokies hired Franklin on Nov. 17.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore watches from the sideline during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Ohio State, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Parliament was dissolved Friday for new elections early next year as the country engaged in deadly fighting with Cambodia.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul dissolved the House of Representatives after getting approval from King Maha Vajiralongkorn, whose endorsement became effective Friday with its publication in the Royal Gazette.

Anutin had signaled the move with a Facebook post late Thursday saying: “I’d like to return power to the people.”

The election must be held 45 to 60 days after the royal endorsement, a period during which Anutin will head a caretaker government with limited powers that cannot approve a new budget.

The move comes at a tricky political moment, as Thailand is engaged in large-scale combat with Cambodia over long-disputed border claims. About two dozen people were reported killed in the fighting this week, while hundreds of thousands have been displaced on both sides.

Anutin has been prime minister for just three months, succeeding Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who served only a year in office before losing office over a scandal that erupted out of a previous round of border tensions.

Anutin won the September vote in Parliament with support from the main opposition People’s Party in exchange for a promise to dissolve Parliament within four months and organize a referendum on the drafting of a new constitution by an elected constituent assembly.

The party, which runs on progressive platforms, has long sought changes to the constitution, imposed during a military government, saying they want to make it more democratic.

The issue of constitutional change appeared to trigger the dissolution, after the People’s Party prepared to call a no-confidence vote Thursday. That threat came after lawmakers from Anutin’s Bhumjaithai Party voted in favor of a bill to amend the constitution that the opposition party felt ran against the spirit of the agreement they had reached in September.

The People's Party holds the largest number of seats in the House of Representatives and is seen as the main challenger to Bhumjaithai. As news of the pending dissolution circulated late Thursday, its leaders said they hoped Anutin would still honor the agreement to arrange a constitutional referendum.

Anutin served in Paetongtarn’s former government but resigned from his positions and withdrew his party from her coalition government as she faced controversy over a phone call with Cambodia's Senate President Hun Sen in June.

Paetongtarn, daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was suspended from office ahead of the July fighting, after being found guilty of ethics violations over the politically compromising call.

With Thailand now again engaged in heavy combat against Cambodia, Anutin has embraced an aggressive military posture to appeal to nationalistic public sentiment, and has said Thailand will keep fighting until its sovereignty and safety are guaranteed.

After the five days of border fighting in July, U.S. President Donald Trump pushed the two countries to agree on a ceasefire by threatening to withhold trade privileges from them.

Trump has vowed again to make peace between them after widespread fighting flared up again this week. If he employs the cudgel of high tariffs on Thai exports should Thailand fail to comply with his peacemaking effort comply, it could cause serious damage to its already sluggish economy.

Trump said twice this week that he expects to speak by phone with the Thai and Cambodian leaders, expressing confidence that he would persuade them to stop the fighting.

Anutin on Friday confirmed that he is scheduled to speak with Trump on Friday night, saying he would brief him on the latest situation along the border.

As of Thursday, about two dozen people had been reported killed in this week’s fighting, while hundreds of thousands have been displaced on both sides of the border. The Thai military estimates that 165 Cambodian soldiers have been killed, though no number has been officially announced by Phnom Penh.

“Anutin has capitalized on the renewed border tensions with Cambodia to portray himself as a leader willing to take a nationalist, hard-line stance in defending Thailand’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” commented Napon Jatusripitak, director of the Center for Politics and Geopolitics at Thailand Future, a Bangkok-based think tank.

“This emerging narrative has, at least for now, eclipsed criticisms of his handling of the floods in Southern Thailand and muted scrutiny over lingering questions of his potential involvement with scam networks,” said Napon, who is also a visiting fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

Purawich Watanasukh, a political scientist as Bangkok’s Thammasat University said that the standing of Anutin’s Bhumjaithai Party has slipped in recent weeks due to the southern flood crisis, which took more than 160 lives, and his government’s mishandling of major scam scandals, which tainted some officials and figures in the Thai business community.

“However, the recent clash between Thailand and Cambodia has provided Anutin with an opportunity to reframe himself as a defender of national sovereignty, potentially boosting his popularity, ” Purawich told The Associated Press in an email interview. “Dissolving the House at this moment allows Bhumjaithai to capitalize on this shifting sentiment.

Jintamas reported from Buriram, Thailand.

People warm themselves around a bonfire as they take refuge at Wat Chroy Neangoun's Buddhist pagoda in Siem Reap province, Cambodia Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, after fleeing from home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia over territorial claims. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Displaced people arrive to take refuge at Wat Chroy Neangoun's Buddhist pagoda in Siem Reap province, Cambodia Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, after fleeing from home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia over territorial claims. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, center, walks after attending an event at the Government House in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)

Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, right, gestures as he attends an event at the Government House in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)

Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul gestures as he attends an event at the government house in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)

Thai residents cover in a shelter in Buriram province, Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

FILE - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, right, and Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, left, react during a signing ceremony on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)