Sep 27, 2025; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin and quarterback Drew Allar (15) react after losing to the Oregon Ducks at Beaver Stadium.

The college football coaching carousel for 2025 is already a madhouse, but it's likely to get so much more insane in the coming weeks. James Franklin naturally made huge headlines on Sunday when Penn State fired him after a vicious three-game downturn. Franklin went from playing Notre Dame in a neck-and-neck College Football Playoff semifinal to being unemployed in the span of less than 10 months. He will be handsomely compensated for not coaching, but it is still a dramatic fall in the coaching profession.

The very early speculation surrounding the open Penn State job has flowed to one candidate. Nittany Lions Wire has more:

"Matt Rhule makes a ton of sense. The current Nebraska coach is good friends with (Penn State) Athletic Director Pat Kraft and Kraft could make a pretty quick phone call to try to lure Rhule away from the Cornhuskers job. Additionally, Rhule was a linebacker at Penn State in the 1990s and a 'return home' could be another big pitch to him."

Regardless of whether Matt Rhule takes the Penn State football job, one must ask: How would you rank the eight current open head coaching jobs after UAB fired Trent Dilfer on Sunday afternoon? Let's do that ourselves:

8 -- UAB Blazers

Oregon State has invested more in its facilities and has more of a home-field advantage than UAB. That leaves the Blazers eighth.

7 -- Oregon State Beavers

This is not a terrible job, but it is the worst of the seven open jobs. Being in the Pac-2 (also called 2-Pac), the diminished version of what was once the Pac-12, really undercuts the attractiveness of the job. Oregon State has invested in facilities, and winning at night in Corvallis is not easy. It's a shame the Pac-12 broke up. Oregon State should have considered giving USC some extra money in exchange for keeping the Pac-12 together, but that ship has sailed into the Pacific Ocean.

6 -- UCLA Bruins

If the school fired athletic director Martin Jarmond -- who has horribly managed the football program -- UCLA could quickly rise on this list due to Big Ten membership in a place with great weather and proximity to Southern California high school talent. Until Jarmond is dismissed, however, this is simply not a good place for a coaching candidate to land. Follow UCLA Wire for more analysis.

5 -- Virginia Tech Hokies

The school is trying to reinvest in football, but that's a process which will take time. Virginia Tech has not been the same since Frank Beamer left. Other ACC football programs have outgunned the Hokies. The fan base is first-class, but the reality of Virginia Tech football (like Virginia Tech athletics) has been bleak for a number of years. This is not the program's high point, and it's not likely that the Hokies will quickly turn the corner, either.

4 -- Stanford Cardinal

Money and resources are not a problem, but academic standards limit what Stanford can and does get on the trail and in the transfer portal. Most (worst) of all, cross-country travel to Eastern ACC locations is brutal. If Stanford was still in the Pac-12, it would definitely be higher on this list.

3 -- Oklahoma State Cowboys

Travel is so much better than it is for Stanford and the other West Coast schools ranked lower on this list. The Big 12 does not have a dominant team and is wide-open more often than not. The fans in Stillwater care about football. This is not a bad job, and Mike Gundy showed a good coach can win consistently with the Pokes.

2 -- Arkansas Razorbacks

SEC resources, SEC playoff leverage, SEC television visibility. There's a lot to like about this job. It's all about finding the right guy. A really good coach should want to coach in Fayetteville, especially since the SEC is no longer Alabama/Nick Saban and 13 minnows. The SEC is actually a balanced, up-for-grabs conference now. That was not true 10 years ago, when Alabama owned the league. Winning at Arkansas isn't easy, but it isn't a fantasy, either.

1 -- Penn State Nittany Lions

Penn State's money and resources are not in question. This school just gave a compensation package of close to $3.1 million to a defensive coordinator, Jim Knowles. More than the other six jobs on this list, a great coach can win a national championship at Penn State. James Franklin wasn't even all that great -- he was good, even very good -- and he still came close to reaching the national title game last season.

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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: Ranking every open college football head coaching job after James Franklin Penn State exit

Reporting by Matt Zemek, College Sports Wire / College Sports Wire

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