14 College Football Job Hoppers That Have Coached At The Most Schools

The college football coaching carousel is more active than ever before. Gone are the days of patience and building a program.

The transfer portal and introduction of player payment have sped up timelines. Success is expected immediately. Those that fail to do so will be shown the door.

On the flip side, every firing results in a subsequent hiring. Coaches have the opportunity to buoy prior success into more lucrative jobs.

In most cases, that involves making a leap from the Group of 5 to the Power 4. In others, though, coaches can jump from P4 to P4, and in some instances, conference rival to conference rival.

Who has coached the most college football programs?

Here, we’ll take a look at the coaches have hopped jobs more than any others in the sport’s history. Many come from the current era, though a few date back to the early 1900s.

This list notes only schools that either competed at the highest level during the time of the coaching stint, or those that are now recognized as major programs.

Our cutoff here is five different schools, giving us a list of 14 head coaches. We’ll start with the newest addition, though he still has some time before coaching his first game at his fifth program.

Lane Kiffin

Schools: Tennessee, FAU, Ole Miss, USC, LSU

Kiffin has coached at four major college football programs. He will soon lead a fifth. The head coach is leaving Ole Miss for SEC rival LSU in 2026.

The move comes despite the Rebels’ likely College Football Playoff inclusion. It also continues a trend seen with Kiffin in the past.

The coach got his first gig with Tennessee in 2009. He quickly burned his bridge by bolting for USC after one season. After being fired by the Trojans (and Raiders), he landed at Florida Atlantic.

Kiffin was able to rebuild his image with the Owls before moving onto Oxford.

Todd Graham

Schools: Rice, Tulsa, Pitt, Arizona State, Hawaii

Graham was at Rice for one season before bolting for Tulsa in 2007. At the time, that move drew much criticism due to both teams’ Conference USA affiliation.

With the Golden Hurricane, he won 68% of his games across a four-year stretch. As a result, he was offered the head coaching job at Pitt.

After one disappointing season, he jumped ship for Arizona State where he’d spend six years. He agreed to part ways with the Sun Devils in 2017 and finished up his career with a two-year stint at Hawaii.

Willie Taggart

Schools: Western Kentucky, USF, Florida State, Oregon, FAU

Taggart makes this list despite being fired by his last two schools in a five-year period. His early success at the Group of 5 level is to thank.

Taggart turned WKU around in his head coaching debut, improving the Hilltoppers win total from 2 to 7 in one season’s time. After three years, he moved onto USF.

With the Bulls, he made his mark. In another turnaround, he flipped a 2-win program into a 10-win team by Year 4. That production got him the job at Oregon.

That marriage was short-lived as he bolted for FSU after his first season. Taggart was fired after two bad campaigns in Tallahassee before being fired from his next gig at Florida Atlantic.

Jack Curtice

Schools: West Texas A&M, UTEP, Utah, Stanford, UC Santa Barbara

Curtice’s career spanned three decades with each of his head coaching stops residing west of the Mississippi River. That journey began in the Lone Star State where he led West Texas A&M.

He then moved onto UTEP ahead of an eight-year run at Utah.

With the Utes, he went 45-32. Success declined after moving onto Stanford, where he posted a 14-36 overall record across five seasons. His career wrapped up at UC Santa Barbara, which played briefly at the D1 level.

Dana Bible

Schools: Mississippi State, LSU, Texas, Nebraska, Texas A&M

Bible is one of the more successful coaches on this list, having lengthy stints at Texas A&M, Nebraska, and Texas after one-year stops at LSU and Mississippi State.

Bible took over with the Aggies in 1917. He won his first 18 games across two undefeated seasons. After losing just 19 times in 100 games coached in College Station, he moved onto Nebraska.

The success would continue with the Cornhuskers as Bible went 50-15-7 in Lincoln. He then wrapped up his career with a 10-year run at Texas that saw three Cotton Bowl appearances.

Dennis Franchione

Schools: New Mexico, TCU, Alabama, Texas A&M, Texas State

Franchione coached at some of the sport’s biggest names in Alabama and Texas A&M. He saw success at both following initial runs at New Mexico and TCU.

With the Lobos, he went 33-36 while leading the team to its first bowl game since 1961. He then ended a three-year run with the Horned Frogs with a 10-1 season.

The success got him the Alabama gig though the partnership was brief. Despite going 17-8, he reportedly turned down an extension to move onto Texas A&M.

After five years, he resigned. Franchione later coached at Texas State before retiring.

Clark Shaughnessy

Schools: Tulane, Chicago, Stanford, Pitt, Maryland, Hawaii

Shaughnessy experienced high end success as well as lackluster outputs across three decades of college football coaching. That started with a long stint at Tulane where he was 55-27 across 10 seasons.

He then moved onto Chicago where he never recorded a winning season before leading Stanford to a Rose Bowl and spotless 10-0 season in 1940.

Shaughnessy spent just two seasons with the Cardinal, followed by one year at Maryland, and another three seasons at Pitt. He wrapped up his career with a return to Maryland, which lasted just one year.

Shaughnessy also had a pair of stints in the NFL, while also leading NAIA Loyola and Hawaii before the Rainbow Warriors moved up to the FBS.

Howard Jones

Schools: Yale, Syracuse, Ohio State, Iowa, USC, Duke

Jones had very brief stints at Syracuse, Ohio State, and Yale before leading the Iowa Hawkeyes for eight seasons. With the program, he went 42-17-1 headlined by a pair of perfect seasons.

He then took a one-year pit stop at Duke before wrapping up his career at USC. With the Trojans, he roamed the sidelines for 16 seasons.

He led the school to five Rose Bowl wins, just missing out on a national championship in 1939.

Lou Holtz

Schools: William & Mary, NC State, Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame, South Carolina

Holtz is best remembered for his time at Notre Dame, which included a 1988 national title. He coached at six stops total, though, and is the only person to lead six different schools to a bowl game.

His tenure started with three years at William and Mary before being hired at NC State. Holtz had four strong seasons in Raleigh but decided to leave the Wolfpack and take his shot at the NFL.

A failed stint with the Jets led him back to college where he took on the Arkansas gig. Despite a 60-21 record with the Hogs, he was fired in 1983. Following a brief stint at Minnesota, he took on his legendary role with the Fighting Irish.

He retired in 1996 but returned to coach South Carolina in 1999.

Sol Metzger

Schools: Baylor, Penn, South Carolina, Oregon State, Washington & Jefferson, West Virginia

Metzger started his coaching career at Baylor where he spent one season. He then returned to his alma mater, Penn, to lead an 11-0-1 campaign.

After one year, he moved onto Oregon State before taking some time away from the sidelines. He came back to coach at West Virginia for two years, Washington & Jefferson (now D3) another two seasons, and South Carolina for his final five.

Metzger posted an overall record of 68-36-6.

Dennis Erickson

Schools: Wyoming, Washington State, Miami, Oregon State, Idaho, Arizona State

Erickson saw incredible success at a number of stops, one of which resulted in a pair of national championships. He started at Idaho before spending a year at Wyoming. Then, he was off to the PAC 12 with Washington State.

The Cougars went 3-7 in Year 1. They were 9-3 in Year 2. Erickson buoyed that success into a job with Miami. He won a title in his debut and added another in his third season.

The coach then attempted to give the NFL a shot but returned to the PAC 12 with Oregon State after a four-year run with the Seahawks.

In his second season with the Beavers, he went 11-1 with a Fiesta Bowl win. He then went back to the NFL with the 49ers before coming back to Idaho for a season.

He closed out his head coaching career at Arizona State, where he was fired after five seasons.

Pop Warner

Schools: Carlisle, Cornell, Georgia, Iowa State, Pitt, Stanford, Temple

Pop Warner’s name is synonymous with football. He made major impacts at multiple stops. Included are an undefeated year leading Georgia in 1895 followed by a one-year stint at Iowa State.

Initially, he’d agreed to coach both in the same season as the offset schedules would allow him to split time. That ultimately did not come to fruition.

He’d later return to his alma mater in Cornell while also leading nearby Carlisle, which often competed against Ivy League rivals.

In 1915, his career became a bit more stable. He took over at Pitt where he’d stay for nine seasons. Success would lead to another nine-year stint at Stanford before taking his last job at Temple.

Warner won nearly 75% of his games and appeared in three Rose Bowls and a Sugar Bowl.

Clarence Spears

Schools: West Virginia, Minnesota, Toledo, Oregon, Wisconsin, Maryland, Dartmouth

Spears has one of the most notable lists of stops littered with top programs. His career started out at his alma mater Dartmouth before a stint at West Virginia where he led the 1922 team to a 10-0-1 season.

After two more strong seasons with the Mountaineers, he moved onto Minnesota where he’d record another undefeated season in 1927.

Spears then went 13-4 across two years at Oregon before lackluster a stint at Wisconsin that ended with four straight seasons at .500 or worse.

He was hired by Toledo in 1936 where he spent seven years, then ended his career with two losing seasons at Maryland.

John Heisman

Schools: Akron, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Penn, Auburn, Rice, Washington & Jefferson

Heisman is one of the most well-known figures in college football. The nation’s top player receives a trophy in his name each and every year.

Heisman wore many hats, which included football coach, basketball coach, baseball coach, and athletic director throughout his seven stops.

His coaching career began at D3 Oberlin. His first stop at what would now be considered a major school was Akron (then Buchtel).

After two seasons, he moved onto Auburn, and then Clemson, which sparked a two-decade run in the south. The large majority of that time was spent at Georgia Tech, where he coached for 16 seasons.

Heisman went 102-29-7 with the Yellow Jackets. He later went back to Penn, where he played from 1889-91. After three seasons, he took a year at Washington & Jefferson before ending his career at Rice.

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