The job of a college football head coach has never been less focused on coaching football. In that sense, assistant coaches and coordinator hires have never been more important. On Sunday, Michigan fired offensive coordinator Jason Beck, who came to Ann Arbor with coach Kyle Whittingham from Utah.
Last season, he coordinated a top-10 offense. This year, he is owed more than $10 million for less than one year of work, believed to be the largest buyout ever for an assistant coach. However, Michigan is not alone.
Oregon also fired offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer in his first season. Oklahoma canned Ben Arbuckle midway through his second season. The level of patience is going down.
With the pressures facing coaching staffs in 2026, bad hires cost a program more than ever. Here are 10 of the worst coordinator hires of the past five years, including a few that tanked College Football Playoff teams just this season. Babers was hailed as a strong hire for first-year coach Brent Brennan.
He was coming off 10 years as a head coach, including several solid offenses at Syracuse. Babers was hired to maintain after a historic 10-win season. Instead, his offense completely collapsed.
Arizona went 4-8 in Babers' lone season as offensive coordinator, sandwiched between a 10-win and nine-win season. Quarterback Noah Fifita dropped from 72% to 60% completion, 8.6 to 6.9 yards per attempt and doubled his highest interception mark. Really, the greatest indictment of Babers' tenure?
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