When Lane Kiffin decided to leave Ole Miss to become the head coach at LSU, he didn't just leave behind a program. He left behind a full roster of players and a College Football Playoff appearance, one that will start Dec. 20.

Kiffin didn't have a choice. With early singing day coming before conference championship games, a new coach has to be in place to both keep recruits committed or flip ones from schools without a solid head coach. Penn State suffered from this when James Franklin brought much of his class to Virginia Tech.

While the future stars of college football benefit from the coaching stability, the current ones suffer. With Kiffin moving to a traditional rival and conference foe, Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter decided not to let the exiting head coach stay for the College Football Playoff. 

Tulane and James Madison made different decisions, letting exiting head coaches Jon Sumrall and Bob Chesney stay on for the postseason before their respective moves to Florida and UCLA. North Texas extended the same privilege to new Oklahoma State boss Eric Morris, but a loss in the conference championship ended the playoff hopes of the Mean Green.

With the calendar set up in its current format, not much can stop coaches from leaving early and getting their new jobs set. Schools that moved fast to get a new leadership team in place have already seen benefits in their class of 2026.

Five SEC schools decided to move on from their current head coaches during the season, and Ole Miss was forced to make a move once LSU hired Kiffin. Auburn, Arkansas and Florida went to the American Athletic Conference to find their new hires, while Kentucky hired an up-and-coming assistant.

Auburn hired South Florida's Alex Golesh, a name familiar to Tennessee. Prior to taking the reins in Tampa, Golesh was Josh Heupel's offensive coordinator for three years, two of which came at Tennessee. The Russian-American coach went 23-15 with the Bulls, winning bowl games in each of his first two seasons and winning at Florida in 2025.

Arkansas turned to Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield as its next head coach. While coaching the Tigers, Silverfield accumulated a 50-25 record, including an 11-win season in 2024. This season, Silverfield's Memphis team beat Arkansas but limped to an 8-4 finish, going 4-4 in conference play.

After just two seasons in New Orleans, Sumrall was called up to the SEC and will be Florida's new head coach. Prior to his Tulane stint, Sumrall won two Sun Belt championships at Troy. While coaching the Green Wave, he made back-to-back conference championship games and will have a chance to make noise in the College Football Playoff with a trip to Oxford to play Ole Miss.

Mark Stoops was fired by Kentucky after his 13th season in charge, and Will Stein was chosen as the man to lead the Wildcats starting in 2026. The 36-year-old is in his third season as Oregon's offensive coordinator and will coach the Ducks in the postseason. In Eugene, Stein has been part of a staff under Dan Lanning that has seen Oregon make the College Football Playoff in back-to-back seasons.

Ole Miss stayed in house for their hire, promoting defensive coordinator Pete Golding to be the new head coach. All six SEC schools with new head coaches had their new leader in place before the early signing day, taking advantage of the opportunity to stabilize recruiting and prepare for the transfer portal, which opens Jan. 2.