Mid-October feels like a mirror. Half the season gone, and suddenly every program is staring back at itself asking: Who are we, really? This week on Y-Option, fueled by our founding sponsor, 76® - keeping you on the GO GO GO so you never miss a beat, Jim Thornby and I sat down to take stock of a college football season spinning faster than ever — coaches out, CFP contenders adjust week to week , and patience from fan bases are on life support.
What we found wasn’t just about wins and losses. It was about identity, timing, and the impossible math of modern college football: boosters, buyouts, and the transfer portal colliding into a single decision point.
The Coaching Carousel Spins Again
Three jobs gone in a single weekend — Penn State, Oregon State, UAB — bringing the national total to eight. Each one for a different reason, but all part of a similar pattern.
Penn State went from preseason No. 2 to unemployed head coach in three weeks.
Buyouts north of $50 million are now normalized, which means emotions move faster than logic.
As Jim said, “If you’re going to get rid of Coach A, you better have a damn good Coach B coming in next year.”
The bigger question: do buyouts start to disappear? As the Playoff expands and the calendar stretches, schools may no longer afford impatience. Or will they only grow?
Oregon State’s Tough Reset
Trent Bray’s exit hurts because it was homegrown. He played there, grew as a coordinator there and loved being the Beavers Head Coach more than anything. Watching head coaches get dismissed from their alma mater is simply brutal.
Why is it an attractive job? Because the Beavs next head coach inherits a program with a playoff path in the new Pac-12 structure. We dive into that and more.
Corvallis has the resources and loyalty to rise again — if they get the hire right.
I said it on the pod: sometimes the game moves faster than your rebuild. But when a team loses hope, change follows.
The Human Cost We Don’t See
When a coach is fired, the headline reads “$50 million buyout.” But the story from this lens is about the 300 people whose lives change by Monday morning.
The $17K QC coach.
The $45K assistant with a newborn.
The family wondering about health insurance in February.
The 4th grader who has to walk into school knowing EVERYONE knows his Dad just got fired, and likely boo’d the previous weekend.
So to every player on a team in transition: you’ll remember this season forever. Compete. Connect. Choose uncommon effort over easy excuses.
Teams That Define the Moment
Indiana: Stunned Oregon in Autzen with six sacks and a line-of-scrimmage win few saw coming. A top-3 résumé right now.
USC: Looked like a Big Ten team vs. Michigan — 224 rush yards, physicality, command. If they win at Notre Dame, Jayden Maiava’s in the Heisman conversation.
The West Coast Snapshot
Washington is quietly dominant again with Demond Williams Jr. Too quiet in my eyes.
Arizona has made big strides this season and were a snap away from a huge upset over BYU.
UCLA, under interim Tim Skipper, looks reborn.
And Stanford’s new $50M donation just made their future way more interesting than their record. And their head coaching vacancy more attractive.
Some Conversation Starters
The expanded playoff will test how fast schools act — and overreact.
Buyouts will shrink. They have to.
The West is rising again — maybe not in one conference, but through identity, talent, and physicality.
It’s the season’s halfway point, but the sport’s heartbeat is racing. And each Saturday, ours is too.
As always, much love and stay steady,
Yogi
