The Penn State Nittany Lions quickly went from preseason national championship contenders to a team that will be lucky just to make it to a bowl game, with a 6-6 record suddenly seeming more like a pipe dream than a realistic goal at this stage in the 2025 season.
But for as much as they've struggled, having yet to beat a Power Four opponent more than two months into the season, several other teams that received almost just as much preseason hype have fallen far short of their own national championship expectations.
The LSU Tigers certainly fall into that category, and like Penn State, they didn't wait until the end of the 2025 season to part ways with their highly paid head coach.
LSU eclipses Penn State's James Franklin buyout with Brian Kelly firing
Penn State has struggled mightily, and that started long before preseason Heisman hopeful and former No. 1 NFL quarterback prospect Drew Allar was sidelined for the season with an ankle injury during what turned out to be James Franklin's final game as the Nittany Lions' head coach against the Northwestern Wildcats.
Likewise, LSU has yet to put up more than 25 points against not only a single Power Four opponent, but a single FBS opponent, even with fellow preseason Heisman contender and former No. 1 NFL pick hopeful Garrett Nussmeier leading the offense.
Sitting at 5-3 following back-to-back SEC losses, the Tigers made the unsurprising decision to move on from head coach Brian Kelly.
When Penn State fired Franklin, it put them on the hook for $49 million. That dollar amount ranked as the second largest contract buyout in the history of college football at the time, trailing only the absurd $76.8 million figure set by the Texas A&M Aggies when they fired Jimbo Fisher before the 2023 season ended.
Franklin, who took over in State College in 2014, had been in the fourth year of a 10-year, $80 million contract he signed before the 2022 season when he was let go. He had been tied to the university through 2031.
Fisher, who took over in College Station in 2018, was in his third season after signing a four-year extension before the 2021 season when he was fired. His extension initially tied him to the team through 2031 and turned the full value of what became a 10-year contract into $95 million.
The crazy thing about those firings is that, before Fisher was kicked out of Texas A&M, the previous most expensive buyout in the long history of college football wasn't even valued at 30% as much.
The Auburn Tigers fired Gus Malzahn in 2020, and that $21.4 million buyout figure was a record at the time. It eclipsed the previous record of $18.9 million, held by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Charlie Weis from 2009.
Skip ahead to October 2025. Just two weeks after Penn State made Franklin's buyout the second largest in college football history, LSU ensured it wouldn't even be the largest buyout of the month.
Kelly was in the fourth year of a 10-year deal worth upwards of $100 million after taking over in Baton Rouge three seasons ago. His 2025 salary was said to be $10,175,000, and he is now owed $53.8 million by LSU following his firing.
While LSU's decision saves Penn State from the embarrassment of triggering the largest contract buyout of the month, it also puts the Nittany Lions in a much tougher spot amid their ongoing head coaching search.
Pat Kraft knows he needs to get his next hire right, and now LSU is in the mix as a potential landing spot after Kelly was ousted. Additionally, Florida cutting ties with Billy Napier ($21.2 million buyout) certainly didn't help matters.