March is a busy month for college basketball and college basketball fans. Whether your team is gearing up for a run in the March Madness tournament or underperforms and doesn’t get picked for the college basketball tournament, a lot happens in the month of March.
As for the coaches, March is normally the time we see the most coaches get fired or leave their current teams. Sometimes, it’s for better opportunity, and sometimes, it’s because their team didn’t live up to their standards, but regardless, March is a month that sees a lot of coaches fired. So, what were 2025’s biggest firings?
A Running List of All 2025’s Biggest Firings
The Utah Utes made a surprising move in late February when they fired Craig Smith. This happened one week after Utah beat Kansas and Kansas State in back-to-back games. However, Smith has gone to zero NCAA Tournaments in his four years at Utah.
While the timing of this was a bit out of the ordinary, Smith was on the hot seat entering the season. In his first season with Utah, Smith greatly underperformed with the Utes (11-20, 4-16). Fans and board members alike were hoping this would be a growing pain situation that would work itself out.
BREAKING: Utah is parting ways with Craig Smith, source told @TheFieldOf68.
Strange timing.
Utah is 7-9 in the Big 12.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) February 24, 2025
Unfortunately for Smith, this wasn’t only a growing pain situation, as the next season was a little bit better, but nothing to ride home about (17-15, 10-10). Smith’s best season arguably came back in 2023-24, despite Utah still struggling in their conference play (22-15, 9-11).
After another lackluster season by Utah’s standards (15-12, 7-9), Smith was fired from Utah. Smith finished his time at Utah with a 65-62 record. Despite having a winning record, Smith’s inability to win in his respective conference took a toll on his tenure with the Utes.
A Running List of 2025’s Biggest Coaching Changes
One of the biggest coaching changes of 2025 comes in Mike Woodson, who said he would step down at the end of the season. Woodson is a respectable coach who excelled at both the college level and the NBA level.
Despite finishing at Indiana with a good overall record, this is now shaping up to be the second straight year Indiana has missed the March Madness tournament.
Similarly to Smith, Woodson has a good overall record but is just average when it comes to the most important part of the game: playing in your conference.
It remains to be seen the direction Indiana goes following Woodson’s upcoming departure, but one thing we know for sure is they’re looking for someone who can take this once coveted team back to the dance.
Perhaps one of the biggest and most shocking changes is coming from Miami University. Jim Larranaga, who has arguably been one of the best head coaches in recent memory, announced his retirement in late December of last year.
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Throughout his time at Miami, Larranaga was one of the best coaches to do it. He coached Miami since 2011 and accrued a record of 274-174 and a conference record of 126-116. He took the Hurricanes to eight March Madness tournaments, including one Elite Eight and one Final Four appearance in his 14 seasons coaching at Miami.
In another very surprising retirement announcement, Tony Bennett abruptly announced his retirement from college basketball in late October. Bennett left a huge hole to be filled for the Virginia Cavaliers. He was arguably one of the best coaches in Virginia history (364-136, 189-82).
Bennett started coaching at Virginia in 2009, and despite missing the NCAA March Madness tournament his first two years, he made it every other year up until his retirement. After Ron Sanchez took over on an interim basis, the Cavaliers are trending for their first sub .500 season since 2009-10.
Moving from Miami, to Tallahassee, the Florida State Seminoles will also have a coaching vacancy. Leonard Hamilton was announced to be resigning by Florida State in early February. This comes after what is shaping up to be a fourth straight year of missing the NCAA March Madness tournament.
By Florida State’s standards, this is certainly less than ideal. The last time the Seminoles made the March Madness Tournament came in the 2020-21 season when they made it all the way to the Sweet 16. Hamilton leaves the Seminoles finishing his tenure with a record of 459-295, 210-190.
Other jobs currently open, or with an interim head coach include La Salle, Louisiana, Lousiana Monroe, Sacramento State, South Florida, and Stephen F. Austin.
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