Three FBS coaches got their pink slips on Sunday: Larry Fedora at North Carolina, Kliff Kingsbury at Texas Tech and Mike Sanford at Western Kentucky.
Fedora is out after seven seasons. The decision came the day after an overtime loss to rival North Carolina State that dropped the Tar Heels to 2-9 and concluded with an end zone brawl between the teams after the Wolfpack scored the winning touchdown.
Fedora's exit completes a swift fall. North Carolina matched a program record with 11 victories and a trip to the ACC Championship Game in 2015, but it went 5-18 over the past two seasons.
Kingsbury, who was only 33 when he took over as coach of his alma mater, was 35-40 in his six seasons.
The Red Raiders averaged 520 total yards and 38 points a game under Kingsbury, but they also gave up 487 yards and 37 points a game.
Western Kentucky was 3-9 in Sanford's second year as coach, its first losing season since 2010.
Lovie gets extension
Illinois extended coach Lovie Smith's contract by two years, athletic director Josh Whitman announced.
Originally signed in March 2016 to a six-year, $21 million deal, Smith is 9-27 in Champaign.
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