College football program reportedly firing head coach days before Week 1
By Jacob Moss
Published:
Week 1 isn’t usually the time of year that college football coaches expect to lose their jobs, especially first-year head coaches who just took over the top job at their respective schools.
There are exceptions to everything, though, and the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs learned that firsthand on Wednesday when reports surfaced that first-year head coach Kris McCullough was dismissed from his duties with the program.
According to a report by On3 insider Pete Nakos, McCullough had been placed on administrative leave earlier in the week “pending an ongoing investigation,” and it appears as if that investigation turned up something big enough to justify letting the head coach go just days before their Week 1 matchup against Wofford.
An Arkansas native, McCullough spent the past 10 years working his way up the D2 and FCS coaching ranks, serving as the head coach of UT Permian Basin from 2023-25 before taking the head job at Gardner-Webb.
He coached his first game during Week 0 against rival Austin Peay, a game that the Runnin’ Bulldogs dropped 35-17, and was put on administrative leave shortly afterward.
The school has not yet disclosed the reason for McCullough’s sudden dismissal, only that special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Pete Bennett will serve as interim head coach for this Saturday’s matchup against Wofford.
