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From App State to West Virginia, here are all of the head coaching changes for the 2025 FBS season. In all, 29 schools will have a different official head coach on opening day 2025 than they had at the start of the 2024 season. That means 21.6% of all 134 teams that played last year have now changed their head coach. There are two teams moving up from the FCS to the FBS in 2025 -- Delaware and Missouri State -- and each has had their existing head coach since 2022. Both of those schools will be a part of Conference USA.
Every FBS team nicknamed Owls - Kennesaw, Rice, Temple and FAU - found themselves in need of a new head coach for 2025.
| Team | 2024 Coach (Record) | 2025 Coach |
|---|---|---|
| App State | Shawn Clark (5-6) | Dowell Loggains |
| Ball State | Mike Neu (3-7), I Colin Johnson (0-2) | Mike Uremovich |
| Bowling Green | Scot Loeffler (7-6) | Eddie George |
| Central Florida | Gus Malzahn (4-8) | Scott Frost |
| Central Michigan | Jim McElwain (4-8) | Matt Drinkall |
| Charlotte | Francis "Biff" Poggi (3-7), I Tim Brewster (2-0) | Tim Albin |
| East Carolina | Mike Houston (3-4), I Blake Harrell (4-0), Blake Harrell (1-1) | Blake Harrell |
| FAU | Tom Herman (2-8), I Chad Lunsford (1-1) | Zach Kittley |
| FIU | Mike MacIntyre (4-8) | Willie Simmons |
| Fresno State | I Tim Skipper (6-7) | Matt Entz |
| Jax State | Rich Rodriguez (9-4), B Rod Smith (0-1) | Charles Kelly |
| Kennesaw | Brian Bohannon (1-8), I Chandler Burks (1-2) | Jerry Mack |
| Marshall | Charles Huff (10-3) | Tony Gibson |
| Massachusetts | Don Brown (2-8), I Shane Montgomery (0-2) | Joe Harasymiak |
| New Mexico | Bronco Mendenhall (5-7) | Jason Eck |
| North Carolina | Mack Brown (6-6), B Freddie Kitchens (0-1) | Bill Belichick |
| Ohio | Tim Albin (10-3), Brian Smith (1-0) | Brian Smith |
| Purdue | Ryan Walters (1-11) | Barry Odom |
| Rice | Mike Bloomgren (2-6), I Pete Alamar (2-2) | Scott Abell |
| Sam Houston | KC Keeler (9-3), B Brad Cornelsen (1-0) | Phil Longo |
| Southern Miss | Will Hall (1-6), I Reed Stringer (0-5) | Charfles Huff |
| Stanford | Troy Taylor (3-9) | I Frank Reich |
| Temple | Stan Drayton (3-7), I Everett Withers (0-2) | KC Keeler |
| Tulsa | Kevin Wilson (3-8), I Ryan Switzer (0-1) | Tre Lamb |
| UNLV | Barry Odom (10-3) B Del Alexander (1-0) | Dan Mullen |
| Utah State | I Nate Dreiling (4-8) | Bronco Mendenhall |
| Wake Forest | Dave Clawson (4-8) | Jake Dickert |
| Washington State | Jake Dickert (8-4) B Pete Kaligis (0-1) | Jimmy Rogers |
| West Virginia | Neal Brown (6-6) B Chad Scott (0-1) | Rich Rodriguez |
Appalachian State on December 7 announced South Carolina offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains as its new head coach. Loggains, who has been on Shane Beamer's staff since 2023, has extensive NFL assistant coaching experience, as well, but this will be his first gig as a HC. He replaces Shawn Clark, whom the Mountaineers fired on December 2 after a 5-6 season that included the cancellation of the Liberty home game due to the devastating effects on the region in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. It was the program's first losing season since joining the FBS in 2014. Clark's teams were 40-24 over-all in 5 seasons + plus the 2019 bowl game. He was 25-15 in Sun Belt play and 3-1 in bowl games.
Ball State on Wednesday, December 4 named Mike Uremovich as its permanent replacement for Mike Neu who was fired on Sunday, November 16 after nearly 9 full seasons that produced records of 30-63 overall and 25-43 in the MAC. At the time, the Cardinals were 3-7 over-all and 2-4 on the MAC. Three of the losses were by 3 points or less, and five losses were by 3 points or less going back to November 1 of last season. Offensive line coach Colin Johnson served as interim head coach for the final two games of the season, going 0-2. Neu only had one winning season with the Cardinals and that was in the Covid-shortened 2020 season when they finished 7-1 overall, 5-1 in the conference, won the MAC title and beat San Jose State in the Arizona Bowl for the first and only bowl win in school history (1-8). Uremovich has spent the last three seasons as the head coach at Butler (23-11, 15-9 Patriot) where is team was 7-4 twice and 9-3 this past year with a 5-3 conference mark each season. He was previously the head coach at St. Francis (IL), an NAIA school, from 2005-2011 where his teams went 33-45 over-all, but 17-7 in the last two seasons. His final team advanced to NCAA quarterfinals. He left St. Francis for an assistant position at Northern lllinois and spent 10 years at various FBS schools, including NC State and Temple, before taking the job at Butler.
Long after every vacancy had been filled, Bowling Green head coach Scot Loeffler resigned on February 28 to become the new quarterbacks coach with the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles. On March 9, the Falcons, in turn, lured Eddie George away from FCS member Tennessee State where he his first head coaching gig proved to be successful as he guided the Tigers to the playoffs for the first time since 2013. He was 24-22 in four seasons, including a 9-4 finish in 2024 after his team was eliminated in the opening round at No. 14 seed Montana, 41-27. Loeffler spent six seasons at BGSU, compiling a 27-41 over-all record as the team improved from 7-22 in his first three seasons to 20-19 in the last three seasons with three bowl appearances, though all produced losses by a single score.
UCF on December 7 welcomed back Scott Frost as head coach. He led the team to a perfect 13-0 season in 2017. He balanced duties between his new job at Nebraska and coaching UCF in the Peach Bowl win over a Auburn team that was coached by Gus Malzahn. The school named themselves National Champions. Josh Huepel replaced Frost and went 16-8 in three seasons before he left to take the job at Tennessee. Malzahn came onboard after he was fired from Auburn. Malzahn resigned as the head coach of Central Florida on November 30, the day after a season-ending 28-14 loss at home to Utah completed a dismal 4-8 campaign. He made the move to join Mike Norvell's staff at Florida State as offensive coordinator. FSU fired OC Alex Atkins and DC Adam Fuller on November 10. He was 28-24 in four seasons at the Orlando school, but just 10-15 since the Knights moved from the American to the Big 12. He is 105-62 in his head coaching career which spans 13 season, 8 of which were spent at Auburn. Malzahn and Norvell first teamed up as assistants at Tulsa in 2007 when Norvell was hired as a GA. As for Frost, he was unable to duplicate the success he had at UCF with the Nebraska school he QB played for and only managed a 16-31 mark. He was fired by the Cornhuskers after just three games of the 2022 season (1-2) and was serving a "senior football analyst" with the NFL's LA Rams when the Knights re-hired him.
Central Michigan on December 9 announced that Matt Drinkall, the offensive line coach and co-coordinator of the offense for the Army West Point Black Knights, is the new head coach of the Chippewas. Drinkall had served on Jeff Monken's staff since 2019, overseeing one of the highest-ranked offenses in the country in multiple categories. Prior to his time at Army, Drinkall was the HC at NAIA Kansas Wesleyan where his teams were 42-17 over 5 seasons and advanved to the National Championship playoff semifinals his final year. At CMU, Drinkall repalces Jim McElwain who announced on November 20 that he was retiring at the end of the season, his 6th with the Chippewas. They finished with a third straight losing season with records of 4-8 over-all and 2-6 in the MAC. In his first three seasons in Mt. Pleasant, his teams were 8-6, 3-3 (Covid-19 pandemic season) and 9-4, and finished tied for first in the MAC West in 2019 and 2021. The 2021 squad won the Sun Bowl, 23-21, over Washington State, for the school's first bowl win since 2012 and just the fourth in history.
Tim Albin leaves Ohio after four seasons where he posted a 33-19 record including a 23-9 mark against conference opponents. The move comes a day after Albin led Ohio to its first MAC title since 1968. Over the past three seasons, the Bobcats had 30 wins, including three straight 10-win seasons from 2022-24, and a 20-4 mark vs. MAC foes. The 30 wins marked the most successful three-year run in program history. At Charlotte, Albin replaces Biff Poggi who was fired November 18, ending his tenure as head coach in just 22 games. The 49ers, who were 6-16 under his tutelage and 4-10 in the American Conference, were 3-7 this season after going 3-9 in year one. Associate head coach Tim Brewster was named interim head coach and went 2-0. Brewster was the head coach at Minnesota from 2007 until a little over halfway through 2010 when he was fired from that job. In his second and third seasons, he led the Golden Gophers to a pair of Insight Bowls where they lost each time.
East Carolina on November 27 made Blake Harrell the official head coach after he went 4-0 as the interim replacement, then lost two days later at home to Navy by a 34-20 count before recovering to upset NC State in the Military Bowl. The Pirates were 3-4 under Mike Houston when he was the first head coach to be fired during the 2024 season on October 20. Harrel, the defensive coordinator, was immediately named his interim successor for the rest of the season. The switch came the day after the Pirates lost 45-28 to Army, a game which everyone expected them to lose by almost precisely that margin with spreads ranging from 16.5 to 18.5 at the various sportsbooks. Conference media picked ECU to finish 8th in the American in its preseason poll, and the computer also projected the Pirates to finish 8th with records of 5-7 over-all and 4-4 in the conference. Houston was previously the head coach from 2011–2013 at Lenoir–Rhyne (2013 D2 runner-up), 2014–2015 at The Citadel, and 2016–2018 at James Madison (2016 FCS National Champions, 2017 runner-up). He had a career record of 106-62, including a 27-38 mark in Greenville, North Carolina over a span of 5 full seasons + 7 games. This was the first time Houston had been fired, having always resigned from his post to take the next level job.
FAU on Monday, December 2 announced the hiring of Zach Kittley as its hew head coach, replacing Tom Herman who was fired on November 16 after 22 games. The Owls were 6-16 over-all and 3-11 in conference play under a man who had previous head coaching experience at Houston (22-4) and Texas (32-18), and still has a decent over-all career record of 60-36. His Houston and Texas teams went bowling every year. Special teams coordinator Chad Lunsford was named interim head coach and went 1-1. Lunsford was the HC at Georgia Southern 2017 until 4 games through the 2021 season when he was fired and ultimately replaced by Todd Helton. Helton had been fired just two games into his 7th season at USC. Kittley, age 33, began as a student assistant at Texas Tech before moving to Houston Baptist and Western Kentucky for OC/QB coaching jobs and back to Texas Tech as OC/QB coach for the last 3 seasons.
FIU on December 7 named former Florida A&M head coach (2018-2023) and Duke RB coach (2024) as its new head coach, replacing Mike MacIntyre who was let go on Sunday December 1, FIU announced MacIntyre's firing after a 3-season tenure that produced identical 4-8 campaigns for a cumulative record of 12-24. His teams were 6-18 in conference games. Coach "Mac" has been a HC at three different schools for a total of 12 seasons with just two winning campaigns. A 10-2 record in 2012 at San Jose State led to his becoming the HC at Colorado for 6 seasons where he was 10-4 in 2016. But over-all, he was 16-21 with the Spartans and 30-44 with the Buffaloes. His career records are 58-89 over-all and a woeful 28-70 in conference games. Simmons was 45-13 at Florida A&M, including the SWAC title and a Celebration Bowl win in 2023 to capture the HBCU National Championship. He also led the Rattlers to the FCS playoffs in 2021 and a MEAC Championship in 2019.
Fresno State on Wednesday, December 4, named former North Dakota State head coach Matt Entz (2019-2023) as its permanent replacement for Jeff Tedford who stepped down for health reasons prior to the start of the 2024 season. Entz spent 2024 on the USC staff as the assistant head coach of the defense and linebackers coach. He was 60-11 in five seasons in Fargo, winning two FCS National Championship and losing in the title game in another. Tedford resigned on July 15, 2024. The school had announced back on December 1, 2023 that Tedford was taking a leave of absence' and Tim Skipper, AHC and LB coach, was named interim head coach for the bowl season. Tedford returned in February for spring practice and other activities. In 2019, heart issues forced Tedford to resign as head coach, only to return in 2022. The Bulldogs were 8-4 in 2023, including a 4-4 mark in conference play, as they faded down the stretch with losses in 3 of their last 4 games. In 2024, Skipper led the team to a 6-6 mark in ther regular season, including and bowl eligibility for a fourth straight season. However, the Bulldogs lost 28-20 in double-OT to Northern Illinois in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
Jax State on December 21 announced the hiring of journeyman assistant Charles Kelly as head coach, replacing Rich Rodriguez who left to take on a second stint as head coach at West Virginia on December 12. Kelly had various assistant roles at Jax State from 1994-1998. He's leaving his co-DC job at Auburn, his Alma mater, for his first HC gig. He had also served at Auburn as a GA in 1993. Rodriguez left Jax State on December 12 to take the country roads back home to Morgantown where he played defensive back from 1981-1985 and coached from 2001-2007. His OC and QB coach, Rod Smith, was named interim HC for the Gamecock's 2024 bowl game, the Cure Bowl on December 20 in Orlando which was lost 30-27 to the MAC Champion Ohio Bobcats.
On Sunday, December 1, Kennesaw revealed that Jacksonville Jaguars' running back coach Jerry Mack had been hired to be the official successor to Brian Bohannon, effective at the end of the Jags' NFL season. 2024 was his first in Jacksonville after spending three years as the RB coach at Tennessee. He has also spent time as an OC, WR coach, and AHC. His last, and only previous, stint as a head coach was with North Carolina Central from 2014-2017 when we went 31-15, including a 26-6 mark in the MEAC. On Sunday, November 10, the school made a mess out of messaging about a head-scratching maneuver when it announced that Bohannon, the football program architect and the only head coach its ever had, had decided to step down after a 1-8 start. Bohannon quickly refuted the school's messaging and said he was fired. We are inclined to believe the latter. From the school's website: "Bohannon has constructed Kennesaw State from the ground up and turned the Owls into a powerhouse program at the FCS level in just eight years. Now entering his 10th season, he's readying to take Owl Nation into its next chapter -- NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and its inaugural year in Conference USA." Those bios are always glowing, but Bohannon had a nearly 9-year record at the school of 72-38, multiple national coach awards, FCS playoff appearances and victories, and a resume that would be envious to almost any school. He had previous multi-year stints as an assistant of various positions for Georgia Southern, Navy and Georgia Tech. His son, Braden, is a sophomore QB at the school on a QB roster of 3 sophomores that have played this season. His co-offensive coordinator, Chandler Burks, handled the interim duties and went 1-2. On him, the school's website says this: As a player (2013-2018), Burks finished his career with 2,813 rushing yards and 56 rushing touchdowns. During his three-plus seasons as the signal caller for the Owls, he threw for 3,638 yards and 33 touchdowns, which tops the Kennesaw State record book. As the most decorated player in program history, he played in 42 career contests and had an astounding 31-6 record as the starting quarterback. After graduating, he spent a year at Wofford as a defensive quality control coach, then returned to Kennesaw as QB Coach in 2020. He was promoted to co-OC in February of 2024.
Southern Miss on December 8 announced Marshall head coach Charles Huff as the new HC of the Eagles. Huff leaves the Herd after leading them to the Sun Belt title and compiling a 32-20 record in four seasons and a 1-2 record in bowl games. Marshall quickly named NC State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson as the new head coach. He has been with the Wolfpack since 2019 after previously spending the 2013 through 2018 seasons at West Virginia. Telly Lockette, the AHC under Huff, was named interim HC of Marshall for the bowl season, but the Herd backed out of that game for a lack of players.
The Minutemen re-enter the MAC in 2025.
UMass on Wednesday, December 4 announced Rutgers DC Joe Harasymiak who was the 2018 national FCS Coach of the Year after he led Maine to the semifinals of the playoffs where the Black Bears lost to Eastern Washington. After that season, he left to become an assistant coaching safeties at Minnesota and was named co-DC the following year. He moved to Rutgers as DC in 2022. At UMass, he becomes the official replacement for Don Brown whose second stint as HC of the Minutemen came to an end when his dismissal was announced on Monday, November 18. Brown, 69, has had a long career in sports, mainly as a much-respected defensive coordinator in football. But he also spent some time coaching baseball and basketball. UMass was just 2-8 at the time of his firing, and his teams were 7-28 in almost three full seasons. His first stint as the UMass HC ran from 2004-2008 when football competed as a FCS program and played in the 2006 FCS Championship game (lost). During that period, his record was 43-19. Shane Montgomery, who was 17-38 as HC of the Miami RedHawks from 2005-2008, was named interim head coach with the unenviable task of facing Georgia for his first game. Montgomery went 0-2.
On December 14, New Mexico announced the hiring of FCS member Idaho head coach Jason Eck to the same position with the Lobos. Eck led Idaho to a 10-4 record in 2024 and leaves Moscow with a 26-13 record in 3 seasons, including FCS Playoff appearances each year with quarterfinal losses in last two.
North Carolina on December 11 announced famed NFL head coach Bill Belichick as the successor to Mack Brown. The school announced on November 26 that the Hall-of-Fame head coach will not be retained by the Tar Heels. Brown, who had three years left on his contract, coached the final game of the regular season at home against NC State on November 30 (lost 35-30), and said afterward that he also will not coach the 6-6 team in its bowl game. He lamented how the game has changed with the arrival of the transfer portal and NIL, echoing the feelings of Nick Saban when he stepped down from Alabama. Brown was 44-33 in his second stint with the school (2019-2024) after going 69-35-1 in his first stint from 1988-1997. In between, he led Texas to the 2005 national championship over USC in one of the most exciting college games ever played at that level. He spent 16 seasons in Austin from 1998-2013, compiling a 158-48 record. Over-all he has marks of 288-155-1 over-all, and 14-12 in bowl games. Freddie Kitchens was named the interim head coach for the bowl season (lost Fenway Bowl 27-14 to UConn) whom Belichick said will remain on the staff. People thought the school would lean in the direction of a younger coach, and they did, by a little under 7 months. On April 16 of 2025, Belichick will be the same age as Brown was (73) on the day that he was essentially let go. Belichick has never coached at the college level as he entered the profession as a 'special assistant' with the Baltimore Colts in 1975. His only head coaching jobs were with the Cleveland Browns and the New England Patriots, and he was fired from the first job when Art Modell moved the team from Cleveland to Baltimore to become the Ravens. He was 36-44 for the Browns with 1 winning season. Then came the job with New England where he went 5-11 in his first season before reeling off 19 consecutive winning campaigns with 6 Super Bowl wins - all with Tom Brady at QB. Brady left for Tampa Bay after the 2019 season and signed with Tampa where he won his 7th Super Bowl as the Pats went 7-9. In four seasons without Brady, Belichick would coach in just one playoff game.
On December 18, Ohio removed the interim tag from Brian Smith before he had ever coached a ball game. The AHC and OC under Albin was named as the temporary replacement for Tim Albin when he left to take the same position at Charlotte on December 8. Smith and the Bobcats then defeated Jax State 30-27 in the Cure Bowl on December 20. Albin leaves Ohio after four seasons where he posted a 33-19 record including a 23-9 mark against conference opponents. The move comes a day after Albin led Ohio to its first MAC title since 1968. Over the past three seasons, the Bobcats had 30 wins, including three straight 10-win seasons from 2022-24, and a 20-4 mark vs. MAC foes. The 30 wins marked the most successful three-year run in program history.
UNLV on December 12 hired Dan Mullen as its new head coach, replacing Barry Odom who exited on December 8 to become the HC at Purdue. Odom replaces Ryan Walters at Purdue after he led UNLV to a 10-3 record with a loss at Boise State in the MWC Championship game. Walters was fired on December 1 after just two seasons that produced records of 4-8 (3-6, B1G) in 2023 and 1-11 (0-9, B1G) in 2024. It was the first HC job for Walters who previously served as the DC for Illinois and Missouri. The former Colorado safety (2004-2008) began his coaching career as a student assistant at CU in 2009. His 2022 Illinois defense was 1st, 2nd or 3rd nationally in multiple categories. Walters replaced Jefff Brohm who quit Purdue to take the HC job at Louisville. Odom was 19-8 in two seasons at UNLV after previously spending 4 seasons as the HC at Missouri where he was 25-25. He is 0-3 in bowl games
Rice announced Davidson head coach Scott Abell as its new head coach on Tuesday, November 26. Abell was 47-28 with the FCS Wildcats over 7 seasons, including a 6-5 mark in 2024, and three consecutive FCS playoff appearances from 2020-2022. Before his tenure at Davidson, he was the head coach at D3 Washington & Lee from 2012-2017 where his teams went 39-24 and played in three D3 playoffs. None of his teams at either school survived the first round of those playoffs. Back on October 27, the school made Mike Bloomgren the third head coach to be fired. Taking his place on an interim basis for the remainder of the season is Pete Alamar, who served as Bloomgren's associate head coach & special teams coordinator. The move was announced after the Owls fell to 2-6 with a 17-10 setback at UConn. Three weeks prior, Rice was an upset 29-27 winner at home over UTSA. Rice was expected to have some modest success this year. The Owls were preseason picked to finish 7th in the 14-team league by the media whose beat in the American Athletic Conference. The Congrove Computer Rankings at CollegeFootballPoll.com put them in 6th with a forecast of an 8-4 season with a 4-4 league mark. The consensus was less lofty with an average finish of 9th predicted by 16 respected preseason magazines and websites, according to stassen.com. A former Florida State GA upon his graduation from that school, Bloomgren had mostly worked as an offensive coordinator and spent time with the New York Jets in the NFL from 2007-2010. When Rice hired him, he had spent seven seasons with Stanford. He leaves with a record of 24-52 over-all, including a 17-32 mark in conference games, over 6 seasons and 8 games. The high water mark during his tenure came last season when Rice finished 6-6 in the regular season, and 4-4 in conference play, but lost 45-21 to Texas State in the First Responders Bowl on the SMU Campus. Alamar was brought to Rice by Bloomgren from Stanford after the 2022 season when David Shaw resigned as head coach of the Cardinal . He had been with Stanford for 11 seasons as special teams and tight ends coach.
On December 18, Phil Longo was named Sam Houston's replacement for KC Keeler. Longo was fired as Wisconsin's OC/QB coach on November 17 after four seasons at North Carolina. This is Longo's second head coaching job and it comes 20 seasons after a 2-year tenure at La Salle (2004-2005) where he was 7-14 and left to become OC at Minnesota-Duluth. Keeler stepped down on December 1 from Sam Houston after a 9-3 mark in the school's second season at the FBS level. OC Brad Cornelsen was named interim HC for the New Orleans Bowl where the Bearkats defeated Georgia Southern 31-26. The Bearkats would have been in the CUSA Championship game if Jax State had not lost to Western Kentucky in the final regular season game. Keeler made the move to become the new head coach at Temple.
Southern Miss on December 8 announced Marshall head coach Charles Huff as the new HC of the Eagles. Huff leaves the Herd after leading them to the Sun Belt title and compiling a 32-20 record in four seasons and a 1-2 record in bowl games. He replaces Will Hall who was fired on October 20 when the team was 1-6. Hall's assistant head coach and GM, Reed Stringer, served as the Golden Eagles' interim head coach for the remainder of the 2024 season and went 0-5. Hall was just 14-30 at Southern Miss, including a woeful 8-19 mark in conference games. Seven of the over-all wins, and four of the conference wins, came during the 2022 season when the Eagles were 7-6 (4-4) and won the Lending Tree Bowl over Rice, 38-24. His career record of 70-50 includes sterling records of 25-11 at D2 West Alabama from 2011-2013, and 31-9 at West Georgia from 2014-2016. West Georgia was a D2 school at the time and is now in its first season in the FCS. His teams also made the D2 playoffs in two of his three seasons at each of those schools, including a pair of semifinals appearances at West Georgia. As a player, he was the D2 player of the Year (Harlan Hill Trophy) in 2003 as the quarterback of North Alabama which was also D2 at that time, but moved up to the FCS in 2022. Interim head coach Stringer, who has been with the program since 2018, was an offensive tackle at Delta State (1998-2001).
Stanford made a switch just days before the first spring practice on April 4. The Cardinal fired Troy Taylor on March 25 and hired Frank Reich as interim head coach for the 2025 season on March 31. Taylor had just two seasons at Stanford, going 3-9 each year with a 2-7 PAC-12 mark in 2023 and a 2-6 ACC record in 2024. Taylor had been reported by several female staffers of hostile and aggressive behavior toward women, and two outside firms came to the conclusion that Taylor had "bullied and belittled female athletic staffers". Former star Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, who was named the GM of football at the school on November 30, 2024, supported and promoted Taylor's hiring away from Sacramento State after the 2022 season. He had also recently shown his support of Taylor in a meeting with players and their head coach after Taylor admitted his mistakes and assured he had learned from them. But Luck reversed course after an ESPN report made the outside findings public and convinced Frank Reich to come in and take over on an interim basis for the 2025 season. Reich was the starting QB at Maryland for 18 games from 1982-1984, a 1985 NFL draft pick in the third round by Buffalo, and an occasional starter who mostly played backup to Jim Kelly. He parlayed a 14-year NFL playing career from 1985-1998 into years of NFL success as a receivers and quarterbacks coach, as well as offensive coordinator, before becoming Luck's last head coach with the Indianapolis Colts in 2018. Luck retired from the NFL before the 2019 season began. The 63-year-old Reich was 41-35-1 in four seasons +9 games with the Colts (2018-2022), and 1-10 with Carolina (2023). He has never been a college coach at any position at level. Taylor was hired to replace David Shaw after a 3-9 season in 2022. Taylor was 30-8 at Sacramento State in the FCS with three outright or co-Big Sky titles.
KC Keeler stepped down on December 1 from Sam Houston after a 9-3 mark in the school's second season at the FBS level. Keeler succeeds Stan Drayton (3-7) and interim head coach Everett Withers (0-2). Records of 9-25 overall and 4-18 in the American Conference were not good enough for Drayton to see the completion of his third season at Temple. It seems a bit ironic, however, that the Owls were 2-2 in their last four games and coming off an overtime win at home over FAU. Drayton had previously served as associate head coach and running backs coach at Texas (2017-2021), working under both Steve Sarkisian and Tom Herman. He's also been an assistant in the NFL with the Packers and Bears. Withers took on interim head coach responsibilities after serving as the Owls' DC under Drayton. Withers had an 18-7 record as HC at JMU from 2014-2015. Keeler spent 11 seasons at SHU, compiling a sterling record of 97-39, including 62-19 in conference games, and winning the 2020-21 Covid season national title in the FCS. He also won a FCS Natty at Delaware in 2003 where he posted 11-year marks of 86-52 overall and 49-41 in conference games. He is the only FCS coach to win a national title with two different schools, the only one to take 3 teams to NCAA Championship games, and he owns the best FCS playoff record of any coach in history (25-7). Before Delaware, he took Rowan to five D3 national championship games and came up empty to powerhouse Mount Union four times and Wisconsin-La Crosse once. Keeler played linebacker at Delaware from 1978-1980.
Tulsa announced on December 8 that Tre Lamb resigned his head coaching position at ETSU to accept the same job with the Golden Hurricane. He was 7-5 in his one season with the FCS school in Johnson City. Lamb spent the previous four seasons at FCS member Gardner-Webb in Boiling Springs, North Carolina, leading the Running Bulldogs to a 20-20 record over-all, and twice taking them to the FCS playoffs (1-2) for the first two appearances in the school's history. Lamb becomes the official head coach successor to Kevin Wilson who was fired on Sunday, November 24. The Golden Hurricane were 3-8 at the time of Wilson's dismissal and 1-6 in conference play. He served as head coach for one game shy of 2 seasons, compiling records of 7-16 over-all and 3-12 vs. American Conference foes. Wide receivers coach Ryan Switzer was 0-1 as interim head coach. Wilson had served at Ohio State for six years as the OC and TE coach, and was the HC at Indiana for 6 seasons preceding his time with the Buckeyes. Wilson's career records as head coach are 33-63 overall and 15-49 in conference play.
UNLV on December 12 hired Dan Mullen as its new head coach, replacing Barry Odom who exited on December 8 to become the HC at Purdue. Mullen was previously the HC at Mississippi State from 2009-2017 (69-46) and Florida from 2018-2021 (34-15). He has been serving as a very capable analyst on ESPN. . Wide receivers coach Del Alexander was later named UNLV's interim head coach for the LA Bowl which the Rebels won, 24-13, over Cal.
On December 6, Utah State and New Mexico both announced Bronco Mendenhall left UNM to become the new HC of the Aggies. Mendenhall was 5-7 in his one season at New Mexico. Dreiling was 4-8 as the interim HC at Utah State. On July 16, Utah State moved forward with the dismissal of Blake Anderson who had been notified 14 days prior of the intended move. Dreiling, the DC under Anderson, had the interim head coaching duties added to his responsibilities. Details involving the situations that led to Anderson's dismissal can be found HERE. An on-line statement regarding the action taken by the school reads as follows, "This action is based on significant violations of his contractual obligations related to USU’s employee reporting requirements. These reporting requirements include a prohibition on employees outside the USU Office of Equity from investigating issues of sexual misconduct, including domestic violence. Additionally, Anderson failed to manage the team in a manner that reflects USU’s academic values.Consistent with Anderson’s employment agreement, the university provided him with written notice of its intent to terminate and 14 days to respond. To USU’s disappointment, Anderson’s response failed to acknowledge his responsibilities as a USU employee and as a head coach and instead sought to make excuses and unsuccessfully recast the clear language of USU’s policies."
Washington State on December 28 announced the hiring of Jimmy Rodgers who was 27-3 in just two seasons as the head coach of FCS member Jimmy Rogers. His predecessor, John Stiegelmeier spent 26 seasons at the school and was instrumental in Rogers being named his successor when he retired. Both were graduates of SDSU some 30 years apart. The job with the Cougars became available when Jake Dickert left to take the same position at Wake Forest where he replaced Dave Clawson who resigned December 16 from the Deacs. Dickert's hiring by Wake was announced on December 18 and Wazzu played, and lost 52-35 to Syracuse, in the Holiday Bowl under the interim leadership of associate head coach Pete Kaligis. Clawson is the only coach to win at least 10 games in a season at four Division I schools (Fordham, Richmond, Bowling Green, Wake Forest). The Deacs slipped to 4-8 in 2024 and 2023, leaving Clawson with an 11-year record of 67-69. He had 6 winning campaigns and 5 losing seasons, hitting a high note in 2021 with an 11-3 mark, ACC Atlantic division title and a Gator Bowl win. He has a career record of 157-149. Dickert leaves Washington State after an 8-4 season. He took the reins as interim HC at Washington State midway through the 2021 season after Nick Rolovich and several assistants were fired on October 18 for failing to get vaccinated for Covid by the state-imposed deadline. Rolovich was 4-3 in his second season after a 1-3 inaugural campaign during the shortened 2020 Covid season. Washington State removed the interim tag from Dickert the day after the Cougars won the Apple Cup rivalry game against Washington. Dickert guided the Cougars to a 3-2 finish and bowl eligibility (7-5). He leaves Pullman with a 23-20 record.
See Wake Forest above.
Rich Rodriguez left Jax State on December 12 to take the country roads back home to Morgantown where he played defensive back from 1981-1985 and coached from 2001-2007. For WVU, he brings with him a career record of 190-129-2 that was cobbled together in a circuitous journey. His most recent success at Jax State certainly re-elevated his stock as guided the upstart team to a 27-10 record in 3 seasons, a New Orleans Bowl victory last year (the school's first in the FBS) and a CUSA Championship this year. Rodriguez was 60-26 at WVU in his first tenure and had the team in position to play in the BCS Championship game in the 2007 season until a 13-9 home loss to Pitt in the season finale. His departure to Michigan made him one of the most-hated men in the Mountain State, but the school is clearly now yearning for the "good old days" to return. Rodriguez himself becomes the 4th head coach at WVU since 2008.
Neal Brown was fired from WVU on December 1, one day after a 52-15 blowout loss at Texas Tech, and just 8 days after the Mountaineers had become bowl eligible with a win over UCF. Brown was hired away from Troy on January 5, 2019 to replace Dana Holgersen when he resigned to become the head coach at Houston. Brown was 31-8 in his last 3 seasons Troy, but it took him 6 seasons to reach 37 wins (35 losses) at WVU. His Big 12 mark was 25-28. Chad Scott, the OC under Brown, was later named as IHC for the Frisco Bowl which West Virginia lost 42-37 to Memphis.
For info on coaching changes prior to this season, go to Coaching Changes.