Coaching Carousel Update - Hammock Hired at NIU

January 21, 2019 by CFP Staff

When Akron announced Tom Arth as the successor to Terry Bowden on December 14, the coaching carousel ride had come to an end. Twenty head coaching positions had changed hands and every position had been filled.

Alas, the ride was not over.

Mark Richt announced his sudden retirement from Miami on December 28 and Major Applewhite was fired from Houston two days later.

Those two actions would require at least 3 more actions to bring the ride to another halt.

When Richt resigned, Temple was left without a head coach for the second time in two-and-half weeks. Miami defensive coordinator Manny Diaz had left Coral Gables for Philadelphia, but opted out of a transfer to the City of Brotherly Love when his old bosses quickly offered him the job as Richt's replacement. Temple was eventually able to lure Ron Carey away from Northern Illinois. The Huskies, in turn, ultimately hired Baltimore Ravens' running back coach Thomas Hammock on January 18.

Richt's resignation was followed by another stunning announcement on January 2 when Dana Holgersen chose to leave his West Virginia post and head to Houston. The Cougars had fired head coach Major Applewhite on December 30, eight days after an embarrassing 70-14 loss to Army in the Armed Forces Bowl.

West Virginia tapped Troy's Neal Brown and Troy, in-turn, promoted Chip Lindsey from the coordinator ranks.

For more information on these moves, and all of the other positions that have changed hands, CollegeFootballPoll.com keeps you up to date on the Coaching Changes page.