Fresno State, New Mexico Fill Last Two Head Coach Vacancies

December 18, 2019 by CollegeFootballPoll.com Staff

New Mexico on Tuesday (December 17) named former punter and safety Danny Gonzales as the successor to Bob Davie to end the ride on this season's coaching carousel. Gonzales spent the last two seasons as Herm Edwards' defensive coordinator at Arizona State.

Fresno State on Tuesday (December 17) named Kalen DeBoer as Jeff Tedford's successor. DeBoer was the offensive coordinator of the Bulldogs from 2017-2018 , but spent 2019 as the OC at Indiana.

Memphis on Sunday (December 15) made Ryan Silverfield its official head coach. Silverfield had been named the interim head coach after Mike Norvell accepted the Florida State gig on December 8.

On Saturday (December 14), Boston College announced Ohio State's co-defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley as its new head coach. Before signing on with the Buckeyes, Hafley spent 7 seasons on the NFL sidelines with Tampa Bay and San Francisco. Wide receivers coach Rich Gunnell will still handle head coaching duties for the bowl game as Hafley will remain with Ohio State through the playoffs.

Boston College fired Steve Addazio on December 1, but he wasn't unemployed for long as Colorado State named him as Mike Bobo's replacement on December 11. CSU and Bobo parted ways on December 4.

FAU hired a previously-fired head coach when it named former Florida State head man Willie Taggart as the replacement for Lane Kiffin on Wednesday (December 11). Colorado State also reached out to a newly unemployed head coach when it announced the hiring on Wednesday of Boston College cast-off Steve Addazio as Mike Bobo's successor.

Appalachian State on Wednesday removed the interim label from Shawn Clark, and UNLV hired Oregon offensive coordinator Macrus Arroyo.

Three head coaching searches came to a close on Monday (December 9) as USF, Old Dominion and UTSA announced their hires.

USF tabbed Clemson's co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott on Monday, replacing Charlie Strong who was given the boot on December 1. Old Dominion landed Penn State offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne to succeed Bobby Wilder who resigned on December 2 after a 1-11 season. And UTSA announced Jeff Traylor as its new head coach, replacing the fired Frank Wilson after a 4-year mark of 19-29.

This past weekend was a busy one on the college coaching carousel as Missouri, Mississippi and Florida State poached the head coaches of Appalachian State, FAU and Memphis. Meanwhile, Arkansas brought back an assistant from the Bret Bielema era.

On Sunday (December 8), Arkansas named Sam Pittman as its new head coach, replacing Chad Morris who was fired on November 10. Pittman was the assistant head coach and offensive line coach for the Razorbacks from 2013-2015 under Bret Bielema and spent the last four seasons at Georgia as offensive line coach and was named assistant head coach prior to the 2019 season. 

Missouri hired Appalachian State head coach Eliah Drinkwitz on Sunday (December 8), just 8 days after the firing of Barry Odom. Drinkwitz spent just one year at Appalachian State, leading the Mountaineers to a 12-1 season that included a Sun Belt championship. He was hired by the Mountaineers when Scott Satterfield left Appalachian State for Louisville after the 2018 season. 

After FAU won its second CUSA title in three years, Ole Miss officially announced on Saturday (December 7) that Lane Kiffin will become the next head coach of the Rebels. In three seasons at FAU, Kiffin was 26-13 overall and 18-6 in CUSA with a 2017 title already under his belt before whipping UAB 49-6 for the 2019 crown.

Florida State announced Mike Norvell as its new head coach on Sunday (December 8). In his last game at Memphis, Norvell coached the Tigers to a 29-24 win over Cincinnati in the American Conference championship game. Ryan Silverfield, the offensive line coach and running game coordinator under Norvell, will handle interim duties for Memphis in the Cotton Bowl vs. Penn State. Florida State pulled the plug on the Willie Taggart era on November 3 and installed defensive line coach Odell Haggins as interim head coach. Haggins was 2-1 in that capacity after the team had started 4-5.

Jeff Tedford resigned due to health reasons on Friday (December 6) as the head coach of Fresno State following a 4-8 season. Tedford's record during a 3-year tenure with the Bulldogs was 26-14, including 16-8 in conference games. During his first two seasons, Tedford coached Fresno State to 1st-place finishes in the MWC Mountain division and they won the conference title game in a 19-16 overtime affair at Boise State. Tedford replaced Tim DeRuyter after a 1-7 start to the 2016 season which saw the Bulldogs ultimately finish 1-11 with offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau serving as interim, head coach. Tedford then orchestrated an amazing turnaround for the program to a 10-4 season in his first year which culminated in a 17-14 loss at Boise State in the conference championship game.

Rutgers made the first move of 2019 on September 30 when the school fired Chris Ash just four games into the season.

See: Coaching Changes