Boom or bust? A preview of all FBS coaching changes for the 2025 season – Savvy Game Line
Southern Mississippi
hiring grade: A+
hiring rank: #1
Former Marshall coach Charles Huff takes over for SoMiss and is a spectacular hire for the Golden Eagles. Huff resigned from Marshall rather than put up with UM’s care-less response to his concerns regarding the UM football program’s needs. Huff is the coach who led Marshall to an upset win at Notre Dame in 2023 and to bowl-level performances every year. SoMiss was already building a strong roster and now with Huff at the helm, expect the Eagles to fly.
Huff hired program rebuilder (Utah St and Arkansas St) Blake Anderson as offensive coordinator so expect the offense to be in high gear from day one.
Jason Semoure followed Huff from Marshall to SoMiss. While at Marshall, Semore reduced defensive points allowed by more than five in two seasons. This group is the best there is among new hires in 2025. It grades as the highest A+ new coach hiring situation in college football.
Utah State
hiring grade: A
hiring rank: #2
Bronc Mendenhall is a miracle worker. After losing his first four games of last season at New Mexico, he took the Lobos to bowl eligibility before a season-ending loss to Hawai’i by one possession. After that first dismal month, the Lobos posted wins over San Diego State, Air Force, and Washington State.
His OC will be Kevin McGiven who has been OC or AOC at many western schools such as Oregon State, San Jose State and in 2009, here at Utah State. He has 20 years on the offensive sideline and solid roots to regional recruiting. He is an outstanding hire for the Aggies.
Nick Howell has followed Mendenhall from New Mexico where he was DC. Howell was also DC at Virginia, BYU, and Vanderbilt so he has plenty of experience. He also rates as a top tier hire.
This is going to be a great situation for USU but I wonder if Bronc will be able to navigate an awful history by the Utah State admins who dismissed former head football coach Blake Anderson with little notice under speculative circumstances and women’s basketball coach Kayla Ard who was on her way to a post game press conference when USU fired her in the hallway but still had her appear at the press conference.
North Carolina
hiring grade: A
hiring rank: #3
From a pure coaching standpoint, hiring former NFL great Bill Belichick is a slam-dunk winning hire for North Carolina. From the standpoint of outside distractions, it may prove to be a disaster.
There are also some concerns that Belichick has no FBS experience. However, Coach Bill is a proven winner and a resourceful leader.
That much is evidenced by his coordinator hirings.
His OC will be Freddie Kitchens and Kitchens will help Belichick’s transition because Kitchens has been at UNC since 2023. Like Belichick, Kitchens has tons of NFL experience.
On the defensive side, Stephen Belichick will be DC after spending one year at U of Washington with mixed results. He was formerly position coach for the NE Patriots for 11 seasons.
The coaching history of this group is evident enough to make this a grade “A”- hire so UNC will be in a good situation for 2025. How long it lasts will depend on the leverage fo Coach B’s notorious girlfriend.
Charlotte
hiring grade: A
hiring rank: #4
Tim Albin comes over from Ohio where he won 31 games in the past three seasons. He is an understudy to legendary coach Frank Solich and there are those at Ohio U. who will say he surpassed is mentor.
Albin hired Todd Fitch who has been an offensive coordinaor for 13 seasons including in the SEC, so the offensive side will have outstanding leadership.
Kurt Mattic will be the defensive coordinaor after leading San Diego State’s four four seasons and a year at Ohio with Albin.
Every bit of this hiring situation tells me that Charlotte football is going to rise sharply in 2025 and beyond.
Purdue
hiring grade: B
hiring rank: #5
Barry Odom (Missouri, UNLV) takes over for Ryan Walters. The PU football situation stunk last year. The roster was down, morale was down, and there was no light in the Boilermaker tunnel.
Odom is not a magician but he has gone to work early to improve the roster through transfers.
He hired Josh Henson as OC. Henson has decent experience … two-years as OC at USC and 13 years as an FBS position coach. He knows how to recruit and he’s experienced with NIL. He also knows the Odom scheme because these two coached together at Missouri from 2009 to 2015.
The defensive coodinator will be Michael Scherer who followed Odom to Purdue from UNLV where he was OC for two seasons. That is about his only FBS experience however so he doesn’t have a very strong resume’.
Over all, these are good hires but this program has been so far down in the Big Ten that fans needed a telescope to see the next-worst program.
Expect there to be an immediate increase in competitiveness but a defense that will need to make some major leaps before the B’Makers can get to even four wins this season. Next year … it’s always been “next year” for B’Maker fans but this time, there is every reason to think that next year and beyond will continue with significant upward trends.
Wake Forest
hiring grade: B
hiring rank: #6
Jake Dickert comes to Wake Forest from Washington State where he salvaged a program that was in trouble. Although he doesn’t have much of an eastern recruiting footprint, he has proven to be a resourceful roster builder.
He hired Rob Ezell as OC and Ezell does indeed have eastern ties afer a four-year stint at South Alabama. Ezell was a graduate assistant under Nick Saban which is a good thing. But, I wonder why he never advanced beyond the GA level after four years. Although Ezell has just one year of OC experience (S. Alabama), it was a fruitful one as the Jaguar offensive punch increased by nearly 1 1/2 points per game in 2024.
The defensive coordinator will be Scottie Hazelton who was DC at Michigan State for four seasons, Wyoming for two, and Kansas State for one. He also has one year of experience in the NFL. Expect the Deacon defense to be immediately and vastly improved from the 32 ppg group it has been.
Deshawn Purdie led the Wake Forest campaign last year and is currently listed as the starter. However, I am projecting that former Oregon quarterback Robby Ashford will take over the position because Dickert favors running qbs. If so, expect the Deacon offense to spark and Deadon results to flourish above the four wins they have had the past two seasons.
New Mexico
hiring grade: B
hiring rank: #7
Jason Eck is the new coach at New Mexico after taking Idaho to a 26-13 record over three seasons that included three straight FCS playoffs. Eck will have pretty good talent to begin things at UNM but he opens at Michigan and then is at UCLA two games later. After that, the schedule gets a bit easier and he should keep the Lobos competitive and near bowl eligibility.
His OC is Luke Scleusner who is a creative offensive coach with plenty of success at South Dakota State. He doesn’t have FBS experience or SW ties but he should be able to keep the Lobos moving.
Spence Nowisnky has been hired as DC after seven seasons in FBS as either a DC or a co-DC. He has been a college defensive coach since 2003 so he has plenty of experience.
I personally believe my Savvy rating system has Eck’s hiring rated too low. I believe this is a B+ or A- hire.
New Mexico was 5-7 last year and has a pretty tough schedule in 2025. Even so, I see the Lobos greatly reducing their 38-point defensive ppg average and getting to bowl eligibility.
UNLV
hiring grade: B
hiring rank: #8
I know that Savvy’s ranking of Dan Mullen as a lowly “B” hire will bring out the doubters. At first, I felt the same especially since I have been a Mullen fan for a long time. But, when I looked at his history objectively, I found myself agreeing with Savvy. Mullen’s name is bigger than his actual accomplishments.
Nonetheless, he is a good hire for UNLV and he is more than good enough to continue the Rebels’ winning ways now that he is not facing SEC teams the majority of the time. He inherits a fantastic roster and facilities that are among the best in the Mountain West.
With all of those things going for him, I find it strange that he hired Corey Dennis as his OC. Dennis has three years as a quarterbacks coach at Ohio State and one at Tulsa (despite never having played the position) and he has no OC experience. That is likely to become a problem because UNLV’s current depth chart shows Virginia transfer Anthony Colandrea as the likely quarterback. As a passer, Colandrea is graded as a “C” and as a runner, he is much less mobile than last year’s UNLV quarterback Haji-Malik Williams. Colandrea threw 11 intereptions to go with just 13 touchdowns, so the inexperience of Corey Dennis as an OC may be a critical factor in UNLV’s fortunes this season.
The DC is Zach Arnett who failed and caused all kinds of waves with administrators at Mississippi State. He has experience on the defensive side (Miss St and San Diego State) so if he can resist the temptation to act-out, the Rebel defense should do well.
The schedule is favorable for UNLV to easily make it to a bowl game but probably not to another double-digit win season.
West Virginia
hiring grade: B
hiring rank: #9
Rich Rodriguez followed the country roads back to West Virginia where he once impressed the mountain mamas. He should do well once again. In fact, he’ll have to because WVU isn’t patient with coaches who don’t get past eight wins. Despite being a native of West Virginia and assembling an average of nine wins over seven seasons, WVU canned him inn 2007.
Rich Rod has elected to be his own offensive coordinator which is a concern in these days of NIL and transfer portals and other programs adding general managers to their staffs to lighten the head coach’s responsibilities.
The DC is Zak Alley and he will produce great results in Mortantown. Alley who was DC at Lousiana Montroe in its successful 2021 season, then DC for two seasons at Jacksonville State with Rodgriguez. Last year, he was DC at Oklahoma and brought down the Sooners’ ppg defensive average by over one full point.
West Virginia has a really tough schedule this year with games against 10-game winner Ohio, at Kansas, Utah, at BYU, at UCF, TCU, at Arizona State, and at Texas Tech. Four of those teams are ranked and one other (Ohio) is in the top 30.
Temple
hiring grade: B
hiring rank: #10
I was suprised to see K.C. Keeler leave Sam Houston and even more surprised that of all the suitors over the years, he chose Temple.
Keeler comes to Temple after a 271-112 record as a college head football coach. He led Sam Houston to many final fours in the FCS and won the NCAA I national champonship in 2020-2021. Then, he led SHU into the FBS in 2023 and then to 10 wins last season.
His OC is Tyler Walker who has four seasons at Montana State but only one as OC. He has no experience in FBS, NIL, or transfer portals, so this rates as a “risky” hire.
Brian Smith is the new defensive coordinator at Temple and he has more than 20 years of experience on the defensive side. His experience includes time in the NFL to go with two seasons at Michigan (DB coach).
This is a strong coaching staff in a weak situation. If Keeler is a miracle worker, he’ll need to pull out all of his tricks at Temple because the Owls have won exactly three games in each of the past four seasons.
Florida International
hiring grade: C
hiring rank: #11
Jovan Dewitt Willie Simmons has never been an FBS HC although he had nine seasons as HC in FCS. His last gig was RB coach at Duke last sesason. Simmons was 66-24 and no losing seasons in FCS but he is taking over an FBS program that has been awful. Much of NIU’s problems are top-down in nature so until there is a change of admins, don’t expect much from the Golden Panthers.
Nick Coleman is OC after being qb coach at UAB for two years. That is not a very good resume’ for an OC.
Jovan Dewitt is DC and he has 24 years as a college coach and is in his fourth season as FIU defensive coorinator. Very good “retain” by Simmons because Dewitt is the real deal.
It is the retention of Dewitt that raises this hiring from a “D” grade to “C”.
Massachusetts
hiring grade: C
hiring rank: #12
Joey Haraymiak takes over for Don Brown as HC. Joe H. has never been HC at any FBS but he was DC at Rutgers for three recent seasons. He was former HC at Maine if the FCS where he was 20-15 in three seasons and 2-1 in playoff games. However, that was over a decade ago. His hiring might have been the best Umass could do given it’s bottom-dweller legacy.
Mike Bajakian will be OC and he is a stellar hire! Bajakian was OC at Utah, Boston College, Northewester, Tennesee, and Cincinnati. It doesn’t get much better than Bajakian and this is a true feather-in-the-cap for coach Haraymiak.
DC os Jared Keyte who has almost no experience in FBS and had never been a DC at this level. He was formely quite successful at Maine of FCS. Keyte is not a bad hire— but also not an impressive one either.
This program earns a “C” hiring grade because of its ability to retain Bajakian as DC.
Jacksonville State
hiring grade: C
hiring ranking: #13
Charles Kelly is the new HC and he has tons of experience not only at Jacksonsville State but also at Auburn, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Tennesee, Alabama (4 seasons/DC) Colorado and Auburn. but he’s never been a HC at any level.
That was a great start for Jacksonville State but the momentum didn’t continue.
Clint Trickett was brought on as OC after being mostly a position coach at FAU and Marshall with two seasons as Marchall OC. Trickett is a better-than-average hire for JSU.
Brian Williams is DC. He was co-DC at Maryland for several years and has been an FBS coach since 2016. He’s never an FBS DC all on his own however.
If JSU can keep its momentum going, it will be in large part because of Williams’ defense.
Central Michigan
hiring grade: C
hiring rank: #14
Matt Drinkall is stepping in for retired coach Jim McElwain. Drinkall has been in college forotball since 2006 but never as a head coach. His last gig was offensive line coach at Army.
Jim Chapin has plenty of experience as OC but all of it at the FCS level, the last being at Eastern Washington which posted its worst record in decades. Not a strong OC hire whatsoever and is nearly enough to drop this hiring grade to “D”.
What keeps that drop in grades from happing is that Drinkall was able to lure Sean Cronin away from Army as DC. Cronin hgas been very successful a DL coach at various places and has deep ties to Michigan which will help recruiting.
Over all, Drinkall should do well but I suspect offense is going to struggle early on.
Marshall
hiring grade: C
hiring rank: #15
Tony Gibson takes over for Charles Huff but I suspect that Huff’s feud with Marshall admins constitutes a problem within the athletic department that will hinder Gibson’s ability to succeed after an initial burst in his first season.
Gibson has been in FBS for 25 seasons but never as a head coach. He has plenty of DC experience but has never run a program and has no experience as an assistant at an elite institutiion. He will have to learn a lot on his own as he goes and that— coupled with Marshall’s apparent upper-level issues- is going to make this a hard job.
Rod Smith will be his OC and Smith has a lot of experience in FBS with some near-elite stops. He was OC at Jacksonville State, Illinois, and co-OC at Inidana and Arizona. This is a strong hire on the offensive side of things. It would ordinarly earn a top rating but the grade is supressed because of concerns with Marshall over all.
DC will be Shannon Morrison who has been at UM for many years as LB coach and now as DC. Not much experience beyond that.
UM starts the season against Georgia after which I suspect UM admins will wish they had been more congenial and not run former coach Charles off in a Huff.
Rice
hiring grade: D
hiring rank: #16
Vince Munich has 13 seasons of HC experience at FCS Washington and Lee and Davidson. He has never been an FBS coach of any kind whatsover. Learning NIL and recruiting and FBS administration, conditioning, travel, etc. is going to be a change that takes time. He’s been to five lower-level playoff games and lost all five.
It appears he will be his own OC and he has quite a bit of experience with that postiion.
John Kay should have stayed with Steppenwolf because he’s probably not going to get hsi motor running at Rice. He has no college coaching experience. He had 25 years at North Shore High School. Rice is going to have problems on the defensive side.
Sam Houston State
hiring grade: D
hiring rank: #17
Phil Longo takes over for legendary KC Keeler who accepted the Temple job. Longo was HC at LaSalle 20 years ago and had a two-year record of 7-14. He has been OC at various schools the past 10 years — ACC, Big10, SEC. He has no hostory as an OC at any elite institution so this isn’t a hire with a strong resume’.
His coordinators have little experience at the FCS level and essentially no coordinator experience at the FBS level.
Zack Patterson will run the offense but I suspect it won’t be a smooth start.
Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay might keep the defense respectable but projections suggest that offensive sluggishness will make the defense look worse than it is.
None of these hires make sense to me — not for a recent FCS national championship program that surged to 10 wins in FBS last year — in just its second season at the highest level. SHSU finished last season ranked in the top 40. It certainly should have attracted coaches with more proven resumes’.
Adding to the problem is that Sam Houston’s first five games are against four bowl teams from last year and Hawai’i on the bubble for a bowl this year. For a program that needs to start fast, I don’t see it happening.
UCF
hiring grade: D
hiring ranking: #18
Scott Frost returns to UCF but the hullaballoo that accomanies his return is unwarranted.
Frost was 12-23 in his final four years at Nebraska and each of his final three seasons had fewer wins than the season before. He was accused by admins and players of being aloof, arrogant, dismissive, as well as tardy for practices, team events, and sometimes absent altogether. In other words —- grealy lacking in personal discipline.
Everyone deserves a second chance but most of them need to prove themselves.
Scott’s offensive corrdinator is a problem because Steve Cooper has never even held the title of position coach. He was once an assistant qb coach but couldn’t even get that title all to himself.
Alex Grinch is DC but after one stellar year at WSU, he moved on to Oklahoma and USC where he failed miserably both times. His defenses were not conditioned well, wore down late in games, and were as undisciplined [almost] as the new head coach.
This is not going to go well and it is not going to last long.
E Carolina
hiring grade: D
hiring ranking: #19
Blake Harrell has never been a head coach.
John David Baker has some OC experience but only lasted on year at three different schools.
Josh Aldridge has one season of DC experience — seven years ago at mighty Lenoir-Rhyne.
What on earth were these East Carolina admins thinking? East Carolina fans deserve better.
Florida Atlantic
hiring grade: D
hiring rank: #20
Zach Kittley has never been a head coach although he was a good OC at Texas Tech. He’s a decent hire for FAU but there is some alarm that he will be his own offensive coordinator as well as head coach.
Defensive coordinator Brett Dewhurst has limited experience as a defensive coordinator and none of it was for more than one season.
These are sub-par hires for FAU but there may be enough in this group to improve at least stop the bleeding of increasing losses that have been occurring in each of the past three seasons.
Fresno State
hiring grade: D
hiring ranking: #21
When was the last time Fresno State had an off season without a coaching change? It feels like it happens every year and, in fact, it has sometimes happened during the season.
Matt Entz takes over as FSU and he has no HC experience at the FBS level. He was HC at North Dakota State for five seasons. His first three [using incumbent players] he was 37-4. After those players were gone, his final two season he was 23-7 and that kind of drop off is concerning.
He will have decent talent to start at FSU but can he sustain it?
His OC is Josh Davis who only has Midwest ties, Midwest experience, and limited time as an FCS OC. FSU’s problems last year were primarily on the offensive side so there is reason to speculate that the Bulldog offense will be more bark than bite.
Nick Benedetto will be DC and he comes to FSU with three seasons as DC at Northern Illinois to go with three seasons at Samford. Decent hire but no ties to the West.
The schedule is friendly after an opening game against Kansas. Because of that schedule, FSU should find its way to a bowl game.
Washington State
hiring grade: D
hiring rank: #22
Jimmy Rogers is a risky hire for HC at Washington State. He had two greats seasons as HC and South Dakota State but before that, no HC or coordinator experience anywhere in college football. There is also a big problem in Rogers’ second season as it was three games worse than his first — and those are the only two seasons we have to go by. Generally, coaches who do well in the first year but not the second are high suspects for failure long term.
Danny Freund will be OC but he was only the associate OC at South Dakota State so there is not a lot of resume’ to think this is a strong hire. Also, I have an even greater concern for the pro-style scheme Freund brings to WSU. The Cougars have decades of Air Raid history and has recruited its roster for Air Raid schemes.
South Dakota State had enough success to recruit pro style personnel. WSU has already struggled to get big time offensive linemen to the Palouse and into a PAC-12 Conference that is no longer elite. How on earth will the Cougars get enough to make a pro style offense work?
The good news is that the 2025 schedule is favorable for six wins even if the offense drops off dramatically from last year.
WSU’s new DC is also from South Dakota State as Jesse Bobbit comes to The Palouse after two seasons as DC for the Jackrabbits. Before that, he was a position coach for one season and before that, a grad assistant at SDSU and then at WSU. With little DC experience and NO FBS experience, there is no reason to project a strong defense in 2025.
Appalachia State
hiring grade: D
hiring rank: #23
Dowell Loggains replaces Sean Clark as HC for 2025. Loggains has no HC experience and only four seasons in college football. He has 13 years in the pros including OC for several NFL teams. He has no experience under an elite college coach so dealing with NIL, recruiting, discipline, conditioning, etc. is questionable in the early-going. He knows football but is he ready to administrate a program?
Former coach Sea Clark averaged eight wins but couldn’t keep his job at App St. How will Loggains retain his with an unproven coaching staff?
This season, half of his opponents will have new coaches. Perhaps that is the seccret ingredient.
His DC is D.J. Smith who has never held the solo title of DC although he has seven years as a position coach (App State and Missouri). Not a great hire but not a catastrophe either.
App St. use to be a premier small conference program; one capable of upsetting some of the best in the nation. Those days seem to have ended and perhaps hiring this group of coaches is a resignation to that fate.
Ball State
hiring grade: D
hiring rank: #24
This was a Mike-drop situation in which BSU “dropped” Mike Neu and replaced him with Mike Uremovich. Who? Exactly. Mike U. will have similarly bad results as Mike Neu because the new Mike has NO FBS head coaching experience although he was twice OC at Northern Illinois. His record at lower levers is 56-56.
It is a curious notion that he has also named himself as OC. That is going against the grain of most institutions that are adding GM’s and filling coordinator roles because of the added weight of NIL.
His DC is Jeff Knowles who led the BSU defense last year as DC when the Cardinals allowed over 40 points and more than five touchdowns per game.
BSU was 3-9 last year. I expect the coaching change here will flare up initially but fade just as quickly.
I don’t see this working out or lasting for more than two seasons.
Kennesaw State
hiring grade: D-
hiring rank: #25
Jerry Mack takes over as head coach but has no HC experience of his own in FBS although 10 years ago, he did well in FCS for a few years. He has NFL position coach experience but never was a coordinator all on his own either.
OC Mitch Militello has never been an OC but has SEC experience as a postiion coach.
DC Marc Mattiloi hasn’t coached since 2018 — eight seasons ago — and was then a position coach.
Bowling Green
hiring grade: D-
hiring rank: #26
Scott Loeffler left for the NFL and Eddie George Jr. was hired as a late, late hire replacement (March). George has plenty of playing experience but just a short term of coaching at E Tennessee State where he was 24-22.
Because this such a late hire, and coordinators weren’t added until late March, the BGSU program faces problems in 2025.
On March 25, 2025, George hired Travis Partridge to be offensive coordinator. Partridge has five seasons as an FCS assistant coach and two seasons as offensive coordinator at E. Tennessee State. As OC last year, Partridge was able to add one-and-a-half points to ETSU’s average points per game. That’s not bad but it’s also not great.
A week earlier, George announced the hiring of Brandon Fisher who was also a coordinator under George at ETSU. Fisher is the son of renowned NFL coach Jeff Fisher and posted four successful defensive campaigns at ETSU.
Lack of experience at the FBS level and the late hiring of the coaching staff are reasons to debit this coaching change. Brandon Fisher as defensive coodinator is one reason for a pump upward, but not enough to reach a “C” grade on Savvy.
With bowl-quality opponents Liberty, Louisville, and Ohio all on the slate in the first month, there isn’t going to be enough time to expect a fast start. However, every other game on the schedule is winnable for the BGSU roster.
Tulsa
hiring grade: D-
hiring rank: #27
Tre Lamb comes to Tulsa from Gardner and Webb and E Tennessee State where he had four years of HC experienced. His record is 27-25 in over all games and 1-2 in playoffs. Not a great resume’ for a program looking for help and needing a boost.
His coordinators are not impressive. This doesn’t project as a winning combination from the coaching aspect.
Stanford
hiring grade: D-
hiring rank: #28
Troy Taylor was fired the week before Spring ball. Can the Tree say “Ouch!”?
Frank Reich has stepped in as interim head coach and he has nearly 20 years coaching experience in the NFL although never as a head coach. Nonetheless, he should have enough moxy to hold this program together for awhile.
His defensive coordinator will be Nate Byham who was a position coach at Albany College for eight seasons and the past two seasons at Stanford as tight ends coach. He is going to have to rely on Dylan Rizk as his starting quarterback to improve an offense that averaged less than 23 ppg. Rizk is an accurate passer in the short range but unproven when it comes to stretching the field or prolonging plays with his feet. Offensively, things are not likely to improve soon at Stanford.
The Cardinal will utilize two defensive coordinators but will probably rely most on Bobby Abril III. Abrill has plenty of experience from coaching in the NFL to go with five seasons as linebackers coach at Wisconsin. He has never been a college defensive coordinator.
Because of the desperation created by Troy Taylor’s departure, Stanford could probably not have expected to do much better in terms of hiring coaches. This is a good group given the situation but not one that is likely to endure in tact past this season.
