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Coaching Carousel
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December 2nd
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Nebraska loses defensive coordinator (and best recruiter) to Florida State
From ESPN … Florida State has finished filling its coordinator vacancies as Nebraska‘s Tony White signed a three-year contract to oversee the Seminoles’ defense, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Monday.
White spent the past two seasons at Nebraska, which ranks 20th nationally in points allowed this season after finishing 13th in 2023. He replaces Adam Fuller, who was fired last month.
White, who came up under defensive guru Rocky Long, has previously held coordinator posts at Syracuse, Arizona State and San Diego State. He played college football at UCLA.
Florida State is 88th in points allowed and 87th in yards allowed, following a 2-10 season under coach Mike Norvell.
… Continue reading story here …
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December 1st
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West Virginia fires Neal Brown after six seasons (37-35)
From CBS Sports … West Virginia is set to fire sixth-year coach Neal Brown, sources confirmed to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz. Brown’s ouster comes on the heels of a devastating 52-15 loss at Texas Tech to drop the Mountaineers to 6-6 on the season and Brown to 37-35 overall in Morgantown.
Ultimately, Brown’s undoing was a product of that mediocrity; his teams were rarely outright bad, but they were even more rarely able to punch up. The Mountaineers always won at least three Big 12 games and reached a bowl game in four of his final five seasons, but West Virginia posted more than six wins only once over that stretch. West Virginia joins Texas Tech and Rutgers as the only teams in the Power Four to not reach the AP Top 25 at any point since 2019.
Against Texas Tech, the wheels finally flew off for the Mountaineers. The Red Raiders took a 35-3 lead in the first half and cleared 569 total yards, including 188 yards and three touchdowns on the ground from star running back Tahj Brooks. It was the third loss of five touchdowns or more in the past three seasons.
… Continue reading story here …
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Gus Malzahn resigns at UCF; joins staff at Florida State
From CBS Sports … UCF coach Gus Malzahn is resigning from the Knights to become the new offensive coordinator at Florida State, sources confirmed to CBS Sports’ John Talty. Malzahn posted a 28-24 record in four seasons with the Knights but had consecutive losing seasons after joining the Big 12.
“We would like to thank Coach Malzahn for his contributions to our football program over the past four seasons, including our transition into the Big 12 Conference,” a UCF spokesperson wrote in a statement released by the school. “We appreciate his professionalism and dedication to our student-athletes throughout his tenure at UCF and wish he and his wife, Kristi, the very best in their future endeavors.”
Malzahn is tasked with repairing a Florida State offense that struggled mightily during a lifeless campaign. The Seminoles finished No. 131 in the nation in total offense and scoring offense, mustering only 15.8 points per game against an ACC schedule one year after going 13-1 with a conference championship.
The Knights were seen as a potential dark horse heading into the Big 12, but they’ve struggled with quarterback issues. Four different players took major snaps in 2024 as the Knights finished only 2-7 in conference play and 4-8 overall. The record was the worst at UCF since 0-12 in George O’Leary’s final season in 2015.
… Continue reading story here …
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Former Buff Ryan Walters out as head coach at Purdue
From CBS Sports … After leading one of the nation’s top defenses at Illinois in 2022, then-36-year-old Ryan Walters was viewed as one of the top up-and-coming coaches in the nation. Purdue tasked him with replacing a big name in Jeff Brohm at the time, but two years later, the Boilermakers are going in a different direction. Purdue fired Walters on Sunday following a 1-11 season and a winless campaign in the Big Ten.
One name the Williams has identified as a potential target on the premium message board is Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell. Chadwell was reportedly passed over for SEC opportunities in recent years, but landing at a Big Ten program might be a better fit if he’s looking to break into the Power Four ranks.
Chadwell won big late in his tenure at Coastal Carolina, going 31-6 from 2020-22. Instead of jumping to a power program at that point, he instead replaced Hugh Freeze at Liberty, and he’s gone 21-4 through two seasons with the Flames, including an appearance in the Fiesta Bowl last season.
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4 Replies to “Coaching Carousel”
corn fans already saying that losing Tony White ain’t no big thing, but it’s just further evidence of how far they’ve fallen into the world of have-nots and misfit toys.
Here is hoping Rhule will stay a lot longer. I doubt the cobbs will be hitting any heights with him. His demeanor on the sideline and in interviews doesn’t impress me at all. His best chance is to be Hawkins to a Peterson.
Agree. Rhule may find the rebuild very tough at kNU. Two more mediocre and/or a bad season, and he may be out the door.
I think kNU lost in this departure, but this ball could bounce a few ways: (1) kNU lost Tony White and Knighton (Dl coach) not the other way around–Rhule was blindsided to a degree; (2) kNU defense was great in ppg. and some other metrics but was exploited through the air with D losing some close games–fans expected more than 6 wins (not 3-6 in conference) knowing the offense w/ True Frosh was work in progress; (3) no doubt kNU’s defense improved with White (he did the same at Cuse), but the 19.3ppg may look better on paper, given outside of OSU (played them close) and Indiana (doors blown off) they played the B12 black and blue teams some featuring struggling offenses; (4) many fans/media indicate that White was their best recruiter, and White might have decided it was too hard to recruit elite talent to land of misfit toys–perhaps he felt the ceiling was low at kNU (lower than FSU); (5) kNU’s offense was putrid T-98 in points scored and really tailed off in conference play, so White/the D felt the pressure, when White may have felt their unit did enough (is kNU’s offense going to improve enough next year??); (6) the general P-4 CFP trend this year is firing coordinators, however White left bringing a coach with him and they do not have a ready candidate–that will hurt for player retention and this recruiting period.
They lost 5 of 6 to close the season–their O scored 20 or less in the 5 losses.
The fans seem to feel this is a loss, not a gain. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/nebraska-fans-react-to-the-possible-loss-of-tony-white-and-terrance-knighton-to-florida-state/ar-AA1v8Mnr