The college football coaching carousel has begun, with the conclusion of the 2023 regular season on Saturday, leading to many changes at a number of programs throughout the country.
Pittsburgh Sports Now will have all your college football coverage, especially with the expected changes at Pitt, throughout the offseason.
College Football Coaching Carousel
Texas A&M Set to Hire Duke HC Mike Elko
Texas A&M intends to hire Duke head coach Mike Elko to run their program, according to Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle.
Elko spent the past two seasons as the head coach of the Blue Devils, going 16-9 and 9-7 in the ACC. He had a great season in 2022, finishing with a 9-4 record, 5-3 in the ACC and defeating the UCF Knights in the Military Bowl. The Blue Devils finished 7-5 and 4-4 in the ACC in 2023, with starting quarterback Riley Leonard dealing with injuries throughout the campaign.
Texas A&M fired Jimbo Fisher back on Nov. 12 and will pay a buyout of around $76 million to him. Elko spent four seasons from 2018-21 as the defensive coordinator under Fisher and has the chance to return to College Station to turn Texas A&M into a contender once again.
Elko will make a decision within the next 24 hours, according to Pete Thamel of ESPN.
Oregon State Assistants to Follow Jonathan Smith to Michigan State
Michigan State hired Oregon State’s Jonathan Smith to take over the program starting next season on Saturday and his assistants will follow him to East Lansing, Mich.
Offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren, running backs coach Keith Bhonapha, tight ends coach Brian Wozniak, offensive line coach Jim Michalczik and defensive backs coach Blue Adams will all join the Spartans under Smith, according to Jake Hedberg of BeaverBlitz.
Baylor to Retain Head Coach Dave Aranda for 2024
Baylor will keep head coach Dave Aranda for the upcoming season, according to Pete Thamel of ESPN.
Aranda had a great second season with Baylor in 2021, going 12-2, 7-2 in the Big 12, defeating Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship Game and Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl.
The Bears dropped to 6-7 and 4-5 in the Big 12, with a loss to Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl in 2022 and then had a poor 3-9 and 2-7 record in the Big 12 in 2023.
Aranda returning will still see changes in the Baylor coaching staff and also increased NIL funding.
Louisiana-Monroe (ULM) Fires Head Coach Terry Bowden
Louisiana Monore is letting head coach Terry Bowden go, according to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports.
Bowden spent three seasons with the Warhawks, accruing a record of 10-26 and 5-19 in the Sun Belt. He was the sixth oldest head coach in the FBS at 67 years old.
Pitt Fires Offensive Coordinator Frank Cignetti
Pitt offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. will not return to the program next season.
Following a 30-19 loss to Duke in the 2023 season finale, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi announced that Cignetti will not return as the offensive coordinator next season.
“I want to thank Frank for his service and dedication to our football program the past two years,” Pat Narduzzi said in the press release. “We wish him the very best in his future endeavors.”
After leading the ACC with 41.4 points per game in 2021, under former offensive coordinator MarkWhipple’s leadership, Pitt fell to 31.3 points per game in 2022 and 20.2 pointers per game in 2023 — halving total points per game in just two seasons.
Pitt is 114th in points per game (20.2) and 113th in total offense (317.9) in college football, and both of those stats are up after the best offensive output in weeks. The passing offense is a disaster, with a handful of quarterbacks trying to run the offense, and the run game is non-existent — or it was before Rodney Hammond Jr. finally exploded against Boston College.
UTEP Fires Head Coach Dana Dimel
UTEP fired head coach Dana Dimel on Sunday, according to Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.
Dimel ends at the helm of the Miners with a 20-49 overall record and 10-34 in C-USA. His best season came in 2021, as the Miners went 7-6 overall, 4-4 in C-USA and lost the New Mexico Bowl to the Fresno State Bulldogs.
UTEP ended the 2023 season with a 3-9 record and 2-6 in C-USA.
Houston Fires Head Coach Dana Holgerson
Houston has fired head coach Dana Holgerson, according to Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle.
Holgorsen finishes his Houston tenure with a 31-28 record in five seasons. Houston went 4-8 this season, and 2-7 in the Big 12, the program’s first year in the conference.
After eight years at West Virginia, Holgorsen left the Mountaineers following the 2018 season to take over a then budding Group of 5 Houston program with the thought he would help guide the Cougars through an eventual transition into a major conference.
Holgorsen led WVU to a 61-41 mark with two 10-win seasons and an Orange Bowl title.
Houston owes Holgerson a $14.8 million buyout following his firing.
Indiana Fires Head Coach Tom Allen
Indiana fired head coach Tom Allen after seven seasons with the program, according to Zach Olstermann of the Indianapolis Star.
Allen accrued a record of 33-49 during his time with the Hooisers, with five losing seasons. This includes the final three seasons, with an overall record of 9-27 and 3-24 in the Big Ten.
He did have two good seasons in Bloomington, Ind. with an 8-5 overall record, 5-4 in the Big Ten and a loss in the Gator Bowl to Tennessee in 2020. He also went 6-2 and 6-1 in the Big Ten in the COVID-19 impacted 2020 season, lost to Ole Miss in the Outback Bowl and finished with a No. 12 ranking in the AP Poll.
Allen’s buyout is more than $20 million over the next four years and the new head coach of Indiana will serve as the third in the past 13 seasons.
Marshall Head Coach Fires Four Assistants
Marshall head coach Charles Huff chose to fire four assistant coaches on Sunday, according to Chris Hummer of 247Sports. The four assistants are offensive coordinator Clint Trickett, wide receivers coach Jovon Bouknight, offensive line coach Bill Legg and linebackers coach Shannon Morrison.
The Thundering Herd had a great start to the season, with a 5-0 record and a win against the Virginia Tech Hokies. They had a poor finish to 2023, with just one win in their final seven games to end with a 6-6 record and 3-5 in the Sun Belt.
Colorado Fires Tight Ends Coach
Colorado tight ends coach Tim Brewster announced his resignation on Twitter Sunday morning.
Brewster joined Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders after he spent the 2022 season in the same position with Jackson State, Sanders’ previous head coaching stop.
Colorado finished 2023 by losing six games to earn a 4-8 overall record and 1-8 in the Pac-12 conference.
Southern Miss Makes Changes in Coaching Staff
Southern Miss has fired defensive coordinator Dan O’Brien, defensive line coach Brandon Lacy and tight ends coach Cayden Cochran.
Southern Miss went 3-9 and 2-6 in Sun Belt last season, and allowed an average of 35.8 points per game, sixth worst in FBS.
Southern Miss fires DC and several assistants.