New City, Same Problems: How the Las Vegas Raiders Simply Can’t Get Out of Their Own Way

In case you missed it, the Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl LVIII a few weeks ago over the San Francisco 49ers. It was the Chiefs’ third Lombardi Trophy in the past five years under head coach Andy Reid and superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes. And the Chiefs did it at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada — home of their AFC West rivals, the Raiders.

The game was a bitter irony for Raider Nation: the Niners and Chiefs, two hated rivals, selling out Sin City in a thrilling overtime game. The Raiders remain on the outside looking in, and have posted a 32-36 record since relocating from the Bay Area to Vegas at the start of 2020. While Allegiant Stadium is a state-of-the-art venue, Raiders fans rarely outnumber the opposing fans, the Raiders have continued to waste money on high-profile coaches and draft busts, and owner Mark Davis remains one of the league’s most criticized figures.

There’s hope on the horizon, however. New head coach Antonio Pierce, a former Super Bowl champion linebacker with the New York Giants, got the full-time gig in Las Vegas after the team showed encouraging signs of improvement under his watch down the stretch, after the midseason firings of head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler.

It was a sign that Davis had learned from his mistakes when he spurned the respected Rich Bisaccia in favor of McDaniels after Bisaccia rallied the Raiders to a surprise playoff berth as the interim coach in 2021. Pierce will get the chance to shape the Raiders in his image, but with that said, the Raiders’ recent run of bad luck and the Chiefs’ constant dominance of the division have left a greater sense of urgency than ever before.

At the end of the day, whether they’re in Oakland or in Vegas, the Raiders feel like a has-been franchise in the AFC West, with only two playoff appearances in the past two decades despite having one of the most loyal fanbases around.

But how did we get here? And what can the Raiders do differently?

Opened in 2020, Allegiant Stadium serves as the 65,000-seat home of the Las Vegas Raiders, as well as the UNLV Rebels in college football. It just hosted Super Bowl LVIII and was also the site of the Pac-12 Championship Game from 2021-23.

Part 1: Not their first rodeo – a history of relocating

Let’s back up.

The story, identity and culture of the Oakland Raiders is the stuff of football legend. One of the upstart AFL teams that started dominating after the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, the Raiders were the counterpart to the glamorous San Francisco 49ers: a tough, blue-collar Bay Area team that embraced physical play and wasn’t afraid of smack talk. The iconic John Madden was the face of the franchise in the ’70s; he and maverick owner Al Davis brought three Lombardis to the franchise.

But despite all the good times on the field, it wasn’t always smooth-sailing off of it. The lawsuit-happy Davis had a tough time negotiating a new stadium for the Raiders; they were playing in the Oakland Coliseum, which had rapidly become outdated as a dual-use football-baseball stadium. Davis maintained the future of the NFL’s stadiums lay in corporate press boxes and bigger seating plans, but he clashed with city officials in Oakland over renovations to the Coliseum, eventually relocating the Raiders to Los Angeles in 1982 during the legal proceedings.

The Raiders won Super Bowl XVIII after relocating to the City of Angels and maintained an active fanbase all over California, as well as elsewhere. And that was all in line with Davis’s vision; while he knew the inevitability of finding a long-term stadium solution was paramount, he wanted the fans to view the Raiders as a global brand — a team without a city or borders, so to speak. Or, if we were across the pond, “Raiders F.C.”

Davis had many admirable qualities; he took a firm stand against segregation during the start of his coaching tenure in the ’60s and he truly worked his way up from the bottom, being the only person ever to be an assistant coach, head coach, manager and owner of the same NFL franchise.

Al Davis (1929-2011) served as head coach of the Raiders from 1963-1965, co-owner from 1965-1971 and sole owner from 1972 until his death. Under his watch, the Raiders won Super Bowl XI in 1976, Super Bowl XV in 1980 and Super Bowl XVIII in 1983.

However, Davis’s micro-managing nature and tendency to make unintentional enemies cost him in terms of his negotiating power, both with city officials in the Bay Area and with NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle. Part of it was bad blood from the AFL vs. NFL days, part of it was a lack of capital on Davis’s part to organize good-enough stadium replacement proposals in Oakland. After they became the LA Raiders and won a title, their success nonetheless waned at the end of the 80s, cycling through coaches like Tom Flores, Mike Shanahan and Art Shell, while Davis publicly feuded with star tailback Marcus Allen.

Then, in 1994, the Raiders relocated back to Oakland.

It was a combination of circumstances that led to the Raiders heading back to the East Bay; Davis felt betrayed after not getting the luxury suites in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum that he was promised when the Raiders moved to LA in ’82. The 1994 Northridge earthquake had severely damaged parts of the city, and Davis also wasn’t happy with having to continuously share the stadium with the USC Trojans. There were two other failed negotiations during that time, one for a proposed stadium in Inglewood back in 1987 and a potential deal that would have relocated the Raiders to Sacramento while also giving Davis partial ownership of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.

Nonetheless, the Raiders were convinced to return after the city of Oakland promised $220 million in renovations, including a handful of new corporate boxes nicknamed “Mount Davis.” However, this made the field layout at the Coliseum even more bizarre than it already was, giving the aging stadium an even stranger feel. It also obscured views of the local foothills, prompting criticism from fans. With that said, the Raiders were happy to exercise a loophole with the NFL — they avoided a relocation fee because the league had technically never approved Oakland’s original move to LA in 1982, since they were entangled in a lawsuit at the time.

The age and dated architecture of the Oakland Coliseum was a sticking point for many years; sharing a baseball field with the Oakland A’s did a number on the facility’s turf as well. The Raiders played here during both stints in Oakland, from 1966-1981 and from 1995-2019.

On the field, the Raiders were finally getting it together several years later in the early 2000s under a hotshot young head coach named Jon Gruden and a budding MVP quarterback, Rich Gannon.

Then came the infamous Tuck Rule Game.

We all know the story: with mere minutes to go in a blizzard-ridden AFC Divisional playoff game against the New England Patriots in January 2002, cornerback Charles Woodson sacked Patriots QB Tom Brady, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Greg Biekert. Upon further review, the call was overturned, and the Raiders haven’t been the same since.

According to several behind-the-scenes reports, Davis was furious that, in his view, Gruden didn’t effectively protest enough about the controversial decision that cost the Raiders the season and kickstarted Brady and the Patriots’ future dynasty. The relationship between Davis and Gruden soured and he was eventually traded away to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where in true karmic fashion, they beat the Raiders the following season in Super Bowl XXXVII.

Bizarre incidents soured the Raiders during this time. They would hire assistant coaches who had been out of the game for literal decades. Their starting center, Barret Robbins, went missing the day before the Super Bowl against the Buccaneers and was later found to have gone off his bipolar medications and gotten drunk the day before the game. Linebacker Bill Romanowski infamously punched a teammate in practice. Veteran playmakers brought in to turn things around, such as Randy Moss or Warren Sapp, underachieved in Oakland.

Davis insisted on prioritizing speed above all else in the NFL draft and even drafted a kicker in the first round – an unprecedented choice – in 2000. Granted, Sebastian Janikowski was consistently one of the league’s best during his time in Oakland, but it was still a head-scratching move. He re-hired Art Shell in 2006, with disastrous results.

Only 31 at the time he was hired, Lane Kiffin was the head coach of the Raiders from 2007-08, clashing with Davis over the drafting of QB JaMarcus Russell, who would become notorious as one of the biggest busts in NFL history.

Davis then made the mistake of hiring Lane Kiffin, then doubled down on that mistake by drafting JaMarcus Russell with the first overall pick in the 2007 draft. And once again, Davis clashed with his head coach; according to sources, Kiffin was astonished by Russell’s arm strength, saying that the LSU quarterback had a “video-game arm”, but he saw red flags about Russell’s work ethic and was keen on drafting elite wide receiver Calvin Johnson, instead. Kiffin was overruled by Davis, Russell was an infamous bust, and Johnson became one of the greatest wide receivers who’s ever lived.

Even after Kiffin was fired in 2008 after going 5-15 overall, the Raiders remained cemented at the bottom of the AFC West standings. Tom Cable went 17-27 as the head coach from 2008-10, as attendance dwindled at the ancient Oakland Coliseum. Cable was eventually dismissed after breaking an assistant’s jaw during an altercation. Meanwhile, the draft picks just kept failing: offensive tackle Robert Gallery, wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, linebacker Rolando McClain and more.

Davis passed away due to heart failure in October 2011 at the age of 82. Despite his many flaws, Davis had the respect of many people in football, and his pioneering leadership helped the Raiders change the game in the ’70s. But his stubbornness and inability to wrangle enough cash to finally fix the franchise’s stadium woes (regardless of which city they were in) proved to be a disappointing fact of Davis’s legacy, too.

Part 2: Mark Davis looks ahead

Mark Davis and his mother Carol, took over ownership of the Raiders upon Al’s passing in 2011 (Mark was 56 at the time). Davis’s only jobs have been with the franchise: he primarily worked in the Raiders equipment room and retail merchandising departments and is credited with invented the thermal hand-warmers that players use in cold games.

Mark Davis, Al’s son, essentially took over the day-to-day operations of the Raiders upon his dad’s passing; unlike his dad, Mark, promised to be hands-off and leave the football decisions to the football people. But problems remained: the Oakland Coliseum situation, the lack of continuity at head coach and QB, and constant missing on draft picks and free agents.

While Mark Davis claimed that he wanted to hammer out a deal to keep the Raiders in Oakland, political dysfunction in the Bay Area was stalling construction. With a net worth of a mere $500 million, Davis is comparatively, one of the NFL’s poorest owners, so he was trying to bring together enough investment to build a new 65,000-seat stadium in the East Bay, with potential partnership opportunities to help get new facilities with the Oakland A’s and/or the Golden State Warriors, who were hoping to relocate across the Bay to San Francisco at the time.

With that said, the younger Davis started looking to greener pastures…or in this case, drier pastures.

The Raiders gradually began to show signs of life in the late 2010s under young quarterback Derek Carr. After years of quarterback busts since the Rich Gannon years, Oakland was happy to have continuity as Carr developed under veteran head coach Jack Del Rio. A rare Raiders draft success story, pass-rushing nightmare Khalil Mack, also dominated as the Raiders surprised with a playoff berth in 2016, their first since the 2002 playoff run. Behind the scenes, Davis signed one-year lease extensions on the Oakland Coliseum while also pursuing options in Southern California and Las Vegas on the side.

Nearby venues weren’t looking like good options, either; the 49ers replaced the aging, but beloved Candlestick Park with Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California in time for the 2014 season. While NFL commissioner Roger Goodell publicly stated at the stadium’s opening that Levi’s Stadium would be an ideal home for the Raiders as well as the Niners, the two rivals never got very far in talks on sharing the stadium (much like the Jets & Giants do with MetLife Stadium).

Derek Carr was a rare draft success story. Drafted by with the 36th overall pick in the 2014 draft, Carr started for the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders from 2014-22 and holds the franchise’s all-time records in completions, passing yards and passing touchdowns.

In February 2015, the Raiders made a joint announcement with the San Diego Chargers that they would join forces to build a new $1.78 billion stadium in Los Angeles if both teams exercised the option to move back, while still attempting in good faith to get new stadiums built in their home cities. However, the almighty dollar ultimately reigned supreme, with the NFL allowing the Chargers the first option to choose when St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke offered a billion-dollar stadium proposal of his own. Chargers owner Dean Spanos relocated to Los Angeles in January 2017, shutting the Raiders out of the Southern California market.

Would Oakland step up? Or would Las Vegas swoop in and make NFL history?

A group of primarily private investors were organized by Pro Football Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott in 2016-17 in a last-ditch effort to try to raise money for a new stadium in Oakland that would include a surrounding entertainment complex. They met with Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf and the last-ditch effort was considered an attractive proposal, financially speaking — especially for Davis, who would be in need of partners with deeper pockets. He allegedly balked at the group’s plan, because they wanted to collectively buy a 40 percent minority stake in the Raiders, which was a non-starter for Davis.

Ultimately, the Oakland Raiders did, in fact, become the Las Vegas Raiders — but the transition was far from smooth. The announcement that the Raiders would relocate came in early 2017 and was approved by NFL owners in a 30-1 vote (the Miami Dolphins’ Stephen Ross was the lone exception).

And then the Raiders had to spend three more extremely awkward seasons in Oakland. Del Rio was fired after a 4-12 season in 2017, and then the Raiders made a bombshell announcement: Jon Gruden would return.

Mark Davis viewed it as a chance to mend fences; after all, Gruden leaving and then immediately winning a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay was a dark stain on the franchise’s history, but the two sides finally hashed it out. The plan was for Gruden — who had been out of coaching for a decade, but was still highly respected — to lead the Raiders back to the promised land of football as they packed their bags and left for Sin City.

It didn’t go according to plan. Not in the slightest.

Gruden went 4-12 in his return to the Raiders in 2018 and general manager Reggie McKenzie was fired midseason. This wasn’t exactly what Gruden was getting paid $10 million per season to do. Then in 2019, he blew up the locker room by bringing in the ultra-talented-but-mercurial Antonio Brown after the wide receiver fell out of favor in Pittsburgh. It quickly devolved into a media circus and Brown didn’t even last the full season after clashing with both Gruden and new GM Mike Mayock.

But in Week 15 of that year, the Raiders, standing at a mediocre 6-7 record, still had a shot to win out and make the postseason. And even better, they could give the long-suffering Oakland fans one more win in the Coliseum before they left. Then they blew a lead to the Jacksonville Jaguars at home and fell out of contention for the playoffs.

The Las Vegas Raiders became official on January 22, 2020 in a ceremony at Allegiant Stadium. Their state-of-the-art training and operations headquarters, the Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center, is located across from the Henderson Executive Airport at 1475 Raiders Way in Henderson, Nevada.

In the first few months of 2020, as COVID-19 dominated the headlines, the Raiders were moving into their sparkling new facility — the Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center in Henderson, Nevada. Due to the then-restrictions on crowd capacity, unfortunately there would be no Raider Nation in Vegas to welcome them to Allegiant Stadium for the first time.

Nonetheless, the changes being made bled over onto the field. Khalil Mack was traded to Chicago in the offseason in exchange for a slew of draft picks. The franchise’s first two picks as the Las Vegas Raiders were speedy Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs III and star Ohio State cornerback Damon Arnette — more on these two gentlemen and how they would haunt the franchise later.

Gruden’s Raiders started off decently, reaching a 3-2 record before the bye week and winning their first home game in Nevada with a 34-24 victory over the New Orleans Saints. But they lost five of their last seven and finished with a middling 8-8 record. Whether they were in Oakland or Vegas, the Raiders were the proverbial car stuck in neutral.

By comparison, the controversial firing of Jon Gruden was one of the HIGHLIGHTS of a truly turbulent 2021 season for the Raiders that included multiple other off-field incidents.

Part 3: The season from hell

It was a forgettable 2021 NFL Draft for the Las Vegas Raiders, blowing yet a first-rounder on Alabama left tackle Alex Leatherwood. The Reid-Mahomes dynasty at division rival Kansas City was in full swing, but the Chargers and Broncos weren’t scaring many in the AFC West. So there was a chance the Raiders could finally find their footing in the fourth year of Gruden’s second stint.

Then everything went wrong. Month after month after month.

In August 2021, as Las Vegas prepped for the preseason, CBS Sports reported that Raiders president Marc Badain, CFO Ed Villanueva and numerous other front office personnel had resigned unexpectedly.

A bombshell report was leaked in October 2021 involving inappropriate conduct by then Washington GM Bruce Allen. During the investigation of Allen and the culture of the Washington Football Team, email exchanges with Gruden, when he was then an ESPN analyst, revealed that he used racist language towards a black NFLPA president, among other inappropriate remarks. Gruden coached that weekend’s game, a tough 20-9 loss to the Chicago Bears, but he later resigned after the emails were published in mainstream media reports.

Some will still say that Gruden was blackballed. Mark Davis refused to directly comment on the situation and tersely said “Ask the NFL; they have all the answers” when questioned about the circumstances of Gruden’s departure, although both Davis and Mayock clarified that Gruden’s comments were inappropriate and shouldn’t have been made. There are rumors to this day that Gruden will eventually return to coaching, while his unlawful termination lawsuit against the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell continues to crawl its way through the Nevada courts. Nevertheless, Gruden’s second tenure in Oakland/Las Vegas was undeniably disappointing: 22-31 in three and a half seasons, with no playoff berths.

Davis appointed Rich Bisaccia as the interim head coach, as the Raiders tried to salvage their season in the face of Gruden’s headline-grabbing departure. The Raiders won back-to-back games over Denver and Philadelphia, looking sneaky good at a 5-2 record heading into the bye week.

On November 2, 2021, Henry Ruggs III committed vehicular homicide while driving drunk in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Las Vegas. The victim, 23-year-old Tina Tintor and her dog, Max, died at the scene when her car was engulfed in flames. Ruggs was convicted in October 2023 and is serving a sentence at Northern Nevada Correctional Center.

Nine days later, Raiders receiver Henry Ruggs III was involved in a truly horrifying incident — after an alcohol-fueled night with his girlfriend and a handful of others at a local Top Golf, Ruggs got behind the wheel of his car.

With a blood alcohol level of more than 0.161% (more than double the legal limit in Nevada), Ruggs violently rear-ended another vehicle in the early morning hours of Nov. 2nd. The car erupted in flames and tragically killed the driver, a 23-year-old woman and her dog, who was in the backseat. Ruggs, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries, was charged with DUI resulting in death and reckless driving. The Raiders released him less than 12 hours later and it’s unlikely Ruggs will ever play a down in the NFL again. Facing roughly eight to 10 years in prison, Ruggs is currently incarcerated at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center in Carson City.

It wasn’t over.

As if the aftermath of the Ruggs incident wasn’t horrific enough — Derek Carr famously teared up at the press conference podium — Damon Arnette went crazy. For lack of a better term.

Arnette, who had character concerns coming out of college at Ohio State, posted numerous videos on social media of him brandishing firearms and threatening unspecified people in several profanity-laced clips. In the same week, he was accused by a woman of injuring her in a car accident, and the rumors were that Arnette’s threatening videos were the responses to the accusations (not exactly smart on his part). Arnette was cut from the Raiders as well. On January 3rd, another rookie cornerback, Nate Hobbs, was arrested for a DUI.

Rich Bisaccia was highly praised by players as an effective leader who held the locker room together during the 2021 season. After his successful tenure as the interim head coach in Las Vegas, Bisaccia is now the special teams coordinator with the Green Bay Packers.

Amidst all the chaos and self-destructive player decisions, the Raiders somehow rallied. Rich Bisaccia was in an impossible situation as the interim head coach. A career special teams coordinator, Bisaccia was widely acclaimed by the players.

In 2007, an average Washington Redskins team went through their own tragedy after Pro Bowl safety Sean Taylor was shot and murdered in a home invasion. Despite standing at 5-7, Washington played inspired football in Taylor’s memory, somehow ran the table and made the playoffs at 9-7.

Similarly in 2021, the bruised and battered Raiders had been through hell, and somehow rallied to make the postseason for the first time since they moved to the desert. Bisaccia went 7-5 as the interim coach and the Raiders snagged a wild card selection with a record of 10-7. While prepping to play Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals, Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby, among others, gave Bisaccia a glowing endorsement for the full-time head coaching gig.

“He’s somebody you look forward to seeing every morning and just getting to work with,” Crosby said of Bisaccia. “He’s a great coach from top to bottom…with all the things going on in our building, we still found a way to stay together and win. I think that’s a big reflection of Rich.”

It wasn’t meant to be: the Raiders lost to the Bengals, 26-19, in the wild card round.

Josh McDaniels, a longtime Bill Belichick assistant in New England, got the Las Vegas job in January 2022 and things quickly went south.

Part 4: Some people just don’t deserve second chances

There are coaches that people love to hate. And then there are coaches that literally nobody likes.

Josh McDaniels is one of the latter.

Not many other coaches get told “They’re talking a lot of s–t about you,” during a postgame handshake. Or spurn the handshake altogether in order to pump up the home crowd.

McDaniels was the prototypical wunderkind; around the year Y2K, the former Division III quarterback was gifted an NFL career thanks to mutual connections between his dad — Ohio high school coaching legend Thom McDaniels — Nick Saban and Bill Belichick. McDaniels began working for Belichick’s New England Patriots during their dynasty era, and by 2007 he was the hottest assistant coaching name in the industry. Although the Pats infamously lost a stunner to Eli Manning’s New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII, a perfect 16-0 regular season and career-best numbers for Tom Brady instantly made McDaniels a household name at the time.

McDaniels flamed out when the Denver Broncos hired him in 2009. Trying to build New England v2.0, McDaniels alienated his players almost immediately, banning music at practice and micro-managing nearly every aspect of the football department. He was caught publicly trying to shop QB Jay Cutler to the Patriots in order to handpick a QB himself (in this case, Matt Cassel, Brady’s backup). Cutler’s agent leaked the terms of the deal and Cutler publicly stated that he didn’t trust the Broncos to do right by him. Despite a 6-0 start in 2009, McDaniels destroyed a highly-functioning offense in real time. Wide receiver Eddie Royal, a Virginia Tech product with electric speed, was essentially written out of the offense despite a promising rookie year in ’07, while tight end Tony Scheffler and running back Peyton Hillis suffered similar fates. Despite being highly-skilled as an offensive coordinator, translating McDaniels’s philosophies to Denver was rocky, to put it politely.

Everyone else got sick of McDaniels in record time (and got sick of posting career-worst numbers) and national TV cameras spotting him berating and swearing at his players. Belichick could be abrasive, of course, but he had Super Bowl rings to back up his ego. McDaniels didn’t, and he was rightly viewed as a poser. The Broncos canned him after only two seasons. After that 6-0 start in Year One, McDaniels finished 11-17 with the Broncos.

He returned to New England and worked well in Belichick’s tightly-controlled environment. Everywhere else was a disaster. McDaniels showed his true colors once again by agreeing to become the Indianapolis Colts’ head coach in February 2018, only to renege on the deal within hours and decide to stay with the Patriots, leaving the Colts empty-handed at the altar. In response, McDaniels’s agent, Bob LaMonte, quit in disgust.

By the time Mark Davis came calling, McDaniels was insisting he was a changed man, spinning a heartwarming tale of how asking his dad for advice helped him make a list of what he would do differently if hired again. “When I went to Denver, I knew a little bit about football, but I didn’t really know people and how important that aspect of this process was. I didn’t succeed at it,” McDaniels admitted when Las Vegas hired him in January 2022.

It went off the rails almost immediately, and Davis was left to reckon with passing over a players’ coach like Bisaccia over a dictatorial weasel like McDaniels.

Flash-forward to Halloween 2023. As sports radio host Rich Eisen quipped at the time, it was a rare instance of a responsible decision being made after midnight in Las Vegas.

After lasting only 28 games in Denver, McDaniels couldn’t even match that in Vegas, going 9-16 overall. McDaniels’s old friend, general manager Dave Ziegler, came to the Raiders with him as a package deal, and Davis fired him too.

“The McDaniels-era Raiders were a complete disaster: an expensive and haphazardly constructed roster, heavy on ex-Patriots and light on difference-making talent, and a poorly coached team that was getting embarrassed on the field with stunning frequency,” wrote The Ringer’s Austin Gayle.

The Raiders lost a game in December 2022 to the Los Angeles Rams, who were long eliminated from the postseason and were starting newly-signed Baker Mayfield at QB after he had been there for only three days. The Raiders also blew the largest lead in franchise history to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 2 of 2022, losing 29-23 in overtime after initially taking a 20-0 lead. They lost to Indianapolis and interim coach Jeff Saturday, who had never coached an NFL game before, by a score of 25-20.

But it was an embarrassing 26-14 defeat at the hands of the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football in Week 8, 2023 that truly sealed McDaniels’s fate. The sight of wide receiver Davante Adams slamming his helmet to the ground in frustration on the sideline became emblematic of Raider Nation’s headaches.

Wide receiver Davante Adams left Green Bay to sign a five-year, $141 million deal to move to Las Vegas and reunite with his teammate at Fresno State, Derek Carr, but it didn’t exactly go according to plan. Nonetheless, he has posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, and new Las Vegas GM Tom Telesco has promised that Adams will be a Raider in 2024.

It was a case of Denver deja vu.

After initially selling him on his vision for the offense, McDaniels clashed with Derek Carr, and he posted 3,522 passing yards a year after throwing for over 4,800 yards with the Raiders.

“I had never heard Derek spoken to like Josh did,” one anonymous Raider player told Sports Illustrated. “He didn’t drop F-bombs or ridicule him, but film sessions with Josh are brutal.”

Josh Jacobs led the league in rushing (1,653 yards) in 2022, but in 2023 (the second year under McDaniels) he had only 805 yards after sitting out offseason workouts due to his contract situation.

Adams, who became a household name while working with Aaron Rodgers during his Green Bay prime, was stoked to reunite with Carr, his college teammate and best friend, in Vegas.

Playing in McDaniels’s outdated offense, Adams posted nearly 400 fewer receiving yards and six fewer touchdowns in 2023 than in 2022. Carr was benched for the final two games in 2022 to save salary cap space and later admitted that his wife cried when it happened. Happy to leave Vegas and McDaniels behind, Carr left for New Orleans a year ago holding many of the Raiders’ all-time passing records.

McDaniels’s prized QB recruit to replace Carr was (you guessed it!) former Patriots backup Jimmy Garroppolo, who signed a three-year, $67 million deal last winter after a semi-successful stint with the 49ers. All Garroppolo did was go 3-5 as a starter before getting benched for fourth-round rookie Aidan O’Connell. The man better known as “Jimmy G” is now expected to be let go after a single season in Vegas, in which he threw for a paltry 1,205 yards, seven touchdowns and nine interceptions.

“McDaniels is a guy who routinely botches in-game management decisions and struggles to relate to players,” Gayle continued. “Respondents in this year’s NFLPA player survey said McDaniels is less likely to listen to his players and keeps them for longer hours than other head coaches around the league. He gets himself into awkward situations with his quarterbacks, and will default to signing former Patriots, like he did in Vegas with Garoppolo and receiver Jakobi Meyers, as part of a roster overhaul.”

In short, Josh McDaniels failed (again) because he didn’t learn from his mistakes (again). And with Belichick finally moving on from New England, he has no one to save him. Good riddance.

At age 45, Antonio Pierce will become the full-time coach of the Raiders in 2024. He spent nine seasons in the NFL with the Washington Redskins and New York Giants as a linebacker, winning Super Bowl XLII with the Giants.

Part 5: The Pierce era

Fearing a player mutiny if he passed over an interim head coach again, Davis did the smart thing and promoted former linebackers coach Antonio Pierce from interim to full-time coach on January 19, 2024. Pierce had gone 5-4 as the interim and had respect of the locker room. Importantly, he brought back the old-school Raider mentality: aggressive defense and tough players.

A former Super Bowl-winning linebacker himself who enjoyed a nine-year NFL career, Pierce is from Compton, California and grew up idolizing local rappers N.W.A, who were proud fans of the-then LA Raiders. It’s that kind of nostalgia for the old days that’s made Raider players gravitate towards Pierce, and even though he never played for the Raiders himself, he seems like he has the right philosophies, despite his lack of head coaching experience. At the very least, Mark Davis finally learned how to go with his gut and to listen to the players, for better or worse.

What’s the long-term prognosis for the Raiders? Well, despite showing flashes, O’Connell might not be the long-term future at QB. The most logical choice would be LSU’s Heisman-winning QB, Jayden Daniels, but alas, Las Vegas has the #13 overall pick in April’s NFL draft and Daniels will likely be long-gone by then. Despite Daniels having a long-term relationship with the Raiders’ coach — Pierce recruited Daniels to Arizona State in 2018 — it’s unlikely that the Raiders will have the draft capital to move up and select Daniels.

Back in April 2016, a full year before the relocation was approved by the NFL, and still hoping he had found the longtime home for his dad’s team, Mark Davis clarified that, despite outsider skepticism, he believed that the Las Vegas Raiders could become a reality. “Together, we can turn the Silver State into the Silver & Black State,” Davis said.

Unfortunately for Raider Nation, all Vegas has brought is the same mediocrity as before.

2023-24 FBS Coaching Carousel

It’s that time of year again — and this offseason, we’ve got plenty of other changes in the college football landscape, most notably the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.

As reigning national champ Michigan turns the page on the Jim Harbaugh era, teams like Oregon and Ohio State remain lurking after big-name transfer portal and assistant coaching additions. Other powerhouses like Texas, LSU, Tennessee, Florida State, Oklahoma and Ole Miss are all worthy of top 10 consideration, while dark horses this fall could be names like Louisville, Penn State, Utah, and Notre Dame.

It’ll be fascinating as usual to watch it all unfold, and here’s my ranking of all the head coaching changes this winter.

1) Kalen DeBoer, Alabama

• Age: 49
• Hometown: Milbank, South Dakota
• Alma Mater: Sioux Falls
• Previous Job: Head Coach, Washington

If you can possibly believe it, DeBoer has a higher winning percentage than Nick Saban, the guy he’s replacing.

OK, Saban is an impossible act to follow (six national championships, stacked recruiting classes, countless NFL draft picks, etc.). And DeBoer went 67-3 at tiny University of Sioux Falls (his alma mater) in the late 2000s.

But make no mistake, DeBoer’s elite offenses and combined 37-9 record at Fresno State (2020-21) and Washington (2022-23) tell the tale. He can recruit and develop, he hires great assistant coaches and he has a reputation as a positive locker room presence who can make multiple moving parts work seamlessly, as evidenced by his outstanding usage of transfer portal players at Washington as they ascended back to the College Football Playoff in 2023. DeBoer has never coached in the SEC, but it hardly matters; he just wins. And Saban would certainly give his frown of approval for that. 

2) Willie Fritz, Houston

• Age: 63
• Hometown: Shawnee Mission, Kansas
• Alma Mater: Pittsburg State
• Previous Job: Head Coach, Tulane

It was originally believed that the size of Dana Holgorsen’s buyout and the expectedly bumpy transition from the AAC to the Big 12 would grant him a mulligan, but nope. The Cougars finished 4-8 in their first Big 12 season and decided to bring in proven winner Willie Fritz to get them over the hump.

Fritz had been rumored for Power Five jobs for so long, as he was rumored to be a finalist at Georgia Tech last offseason. He got Tulane to back-to-back double-digit win seasons, going 23-4 during that span, and before that, he won 17 games in two seasons at Georgia Southern. And before that, he went 40-15 with three FCS playoff berths in four seasons at Sam Houston, giving him credibility in the Texas recruiting market. 

Houston is a fine job: it has plenty of recent success and a fairly young stadium surrounded by fertile recruiting grounds, but the administration needs to level up in terms of money and resources in order to win consistently in the Big 12. Fritz will help them develop a unique identity that they can sustain in recruiting, and he’ll have more flexibility with the portal than he did at Tulane, whose private school academics made that difficult. This is certainly a high-profile hire and Fritz will be expected to win quickly.

3) Sherrone Moore, Michigan

• Age: 37
• Hometown: Derby, Kansas
• Alma Mater: Oklahoma
• Previous Job: Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach, Michigan

No pressure here. None whatsoever. 

After Jim Harbaugh went back to the NFL following a national championship at his alma mater in 2023, Moore was the natural choice to take over. He already went 4-0 as the acting head coach last year while Harbaugh served an NCAA suspension related to the ongoing investigation into alleged sign-stealing committed by former Wolverines off-field staffer Connor Stalions.

Moore is luckier than most head coaches, as he’ll have all of the spring semester to keep his players focused before the summer transfer portal window opens, so there’s optimism that he can keep the Wolverines in national contention. He’ll have an impossible act to follow, but Moore has the respect of the players and represents continuity. 

4) Jeff Lebby, Mississippi State

• Age: 39
• Hometown: McGregor, Texas
• Alma Mater: Oklahoma 
• Previous Job: Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach, Oklahoma

Zac Arnett didn’t even last the full 2023 season after taking over in less than ideal circumstances in December 2022 following the tragic death of coach Mike Leach. Arnett made wholesale changes to the offensive staff in the offseason, so the new scheme changes (plus a rash of injuries) made the offense crater in 2023 as the Bulldogs missed out on a bowl.

Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby walks into Starkville with a reputation for explosive offenses, so Mississippi State should be able to compete more consistently again in the SEC, although it’s not getting any easier, with Lebby’s former Sooners and the Texas Longhorns joining the conference in 2024. Lebby’s assistant salary pool is larger than Arnett’s, proving that new athletic director Zac Selmon (another former Sooner) is willing to spend more to make sure the Bulldogs can return to their winning ways in the nation’s toughest conference.

5) Jedd Fisch, Washington

• Age: 47
• Hometown: Livingston, New Jersey
• Alma Mater: Florida
• Previous Job: Head Coach, Arizona

Fisch has all of a sudden become the hottest names in the coaching profession after his masterful three-year turnaround job at Arizona, where he went from 1-11 to 5-7 to 10-3. He earned massive kudos for his recruiting and his staff assembly, and his extensive NFL experience works in his favor – although Fisch did not play football himself as an undergrad, he has the distinction of working alongside some of the biggest names in the coaching business, including Bill Belichick, Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll.

Although there was arguably still more work to be done at Arizona as they entered the Big 12 in 2024, Washington gave Fisch a $7 million-plus offer to relocate to Seattle, and he couldn’t refuse. The Huskies will still need to maintain the same standard they had under ex-coach Kalen DeBoer in order to continue to be playoff contenders, however. There’s also still uncertainty about if UW can really recruit head-to-head with other Big Ten juggernauts. 

6) Curt Cignetti, Indiana

• Age: 62
• Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Alma Mater: West Virginia
• Previous Job: Head Coach, James Madison

Who doesn’t love this hire? If anyone can approach the Hoosiers’ challenges in the Big Ten (there’s many), it’s Cignetti, the guy who’s never had a losing season and who led James Madison from the FCS to the Sun Belt the past two seasons, winning 19 out of 23 games in the process. It was inevitable that he would move on to a bigger program eventually, but Indiana is a curious choice. 

You can win here – ESPN College GameDay legend Lee Corso once coached in Bloomington – but it’s challenging to win consistently and the Hoosiers have been snakebitten recently, both by the portal, a lack of internal development, and talented coordinators moving on to better opportunities elsewhere. The one downside is Cignetti’s age (62), but he should be able to transform the Hoosiers’ roster with time. 

7) Mike Elko, Texas A&M

• Age: 46
• Hometown: South Brunswick, New Jersey
• Alma Mater: Penn
• Previous Job: Head Coach, Duke

Former Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork said it best – the Aggies weren’t paying Jimbo Fisher to go 8-4 every season, and the Aggie football program had become a car stuck in neutral. Despite insanely well-regarded recruiting classes, Fisher’s complex pro-style offense proved to be his undoing, and despite a great career as a quarterback whisperer, too many talented prospects at the position either transferred out of College Station or just didn’t develop.

Mike Elko returns to town after a very surprising two-year run at Duke (16-9), where he gave the program a jolt of energy, especially on defense. He also knows the terrain at A&M, having worked under Fisher as an assistant from 2018-21. He won’t be the flashy name that Aggie fans craved – apparently, they were close to luring Kentucky’s Mark Stoops – but Elko has the opportunity to finally get the Aggies over the hump in the SEC.

8) Jon Sumrall, Tulane

• Age: 41
• Hometown: Huntsville, Alabama
• Alma Mater: Kentucky
• Previous Job: Head Coach, Troy

Sumrall’s name began surging, and rightfully so, after Troy came out of nowhere to win 23 combined games in the past two seasons, as well as back-to-back Sun Belt Conference championships. Tulane poached Sumrall after Willie Fritz finally left for Houston, and Sumrall, a former Kentucky linebacker, will be able to imprint his defensive identity on the Green Wave. 

As easy as Fritz made it look on occasion, Tulane remains a tough job and winning consistently is hard here. But the on-field success has allowed Tulane to have more credibility with in-state recruiting, and Fritz left the roster in very good shape. Don’t bet against Sumrall continuing to crank out winning seasons, this time in New Orleans.

9) Manny Diaz, Duke

• Age: 49
• Hometown: Miami, Florida
• Alma Mater: Florida State 
• Previous Job: Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach, Penn State

Diaz was cut loose from his hometown Miami Hurricanes in 2021, but rehabbed his reputation after two outstanding years as Penn State’s defensive coordinator, producing a top 10 unit nationally this past fall. Now he’ll get another chance in the ACC at Duke, a program that saw Mike Elko pack his bags and return to Texas A&M after only two seasons.

Duke will always be a basketball school, but the administration has been willing to spend more on football in recent years, including the recent Wallace Wade Stadium renovation. Diaz can recruit well, but Duke is vulnerable to losing players via the portal. Can he keep the good times rolling for a Blue Devils squad that has little margin for error?

10) Fran Brown, Syracuse

• Age: 40
• Hometown: Camden, New Jersey
• Alma Mater: Western Carolina 
• Previous Job: Defensive Backs Coach, Georgia

After eight seasons, the Dino Babers regime had run out of gas, and the Orange’s lack of depth exposed their inability to close out close games or to take advantage of hot Septembers or Octobers, only to fall apart down the stretch in the past two Novembers. 

To Babers’ credit, he tried to change up schemes and adapt his recruiting–and he’ll always have that thrilling 2018 season–but he lost too many players to better transfer opportunities and finished with a 41-55 record in eight seasons. Syracuse is not an easy place to win – there’s a lack of local high school talent and the school is closer to Ottawa than it is to New York City. It’s the definition of a developmental program, and that’s increasingly hard to manage in modern college football. 

Fran Brown looms as a sneaky-good hire for the Orange; not only does he have a national championship pedigree as a former Georgia assistant under Kirby Smart, but he’s experienced in the Northeast, having coached multiple seasons at Temple under Matt Rhule and Rutgers under Greg Schiano. Still just 40, Brown can buy himself some time at Syracuse if he banks some early wins on the recruiting trail, and the early returns in the transfer portal have been promising.

11) Sean Lewis, San Diego State

• Age: 37
• Hometown: Oak Lawn, Illinois
• Alma Mater: Wisconsin
• Previous Job: Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach, Colorado

It was evident on October 21st that Brady Hoke was on the way out, as his San Diego State Aztecs dropped a game 6-0 at home against a Nevada team holding a nation-worst 16-game losing streak. That horrendous result epitomized what SDSU had become: anemic, inept offense, no clear identity on defense, and a lack of player development. The season wound up being the worst at Montezuma Mesa since 2009 and it was clear that Hoke was on the hot seat. 

Eventually, Hoke saved athletic director J.D. Wicker the trouble, and the 65-year-old coach announced his retirement on November 13th. 

Enter Colorado offensive coordinator Sean Lewis. He’s known for a fast-paced offense that can surely help put butts in seats at SDSU. He also turned Kent State into consistent contenders in the MAC (a historically impossible task) during his run there from 2018-22. 

Although he lost his playcalling duties midseason while he was the OC at Colorado in 2023, Lewis has lots of respect in coaching circles and runs a quarterback-friendly scheme. If he can adapt to the rigors of West Coast recruiting, Lewis can find a path to Mountain West success.

SDSU has a world-class basketball team that reached the Final Four in 2023, and they were rumored Pac-12 expansion candidates before the conference imploded this past year. Make no mistake: there will be pressure at SDSU to win immediately, but first things first: reboot the offense and re-energize a fanbase that’s grown apathetic about Aztec football. 

12) Brent Brennan, Arizona

• Age: 50
• Hometown: Redwood City, California
• Alma Mater: UCLA
• Previous Job: Head Coach, San José State

As the late Yogi Berra would say, “Deja vu all over again.” 

Brennan interviewed at Arizona during the 2021 coaching search that turned up Fisch, who bolted for Washington in January after leading the Wildcats to a remarkable turnaround in three years. The Arizona football program had become a complete afterthought on campus, the administration had fired a washed-up Kevin Sumlin, and now Fisch was tasked to lead the turnaround.

Known for being a high-energy, CEO-type coach, Fisch flexed his recruiting muscles, reeling in the Pac-12 Conference’s best class in 2022 despite coming off a pitiful 1-11 debut. The Wildcats jumped up to 5-7 and 2022 and then 10-3 in 2023, including a big Alamo Bowl win over Oklahoma and an invitation to move to the Big 12 after the Pac-12 died on the vine. Then Fisch moved even further west and set up shop at CFP runner-up Washington, who’s transitioning into the Big Ten in 2024.

Brennan had a nice turnaround job of his own at San José State from 2017-23, earning three bowl trips at a success-starved program still attempting to find its way in the Mountain West. Importantly, he hung into assistant coaches, including coordinators, when bigger opportunities reared their heads. He also has a proven track record as a recruiter in the Southwest and Pacific Northwest. This wasn’t a sexy hire, but such hires rarely are. 

13) Major Applewhite, South Alabama

• Age: 45
• Hometown: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Alma Mater: Texas
• Previous Job: Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach, South Alabama

Applewhite was promoted from within after previous South Alabama head coach Kane Wommack left for a position on Kalen DeBoer’s new staff at Alabama in January. Applewhite has previous head coaching experience (15-10 in two seasons at Houston) and he engineered an explosive offense for the Jaguars, as they went 22-16 under Wommack the past three seasons. 

Applewhite’s offensive mind and nearby recruiting connections should give him credibility with recruits, and the Jags have an (almost) brand-new stadium to show off. He was a member of Nick Saban’s inaugural staff at Alabama in 2007 and was also a Texas QB in the late 90s for Mack Brown.

There’s a proven path to success here now for this young program that’s only been in existence since 2009. The Sun Belt could also be in transition in 2024 as other powerhouse programs (Troy, James Madison, etc) have new coaches of their own, so the Jags could at least have the element of surprise on their hands.

14) Jeff Choate, Nevada

• Age: 53
• Hometown: St. Maries, Idaho
• Alma Mater: Montana Western 
• Previous Job: Co-Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach, Texas

Choate is an interesting hire for a Wolf Pack program that rapidly lost its way in two woeful years under Ken Wilson, who went 4-20. Choate is starting from scratch, sure, but he’s been an acclaimed assistant under coaches like Chris Petersen (2006-11 at Boise State, 2014-15 at Washington) and, most recently, Steve Sarkisian at Texas (‘21-’23). 

In between that, Choate boasted a 28-22 record at Montana State from 2016-19, including two FCS playoff berths. So it’s not unrealistic to assume that he can get Nevada back to its winning ways given his familiarity in the region. He’s a solid recruiter and has developed a reputation as a special teams guru, holding that role at schools like Washington, Florida, Boise State and Utah State. Bottom line: Wolf Pack fans can expect another rough year, but Choate was a hot name in Mountain West circles for a reason. 

15) Trent Bray, Oregon State

• Age: 41
• Hometown: Flagstaff, Arizona
• Alma Mater: Oregon State 
• Previous Job: Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach, Oregon State

You’d be hard-pressed to find a program that finds itself in an unluckier position than Oregon State. Although the Beavers were ranked most of the year and finished 8-4, they were blown out by rival Oregon in Eugene as the Pac-12 crumbled around them thanks to conference realignment. The only two remaining Pac-12 schools – OSU and Washington State – are both in isolated locations and are historically difficult to win at due to recruiting issues. 

Loyal alum Jonathan Smith rebuilt the program from scratch, but it’s blatantly obvious that, with OSU’s conference future up in the air, Smith thought the wise decision would be to pack up and leave for greener pastures – in this case, another Power 5 rebuilding project at Michigan State.

There’s clearly talent in Corvallis, plus a newly-renovated Reser Stadium, but the athletic department is heavily in debt. Therefore, promoting defensive coordinator Trent Bray, another Beaver alum, from within was both a logical decision and a smart one as the Beavers venture into uncharted territory in 2024.

16) Tony Sanchez, New Mexico State

• Age: 50
• Hometown: Fairfield, California
• Alma Mater: New Mexico State 
• Previous Job: Wide Receivers Coach, New Mexico State

Long-suffering NMSU Aggie fans were delirious the past two seasons, as veteran head coach Jerry Kill, known as the “fix-it guy,” delivered 17 wins and back-to-back bowl berths for a rock-bottom Aggie program that had hadn’t won double-digit games since JFK was in the White House. Kill called it a career after a New Mexico Bowl loss to Fresno State in December, citing burnout, overall health and energy, disagreement with the current state of college football. With recruiting at stake, athletic director Mario Moccia promoted Sanchez from within. 

Sanchez has had a unique journey. He’s an NMSU alum who’s lived his entire career in the Southwest, and like Kill, has a reputation as a rebuilder of programs–high school programs. He also went an astonishing 85-5 at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, winning six Nevada state championships. 

Sanchez later went 20-40 as the head coach at UNLV from 2015-2019, but he helped build the Feritta Football Complex and was part of the negotiations that allowed Rebel football to have split access to Allegiant Stadium with the Las Vegas Raiders. He was part of Kill’s inaugural staff at NMSU in 2022 after they both worked under Gary Patterson at TCU the year prior, and Sanchez has admitted that he’s learned a lot from both coaches about building successful teams. 

Getting elite players poached by Power Five teams via the portal is a very real danger for NMSU, but the same reality exists for all Conference USA schools, and let’s not forget that the Aggies were a couple of quarters away from a conference title in their first year in the league last season. The margin for error is razor-thin, but continuity should work in NMSU’s favor here. New facilities promised to be built under Kill’s watch are still going through, and Sanchez has promised to be aggressive in recruiting. Las Cruces is suddenly home to one of the most interesting programs in the FBS – can Sanchez keep the good vibes going?

17) Ken Niumatalolo, San José State

• Age: 58
• Hometown: Lāʻie, Hawai’i
• Alma Mater: Hawai’i
• Previous Job: Director of Leadership/Interim Tight Ends Coach, UCLA

This one is intriguing. Niumatalolo is the winningest coach in Navy football history, assembling a record of 109-83 in 15 seasons and embracing a physical brand of football on both sides.

While he won’t be running the triple-option offense at SJSU like he did at the academy, Niumatalolo makes sense for a program that knows it’s among the have-nots in the FBS and needs to maintain a stronger brand heading forward. Niumatalolo is well-regarded as a player’s coach and he’s used to overachieving. He should be able to recruit well, but he’s hardly young (58) and will need to navigate the portal successfully in particular. The Spartans should remain competitive in the Mountain West, but the margin for error is slim. 

18) Bronco Mendenhall, New Mexico

• Age: 57
• Hometown: Alpine, Utah
• Alma Mater: Oregon State
• Previous Job: Head Coach, Virginia (2016-21)

After a two-year hiatus, Mendenhall is back in business at a new location. It’s ancient history now, but Mendenhall first rose to prominence from 1998-2001 when he was New Mexico’s defensive coordinator under Rocky Long, recruiting future legend Brian Urlacher and developing a then-unique 3-3-5 defensive scheme. From there, Mendenhall moved into BYU, where he became a national name, then he spearheaded another impressive turnaround at Virginia from 2016-21.

Altogether, Mendenhall boasts a 135-81 career record and is well-versed in the unique challenges of recruiting to Albuquerque, although it’s a hard job that’s gotten harder – UNM went 11-32 under Lobo alum Danny Gonzales from 2020-23, and they haven’t been bowling since Bob Davie was head coach in 2016.

19) Gerad Parker, Troy

• Age: 42
• Hometown: Huntington, West Virginia
• Alma Mater: Kentucky
• Previous Job: Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends Coach, Notre Dame

Two out of three of Troy’s most recent head coaches, Neal Brown and Jon Sumrall, have since moved onto greener pastures, and after Sumrall led the Trojans to back-to-back Sun Belt championship game berths and 23 wins in two seasons, he moved west to the Big Easy to tackle the Tulane job.

Parker has a lengthy resume of quality gigs at Power Five schools: West Virginia, Duke, Purdue and Penn State, just to name a few, and was most recently the OC at Notre Dame under head coach Marcus Freeman. An ace recruiter and a well-known wide receiver whisperer, Parker has a solid reputation and Troy offers him a good job to cut his teeth on, although staying at the top of the Sun Belt is difficult historically. The one blemish on Parker’s record? A February 2017 DUI arrest that resulted in him losing a potential gig as the receivers coach at East Carolina.

20) Bob Chesney, James Madison

• Age: 46
• Hometown: Kulpmont, Pennsylvania
• Alma Mater: Dickinson College
• Previous Job: Head Coach, Holy Cross

After leading James Madison to a 20-4 record in the past two seasons, Curt Cignetti packed his bags for the Big Ten, taking over the Indiana job in early December. 

Chesney might not be a household name, but his four consecutive Patriot League titles and undefeated 2022 regular season at Holy Cross were enough to turn heads at the FCS level. With quality recruiting connections on the East Coast, he could definitely be a solid choice to keep JMU’s train rolling. 

The Dukes qualified for a bowl game in 2023 for the first time, but, at 11-1, they were ineligible for a College Football Playoff ranking or a New Year’s Six bowl since they were in their second year transitioning from the FCS to the FBS. This drew nationwide attention and even sparked a brief lawsuit against the NCAA. 

Chesney won’t need to worry about that, as the Dukes are through the transition phase now and are still hoping to dominate the Sun Belt in 2024, regardless of who’s behind the head coach’s desk. But in a league where 12 out of 14 football members were bowl eligible this year, who can say who will be champion in 2024?

21) Jay Sawvel, Wyoming

• Age: 52
• Hometown: Barnesville, Ohio
• Alma Mater: Mount Union
• Previous Job: Defensive Coordinator/Safeties Coach, Wyoming

It had been rumored for awhile that Craig Bohl would step down after an accomplished decade at Wyoming in which he got the Cowboys to six bowl games and recruited the program’s best-ever NFL product, quarterback Josh Allen. Bohl decided to make it as clean of a transition as possible, coaching through the 2023 Arizona Bowl before stepping down and promoting the 52-year-old Sawvel from within.

Sawvel’s D has been dominant in Laramie, consistently lifting Wyoming to success. Sawvel came from the D-III powerhouse Mount Union, cutting his teeth under veteran head coach Jerry Kill at Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois and Minnesota. Before he moved onto Wyoming, he had a solid two-year stint in the Power Five as the defensive coordinator at Wake Forest.

Sawvel’s not a flashy hire, but a good developmental hire for Wyoming, a blue-collar program that has to fight to get recruits on campus. If he can maintain the standard that Bohl set, Sawvel will keep the defense-minded Cowboys relevant in the Mountain West.

22) Spencer Danielson, Boise State

• Age: 35
• Hometown: Solana Beach, California
• Alma Mater: Azusa Pacific
• Previous Job: Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers Coach/Interim Head Coach, Boise State

It seemed like a genius idea at the time.

Andy Avalos was a Boise State alum and a former all-conference linebacker who worked as an assistant there before becoming a national name as Oregon’s defensive coordinator in 2019-20. After Bryan Harsin moved on, Avalos returned to the Treasure Valley, energizing a passionate Boise State fanbase that another one of their own was returning.

Despite solid recruiting, there was no consistency, and the Broncos started slow in non-conference play, dropping games to teams like Washington (2023), Oregon State (2022) and Oklahoma State (2021) that they would normally have a chance at upsetting. Avalos bought himself some time with a midseason dismissal of offensive coordinator Tim Plough after a 2-2 start in 2022, but that did little to help the Broncos develop an identity. 

Avalos’s dismissal after less than three seasons underscores the lack of patience that so many programs have developed in the College Football Playoff era – and speaking of which, the good news is that the Boise State job offers an outside shot to the CFP as an at-large bid now that the playoff has expanded in 2024. 

It made sense to elevate Danielson from within after the Broncos ran the table following Avalos’s firing, including a 44-20 win in the Mountain West Championship Game over an upstart UNLV program.

BSU has everything it needs to succeed: a great stadium, a rabid fanbase, a national profile and the ability to spend money in name, image & likeness (NIL) opportunities for student-athletes. They can still stake a claim as the best overall Group of Five team in America, with 25 straight winning seasons to boot. 

But can they dominate the Mountain West again? Danielson gets the first crack at it, and at only 35 years old, could grow into the role. The lone reason of concern is sheer inexperience – Danielson has been on staff at Boise State since 2017, but before that, his CV included only four seasons as an assistant at his alma mater, the Division II Azusa Pacific Cougars, who shut down their program in 2020.

23) Pete Lembo, Buffalo

• Age: 53
• Hometown: Staten Island, New York
• Alma Mater: Georgetown
• Previous Job: Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator, South Carolina

Lembo has had a unique journey back to head coaching, as he’ll return to the MAC after previously being a head coach at Ball State. In the 2000s, Lembo was a hot name in the FCS after going 44-14 at Lehigh (2001-05) 35-22 at Elon (2006-10), and that helped him land the Ball State gig in 2011. Lembo started off strong, earning back to back bowl bids in 2012-13, but a combined 8-16 record the next two seasons sealed his fate.

Then Lembo reinvented himself as a special teams wizard, holding that coordinator title for eight seasons with four different schools. At his most recent stop, South Carolina, Lembo’s special teams units were frequently among the nation’s best.

It might not be a flashy hire, but at Buffalo, Lembo won’t be under pressure to win immediately – the Bulls mostly treaded water under Maurice Linguist, who went 14-23 in three seasons before he moved onto the defensive coordinator gig at Alabama several weeks ago. 

24) Bryant Vincent, Louisiana-Monroe

• Age: 48
• Hometown: Glasgow, Kentucky
• Alma Mater: West Alabama
• Previous Job: Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach, New Mexico

Vincent emerged as a head coaching contender in the past two seasons thanks to two different tasks in two different, challenging situations. In 2022, he unexpectedly found himself as the interim head coach at UAB after Bill Clark stepped down due to health issues. He went 7-6, got the Blazers to a bowl game, and running back Dewayne McBride was one of the nation’s best rushers. Despite players on the roster giving him a vote of confidence, UAB administration spurned Vincent, electing to hire ex-NFL QB Trent Dilfer as the Blazers’ next full-time coach in a surprise move.

Vincent landed in Albuquerque, where he helped jumpstart a stagnant New Mexico offense in 2023 using grad transfer Dylan Hopkins, his former quarterback at UAB. While the Lobos went 4-8 and head coach Danny Gonzales got fired regardless, Vincent’s offense jumped the national rankings by over 100 spots and earned him kudos from people in the know.

It’s obvious what the blueprint is here. Vincent runs a run-first offense mixed with play-action passing, and if he can recruit high schools better than his predecessor Terry Bowden (dismissed after three losing seasons), he might turn out as a solid hire, even in a very competitive conference. Despite being located in talent-rich Louisiana, ULM has only one bowl game (2012) and no Sun Belt titles to its credit since joining the FBS in 1994.

25) Scotty Walden, UTEP

• Age: 34
• Hometown: Cleburne, Texas
• Alma Mater: Sul Ross State
• Previous Job: Head Coach, Austin Peay

Walden, at only 34 years old, won 26 games in four seasons in the FCS at Austin Peay, posting a winning record every year and developing a reputation as a high-energy coach with a productive offensive scheme. 

A graduate of Division II Sul Ross State – 220 remote miles away from equally remote El Paso – Walden can recruit in West Texas, but his lack of FBS experience works against him. Although he was an interim head coach at Southern Miss in 2020 following Jay Hopson’s resignation, Walden went only 1-3 down the stretch and has a grand total of only four seasons as an FBS assistant (all at Southern Miss). 

It’s a gamble, but UTEP athletic director Jim Senter wanted someone young and energetic after the Dana Dimel experiment failed. A veteran coach from the Bill Snyder coaching tree, Dimel rebuilt a program that was devoid of talent starting in 2018, but didn’t break through to the postseason until 2021 and never got there again, leaving El Paso with a record of 20-49.

Top 10 Conference USA breakout candidates (defense)

Continuing with my look at the revamped CUSA in 2023, I’ve identified 10 breakout players for these teams on defense heading into the fall season.

1. CB Amier Boyd-Matthews, UTEP (Redshirt Freshman)

This 6’1″, 180-pound corner from Phoenix signed with UTEP out of high school after originally making a verbal commitment to Nevada. In his first season in El Paso, Boyd-Matthews retained his redshirt after playing in four games, starting three of them and making eight tackles along the way. He staked a claim for a full-time starting role in the spring while junior Torey Richardson rehabbed an injury.

2. LB Kylan Guidry, Western Kentucky (Redshirt Sophomore)

The Louisiana native redshirted last season after signing with the Hilltoppers out of Kilgore Junior College in Texas, where he recorded 32 tackles, three tackles for loss, four sacks, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup in the 2021 season. The 6’4″, 235-pound Guidry emerged at the top of the two-deep at inside linebacker in the spring.

3. S Jakobe Thomas, Middle Tennessee (Redshirt Sophomore)

Thomas showed superstar potential in 2022 as a redshirt freshman, making 37 tackles, four interceptions and three pass breakups. His pick-six against Florida International proved to be decisive during a 33-28 win in the season finale. Thomas still only has three career starts under his belt, but he’s shaping up to be a ballhawk in CUSA for years to come. 

4. DT Bryce Dixon, Liberty (Sophomore)

The Flames had a highly productive defensive line last season, but then they lost a ton of talent to graduation and the transfer portal. Dixon, a true sophomore, is one of the few returnees for LU, participating in seven games as a true freshman and making 10 tackles. He had several Power Five conference offers out of high school in Matthews, North Carolina.

5. DB Malachi McLean, New Mexico State (Sophomore)

McLean arrived as a 17-year-old true freshman in Las Cruces last spring with minimal hype and plenty to prove, but he held his own for the Aggies, making 21 tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup. A hard hitter, McLean offers versatility at either safety or nickelback for NMSU defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling, a rising star in the business.

6. CB Hezekiah Masses, Florida International (Sophomore)

Masses was thrown into the fire as a true freshman, with predictably mixed results, but the native of Deerfield Beach, Florida still had 25 tackles and broke up four passes. In 2023, he’ll be under the tutelage of a new position coach, FIU alum DeMarcus Van Dyke, and has a chance to impress by locking down a starting job.

7. LB Elijah Anderson-Taylor, Florida International (Senior)

He’s undersized at 6’0”, 238 pounds, but Anderson-Taylor was ultra-productive in his career at FCS program Northern Colorado, making a team-best 111 tackles in 2022. He also registered 4.5 tackles for loss, five forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and a blocked kick for the Bears. Anderson-Taylor transferred to FIU in the offseason, looking to both move up in competition and make a splash on a defense looking for a big step forward as they enter year two of the Mike MacIntyre era.

8. S Talique Allen, Western Kentucky (Redshirt Sophomore)

Allen’s return was a major coup for the Hilltoppers’ defense after the Georgia product initially flirted with the transfer portal before deciding to return to WKU in the spring. He recorded 47 tackles in 11 games, broke up two passes, recovered a fumble and forced two more fumbles. Defensive coordinator Tyson Summers emphasizes creating turnovers, and Allen has the aggressive instincts to be able to contribute in that department.

9. DT Dion Wilson Jr., New Mexico State (Redshirt Junior)

Wilson has 20 games of experience under his belt after playing the past three seasons with the Arizona Wildcats. At 310 pounds, Wilson (nicknamed “Tank”) brings size and length to the position that the Aggies didn’t have in 2022 and showed significant playmaking ability in spring practice.

10. DT Jack Daly, Florida International (Senior)

Daly dominated in spring practice for the Panthers after transferring in from Bryant, an FCS school in Rhode Island, where he was an all-conference pick in back-to-back seasons and logged 32 career games. A native of Connecticut, Daly joined FIU in their 2023 class alongside fellow Bryant transfer J.T. Anderson, a defensive back.

Honorable Mentions:

1. OLB/DE Gabe Peterson, New Mexico State (Sophomore)

NMSU head coach Jerry Kill is a Kansas native, as are both of his coordinators, Tim Beck and Nate Dreiling, so it’s maybe not much of a surprise that Peterson, who’s from Overland Park, Kansas, made an early impression with Kill’s Aggies. As a true freshman, Peterson notched 17 tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks as NMSU made a surprising run to a bowl berth. College football expert Phil Steele named Peterson as a preseason fourth team all-CUSA pick in 2023.

2. S Kejuan Markham, Louisiana Tech (Senior)

Markham and his twin brother Keon are both transferring to LA Tech after playing together at Arizona State for a few seasons and, prior to that, prepping at the powerhouse Long Beach Poly program. Kejuan gets the nod here — he has 25 career games of experience to Keon’s nine — as well as 50 tackles, two interceptions and two pass breakups during his time with the Sun Devils.

3) S Jaleal Williams-Evans, UTEP (Junior)

The Miners needed defensive backs in their recruiting class and they typically recruit the JUCO system fairly well, so bringing in Williams-Evans (who enrolled early for spring practice in El Paso) was important. While still raw, he had a solid career for the City College of San Francisco Rams, making 48 tackles, four interceptions, 4.5 tackles for loss and five pass breakups.

4) LB Anthony Brackenridge, Western Kentucky (Sophomore)

Brackenridge was recruited to WKU as a defensive back out of Jacksonville before moving to linebacker, and it’s safe to say that he made a terrific impression in his true freshman season. In addition to his 10 tackles, Brackenridge returned an interception for a touchdown in a blowout win over Charlotte in 2022 and also was a key contributor in the Hilltoppers’ win in the New Orleans Bowl.

5) DE Bryson Jennings, Liberty (Redshirt Freshman)

Jennings was rated a top 20 recruit in Virginia coming out of high school last year. After redshirting at North Carolina last fall, Jennings transferred to Liberty, where his uncle, Rashad, is a familiar face: he played running back for the Flames from 2006-08 before a nine-year NFL career with the Jaguars, Giants and Raiders. While he won’t enroll at Liberty until fall camp, the younger Jennings will surely get an opportunity to crack the rotation at defensive end in the near future.

Top 10 Conference USA breakout candidates (offense)

With the New Mexico State Aggies, Jacksonville State Gamecocks, Sam Houston Bearkats and Liberty Flames joining Conference USA as of a few weeks ago (July 1st), the official realignment phase is now over for all four programs, and it’s full speed ahead towards fall camp and several Week Zero games the final weekend of August.

Also, if anyone in my audience is keen on some other CUSA coverage, Eric Henry from Underdog Dynasty is doing an excellent job.

I’ve identified 10 breakout players for the CUSA teams on offense heading into the 2023 season.

1. WR L’Christian “Blue” Smith, Western Kentucky (Senior)

Smith arrives to WKU as a mid-year grad transfer enrollee. Once a four-star recruit and the #7 recruit in Ohio, Smith redshirted after signing with Ohio State in 2018 and then transferred to Cincinnati. While he caught only seven passes for 81 yards in his Bearcats career, Smith has made a great impression at Western Kentucky thus far, catching a TD pass in the spring game and projecting as a leader in a potentially loaded receiving corps.

2. WR Julien Lewis, Louisiana Tech (Sophomore)

Lewis, a 6’2″, 195-pound Georgia native, emerged as a potential playmaker last season, playing in nine games and starting two. Despite a revolving door at QB due to injuries and inconsistency, Lewis caught 18 passes for 187 yards. With the Bulldogs entering Year Two of co-offensive coordinators Scott Parr and Jake Brown’s pass-happy Air Raid system, you can expect a lot more passes to be thrown Lewis’s way. 

3. RB Vaughn Blue, Liberty (Freshman)

This freshman graduated in December and enrolled early at Liberty right as new head coach Jamey Chadwell was installing his new run-heavy, pistol-influenced offense. Blue showed enough flashes in the spring to show that he can contribute, drawing praise from his position coach, Newland Isaac.

“Every rep for him is like a game rep,” Isaac said. “He doesn’t take any plays off…He’s very sharp. He’s very bright. He’s on top of everything. He puts in the time.” Blue attended Oceanside Collegiate Academy outside Charleston, South Carolina, the same alma mater as star Notre Dame QB Sam Hartman.

4. OG Keylan Rutledge, Middle Tennessee (Sophomore)

Rutledge was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman squad after playing in 11 games and starting six. He’s already well-built at 6’4”, 312 pounds and could develop into a four-year starter at Middle Tennessee if he plays his cards right. The Georgia native has terrific natural strength — he was also a state qualifier in the shot put for Franklin County High.

5. QB Nicholas Vattiato, Middle Tennessee (Redshirt Sophomore)

After being pressed into action as a true freshman in 2021 due to an injury to then-starter Chase Cunningham, Vattiato had the redshirt season that he was supposed to have in 2022. While he’s still competing with junior college transfer Ren Hefley and redshirt freshman D.J. Riles for the starting position, Vattiato does have a 5-3 record and a 2021 Bahamas Bowl victory under his belt. The South Florida native also has 1,340 passing yards, seven touchdowns and seven interceptions in his Blue Raiders career thus far, completing 66 percent of his passes.

6. RB Deion Hankins, UTEP (Redshirt Junior)

Hankins is a former three-star recruit and a local product who struggled with injuries early in his Miner career, but now enters 2023 as the go-to back. He was the team’s second-leading rusher the past two seasons, rushing for a combined 1,159 yards and eight TDs in that period. 

7. OT Shiyazh Pete, New Mexico State (Redshirt Sophomore)

Pete is a great story; he joined NMSU as an in-state walk-on out of tiny Shiprock High School in northwestern New Mexico on the Navajo Nation, becoming the first-ever Shiprock alum to play football for a Division I school. He learned on the job as a freshman and has now added about 20 pounds of muscle to his already-imposing 6’8” frame. Aggies head coach Jerry Kill and offensive line coach Andrew Mitchell both think highly of Pete and expect him to have a breakthrough season now that he’s more comfortable in the scheme.

8. WR Al’vonte Woodard, Sam Houston (Senior)

Woodard, a senior, tied for the team lead with 16 catches for 215 yards and two touchdowns in his first season as a Bearkat. A former four-star recruit from Houston, Woodard began his career with the Texas Longhorns. He should boost his numbers with better QB play in Sam Houston’s new offense in 2023 under the watch of coordinator Brad Cornelsen and wide receivers coach Chris Buckner.

9. RB Shomari Lawrence, Florida International (Redshirt Freshman)

Lawrence returns to his home state after rushing for 766 yards in 16 career games with the South Dakota Coyotes, an FCS program. That’s correct: a redshirt freshman, who normally has four games of experience at most, has 16 thanks to the bizarre post-COVID logjam that’s allowed players extra eligibility.

Either way, Lawrence has a solid mix of speed and power and is in an ideal situation to compete for carries at FIU; the Panthers lost their leading rusher, Lexington Joseph, to an ACL injury in the spring, which means that Lawrence is now in the mix with a young group that includes sophomore Kejon Owens and redshirt freshman Antonio Patterson.

10. RB Ahmonte Watkins, New Mexico State (Redshirt Sophomore)

Watkins followed Jerry Kill to Las Cruces from TCU, where Kill was an interim head coach for the final four games of 2021 before taking the NMSU job about a month later. An ideal all-purpose threat, Watkins, a former high school track champion, averaged 6.4 yards per rush for the Aggies last fall, recording 248 yards in a rotation with Jamoni Jones and Star Thomas. NMSU likes rotating backs in offensive coordinator Tim Beck’s scheme, and both Jones and Thomas are back on campus. But, as one of the roster’s fastest players, Watkins still has a chance to stake a claim as the main guy in fall camp.

Honorable Mentions:

1. WR Javonte Sherman, Middle Tennessee (Redshirt Sophomore)

Sherman might seem like an odd fit on this list; he’s struggled with injuries in his Blue Raider career thus far and he boasts only one career catch for 16 yards, but he turned heads in spring practice with some terrific plays, earning kudos from offensive coordinator Mitch Stewart.

“He has always shown flashes since I got here, but just couldn’t stay healthy long enough last year to stack those flashes together,” Stewart said of Sherman. “He’s started to do that this spring — it’s been really fun to watch him let it rip and play loose.”

2. OG Graceson Jackson-Smith, Sam Houston (Redshirt Sophomore)

It’s no secret that it’s hard to transition from the FCS to the FBS level, not just in terms of pure scholarships, but in terms of raw talent and size in the trenches. Therefore, beefing up the lines of scrimmage was priority number one for Sam Houston head coach K.C. Keeler in the Bearkats’ first CUSA recruiting class. Jackson-Smith is big and strong and has the versatility to play guard or tackle. After an impressive spring, the Monroe, Louisiana native will likely be atop the depth chart at left guard.

3) QB Te’Sean Smoot, Jacksonville State (Redshirt Freshman)

Rich Rodriguez has a great track record of mentoring QBs in his zone-read style of offense. The Gamecocks are expected to retain starter Zion Webb, although as of press time, he was still awaiting official word from the NCAA for a rare seventh season of eligibility.

With that said, Smoot is a tantalizing athlete; he played in only two games and threw two passes, but he did rush for a 16-yard touchdown against Tulsa. The Springfield, Ohio product was a unanimous three-star prospect in recruiting and should be the future of the position for the Gamecocks regardless of Webb’s status.

4) WR Dean Patterson, Florida International (Redshirt Sophomore)

Patterson plays with a chip on his shoulder as a former walk-on who began his career at Division II program Findlay. He showed encouraging signs in 2022 despite FIU’s disappointing passing game; Patterson led the team with 15.5 yards per catch, finishing the season with 264 yards on 17 catches.

5) RB Elijah Young, Western Kentucky (Junior)

A transfer from Missouri, Young was on campus for the Hilltoppers in the spring, bringing with him 436 all-purpose yards and two career touchdowns. A former Tennessee Gatorade Player of the Year, Young should be a part of a rotation that includes junior Davion Ervin-Poindexter, senior Markese Stepp and sophomore L.T. Sanders.

2023 Conference USA preview: Jacksonville State Gamecocks

• LOCATION: Jacksonville, Alabama (population 14,385)
• 2022 RECORD: 9-2, 5-0 in Atlantic Sun (FCS)
• 2023 PREDICTION: 8th in C-USA
• HEAD COACH: Rich Rodriguez, 2nd season (9-2 at JSU, 172–121–2 overall)
• STADIUM: Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium (opened 1947, capacity 24,000)

2022 Results

• W, 42-17 vs Stephen F. Austin
• W 35-17 vs Davidson
• W, 34-3 @ Murray State
• L, 17-54 @ Tulsa
• W, 52-21 @ Nicholls
• W, 35-28 (OT) vs Kennesaw State
• W, 47-31 @ North Alabama
• L, 14-31 vs Southeastern Louisiana
• W, 40-16 @ Austin Peay
• W, 42-17 Eastern Kentucky
• W, 40-17 @ Central Arkansas

2023 Schedule

• Aug. 26 vs UTEP
• Sept. 2 vs East Tennessee State
• Sept. 9 @ Coastal Carolina
• Sept. 23 vs Eastern Michigan
• Sept. 28 @ Sam Houston 
• Oct. 4 @ Middle Tennessee
• Oct. 10 vs Liberty
• Oct. 17 vs Western Kentucky
• Oct. 25 @ Florida International
• Nov. 4 @ South Carolina
• Nov. 18 vs Louisiana Tech
• Nov. 25 @ New Mexico State

Bold indicates conference game (CUSA in 2023, Atlantic Sun in 2022)

2023 Recruiting Class – High School

1. Earl Woods III, QB (Hueytown HS – Alabama)
2. Daveion Harley, OL (Gadsden County HS – Havana, Florida)
3. Travis Franklin Jr., S (Sandy Creek HS – Tyrone, Georgia)
4. Kaiden Arnold, OL (Escambia County HS – Atmore, Alabama)
5. Dajwon Deloach, LB (Northside HS – Columbus, Georgia)
6. Marvin Lee, OL (Sparkman HS – Harvest, Alabama)
7. Cam Griffin, OL (Pinson Valley HS – Alabama)
8. Geimere Latimer, CB (Sandy Creek HS – Tyrone, Georgia)
9. Shane Payton-Hodges, DE (St. Augustine HS – New Orleans, Louisiana)
10. Ridge Redd, TE (Sonoraville HS – Calhoun, Georgia)
11. Maddox Sunderman, OL (Bob Jones HS – Madison, Alabama)
12. K.D. Shepherd, WR (Highland Home HS – Alabama)
13. Nehemiah Pgouda, S (South Paulding HS – Douglasville, Georgia)
14. Tae Floyd, DE (Forest HS – Ocala, Florida)
15. Jaylen Williams, WR (Jones HS – Orlando, Florida)
16. Aidan Thompson, LB (Winder-Barrow HS – Georgia)
17. Bryce Causey, OL (Mt. De Sales Academy – Macon, Georgia)
18. Zechariah Poyser, S (Wildwood HS – Florida)
19. Cam Vaughn, QB (Temple HS – Georgia)
20. Caden Creel, QB (Fairhope HS – Alabama)

2023 Recruiting Class – Transfer Portal

1. Dallan Wright, WR (Virginia Tech/Saluda, South Carolina)
2. Malik Jackson, RB (Louisiana-Monroe/Lufkin, Texas)
3. Austin Ambush, S (Maine/Gaithersburg, Maryland)
4. Jamarye Joiner, WR (Arizona/Tucson, Arizona)
5. Logan Smothers, QB (Nebraska/Muscle Shoals, Alabama)
6. Quae Drake, LB (Louisiana-Monroe/Wadley, Alabama)*
7. Travis Collier, CB (Western Kentucky/Douglasville, Georgia)

*also lettered at Kennesaw State and Butler CC (KS)

2023 Recruiting Class – Junior College Transfers

1. Xavier Morrow, LB (Independence CC – Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
2. Kendall McCallum, LB (Holmes CC – MS/Anniston, Alabama)
3. Quinzavius Warren, DT (Northwest Mississippi CC/Canton, Mississippi)
4. J’Wan Evans, RB (College of San Mateo – CA/Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
5. Kekoura Tarnue, CB (Rochester CC – MN/Coon Rapids, Minnesota)

ASSISTANT COACHES

• Rod Smith, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks
• Zac Alley, defensive coordinator/linebackers
• Pat Kirkland, special teams coordinator/rush ends
• Rick Trickett, offensive line
• Kelvin Sigler, safeties
• William Green, defensive line
• Ryan Garrett, wide receivers
• Rod McDowell, running backs
• Michael Nysewander, tight ends/inside wide receivers
• Terry Jefferson, cornerbacks

After two-plus decade in the Football Championship Subdivision, or FCS, the Jacksonville State Gamecocks are now jumping up to the FBS level of college football.

THREE KEY PLAYERS

1. RB Anwar Lewis (Jr.)

Lewis immediately becomes one of CUSA’s running backs to watch, after a 2022 campaign in which he had a team-high 818 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.

2. QB Zion Webb (Sr.)

Rich Rodriguez’s pistol offense requires a mobile QB to run it, and Webb passed for 1,737 yards and rushed for 647, accounting for 10 touchdowns through the air and 13 on the ground. However, Webb also completed only about 55 percent of his passes and also threw nine interceptions, so he’ll look to develop as more of a passing threat in 2023.

3. S Kolbi Fuqua (Jr.)

Fuqua is an all-around playmaker for the Gamecocks, finishing tied for fourth on the team with 55 tackles, in addition to 5.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. He also picked off two passes and forced two fumbles.

THREE KEY LOSSES

1. LB Stevonte Tullis

Tullis started 57 games, a school record, and made 71 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, three pass breakups and three fumble recoveries in his senior season.

2. S Fred Perry

Perry was an FCS Freshman All-American after a sensational season in which he led Jacksonville State with 72 tackles, but he was indefinitely suspended from the team in January and was later dismissed.

3. LB Markail Benton

Benton had 55 tackles (tied for fourth on the team) despite playing in only nine games as a senior. He also had 5.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. 

Former Louisiana-Monroe running back Malik Jackson is reuniting with his former offensive coordinator, Rich Rodriguez, now entering his second season at Jax State.

THREE KEY ADDITIONS

1. S Austin Ambush (Jr.)

Originally from Gaithersburg, Maryland, Ambush played in 22 career games with the Maine Black Bears, recording 66 tackles, one interception, three pass breakups and a forced fumble. 

2. RB Malik Jackson (Grad Student)

Jackson enters his sixth and final season of eligibility by reuniting with head coach Rich Rodriguez, who coached him at Louisiana-Monroe while he was offensive coordinator in 2021. That season, Jackson rushed for 451 yards and three touchdowns in a backup role for the Warhawks, while averaging a career-high 5.6 yards per rush. He followed that up with a 507-yard, six TD performance in 2022.

3. QB Logan Smothers (Jr.)

Although he didn’t officially join the team until after spring practice, the Alabama native is back in his home state after playing in 11 career games in two seasons at Nebraska. Smothers completed 63 percent of his career passes for 413 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed for 161 yards and two TDs.

QUOTE

“It’s a nice competitive environment…If I’ve got two quarterbacks to win with, I’ll play them both. If I’ve got three, I’ll play all three. I’ve done it before. That’s where I want their focus to be.”
—Head coach Rich Rodriguez

No stranger to college football, head coach Rich Rodriguez went 9-2 in his debut with JSU in 2022. His unique zone-read offensive scheme allowed him to become a head coach at West Virginia (2001-07), Michigan (2008-10) and Arizona (2012-17). The 60-year old Rodriguez boasts a .583 career winning percentage and a 5-6 bowl record.

2023 Preview – Offense

Although they’re entering their inaugural FBS season as underdogs, Jacksonville State’s offense has reasons for confidence in 2023.

Second-year head coach Rich Rodriguez and the Gamecocks finished 9-2 in 2022, averaging 36.2 points per game and ranking fifth in the FCS ranks in rushing (over 250 yards per game). And now, they bring back both of their leading rushers: running back Anwar Lewis and quarterback Zion Webb.

Lewis, who stands only 5’8″, 180 pounds, rushed for 818 yards and eight touchdowns last season, while Webb was right behind him with 647 yards and a team-high 13 TDs.

The diminutive Lewis probably won’t be able to carry the rock 20-25 times per game at the FBS level, so Rodriguez brought in transfers like Malik Jackson (Louisiana-Monroe) and J’Wan Evans (College of San Mateo) to add more fresh legs to the running back rotation.

Webb has terrific athleticism, but needs to help make the JSU offense less one-dimensional. The Gamecocks rarely stretched the field; Webb completed a pedestrian 55 percent of his passes for 10 touchdowns, nine interceptions and 157 passing yards per game. He could face a challenge from Nebraska transfer Logan Smothers, who enrolled over the summer, or sophomore Polo Solomon, whose older brother Anu Solomon played QB for Rodriguez at Arizona.

When the Gamecocks do pass the ball, junior Sterling Galban (28 catches) can be an ideal slot receiver. Senior Perry Carter was a bit feast-or-famine last season; he averaged over 16 yards per catch, but caught only 14 passes. Another former Arizona player, Jamarye Joiner, transferred to JSU in time for spring practice and should be able to help out, as could former Virginia Tech recruit Dallan Wright. At tight end, Sean Brown offers a big target at 6’5″, 250 pounds and received all-conference honors in the Atlantic Sun last fall. He finished with 18 catches for 331 yards and a score.

Up front, JSU will presumably struggle in the trenches due to a lack of size required to outmuscle FBS opponents. Yes, the Gamecocks’ zone-read, run-heavy scheme relies on smaller, agile blockers, but their returning offensive linemen still only average about 6’3″, 288 pounds. Junior center Treylen Brown, another all-conference pick, will be looked upon to provide leadership as the unit hopes to overachieve.

Gamecock running back Anwar Lewis

2023 Preview – Defense

The Gamecocks’ defense held up its end of the bargain in 2022, but must now replace key playmakers at every level: the D-line, linebacking corps and secondary.

JSU waved goodbye to senior linebacker Stevonte Tullis, who set a school record with 57 career starts. And then the Gamecocks received a blow in the spring when true freshman Fred Perry was dismissed from the team for undisclosed reasons. Perry, an FCS Freshman All-American, led the team with 72 tackles last fall and had the look of a four-year starter.

There’s still plenty of talent here, however, and there’s reason to believe that the Gamecocks could field a solid unit in their maiden C-USA campaign in 2023. Keep an eye on junior safety Kolbi Fuqua (55 tackles, two interceptions, two forced fumbles) and junior defensive end Chris Hardie (15.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks). While this unit is unlikely to only give up 22.9 points per game again, it certainly has experience and potential.

2023 Preview – Special Teams

The Gamecocks might already have one of Conference USA’s best special teams units. Kicker Alen Karajic made 13 of 16 field goal attempts in 2022, while Jack Dawson averaged just over 42 yards per punt, with a long of 60. The Australian did not record a touchback and also never had a kick blocked.

Summary

Hoping to make a good impression, Jacksonville State brings a very solid résumé into its first FBS season. Although he had trouble sustaining success at Arizona, Rodriguez is one of the nation’s most experienced coaches and he’s also got one of the best young defensive coordinators, Zac Alley. The Gamecocks boast nine conference championships and 10 FCS playoff berths in the 21st century alone. And let’s not forget about their stunning, last-second upset of Florida State in 2021.

There’s enough question marks to tamper expectations for the Gamecocks, even though the schedule is reasonably kind; they get Liberty and Western Kentucky at home and open up with winnable games against UTEP and East Tennessee State, but they won’t be eligible for the CUSA championship game or a bowl due to the two-year NCAA transition period. At the very least, the veteran Gamecocks should have some exciting pieces to watch in 2023.

2023 Conference USA preview: Sam Houston Bearkats

• LOCATION: Huntsville, Texas (population 45,941)
• 2022 RECORD: 5-4, 3-2 in WAC (FCS)
• 2023 PREDICTION: 9th in C-USA
• HEAD COACH: K.C. Keeler, 10th season (85-27 at Sam Houston, 259-100-1 overall)
• STADIUM: Elliot T. Bowers Stadium (opened 1986, capacity 12,593)

Bowers Stadium has been home to Bearkat football for the past 37 seasons. It has a capacity of just over 12,500, but has held up to 16,000 fans in the past.

2022 Results

• L, 0-31 @ Texas A&M
• L, 3-10 vs Northern Arizona
• W, 27-17 vs Texas A&M-Commerce
• W, 17-16 vs Stephen F. Austin
• W, 25-17 @ Eastern Kentucky
• W, 18-13 @ Utah Tech
• W, 40-21 @ Tarleton State
• L, 28-45 vs Abilene Christian
• L, 7-17 vs Southern Utah

2023 Schedule

• Sept. 2 @ BYU
• Sept. 9 vs Air Force (NRG Stadium, Houston)
• Sept. 23 @ Houston
• Sept. 28 vs Jacksonville State
• Oct. 5 @ Liberty
• Oct. 11 @ New Mexico State
• Oct. 18 vs Florida International
• Oct. 25 vs UTEP
• Nov. 4 vs Kennesaw State
• Nov. 11 @ Louisiana Tech
• Nov. 18 @ Western Kentucky
• Nov. 25 vs Middle Tennessee

Bold indicates conference game (CUSA in 2023, the WAC in 2022)

2023 Recruiting Class – High School

1. Jamarie Wiggins, S (John B. Connally HS – Waco, Texas)
2. Lonnie Adkism, WR (Miller HS – Corpus Christi, Texas)
3. Chantson Prox, CB (Canton HS – Texas)
4. Coco Brown, RB (Denton HS – Texas)
5. Kolt Dieterich, OL (Riesel HS – Texas)
6. Will Hutchens, OL (Lindale HS – Texas)
7. Easton Fulton, OL (Rosebud-Lott HS – Texas)
8. D’Marea Weaver, WR (Nacogdoches HS – Texas)
9. Kaden Kelly, S (Ryan HS – Denton, Texas)
10. Forest Gatlin, LB (Mesquite HS – Texas)
11. Jayden Gaines, DT (Westside HS – Houston, Texas)
12. Dax Horany, S (Argyle HS – Texas)
13. Zach Session, OL (Morton Ranch HS – Katy, Texas)
14. Bryce Gilchrist, TE (Heritage HS – Frisco, Texas)
15. Eli Wallace, LB (Duncanville HS – Texas)
16. D.J. McKinney, RB (Union HS – Tulsa, Oklahoma)

2023 Recruiting Class – Transfer Portal

1. Rhett Larson, OL (SMU/College Station, Texas)
2. John Gentry, RB (Utah State/Houston, Texas)
3. Jaden Phillips, DE (New Mexico/Clovis, New Mexico)
4. Xavier Ward, QB (Washington State/Corona, California)
5. Akeem Smith, DT (Georgia State/Virginia Beach, Virginia)
6. Grant Gunnell, QB (North Texas/Houston, Texas)*
7. Seth Mason, DE (Louisiana-Monroe/Allen, Texas)
8. Issiah Nixon, LB (Texas State/Missouri City, Texas)
9. Jabari Johnson, S (Louisiana-Monroe/Monroe, Louisiana)

*also played at Arizona & Memphis

2023 Recruiting Class – Junior College Transfers

1. Dekerric Hobbs, CB (Kilgore College – TX/Conroe, Texas)
2. Qua-Vez Humphreys, WR (Butler CC – KS/Junction City, Kansas)
3. Quintavius Workman, WR (East LA College – CA/Cary, North Carolina)*
4. Da’Marcus Crosby, S (Kilgore College – TX/Humble, Texas)
5. Graceson Jackson-Smith, OL (Tyler JC – TX/Monroe, Louisiana)
6. William McCollum, OL (Copiah-Lincoln CC – MS/Jackson, Mississippi)
7. Nate White, DE (Copiah-Lincoln CC – MS/Miami, Florida)**
8. Malik Phillips, WR (New Mexico Military Institute – Clovis, New Mexico)

*also redshirted at UTEP

**also played at Florida International

ASSISTANT COACHES

• Brad Cornelsen, offensive coordinator
• Clayton Carlin, associate head coach/co-defensive coordinator/safeties
• Joe Morris, co-defensive coordinator/defensive ends
• Jared Hensley, linebackers
• Matt Merkens, tight ends
• Thomas Rocco, cornerbacks
• John Johnson, running backs
• Ike Eguae, defensive line
• Chris Buckner, wide receivers
• Brian Natkin, offensive line

Sam Houston linebacker Kavian Gaither led the team with 79 tackles in 2022.

THREE KEY PLAYERS

1. LB Kavian Gaither (Jr.)

The Bearkats’ defense kept them in most games during a disappointing 2022 campaign, and Gaither was a key part of that. He had 79 tackles, including 12 for loss, last season.

2. QB Xavier Ward (Soph.)

He didn’t suit up while redshirting at Washington State last fall, but Ward is a well-regarded Southern California product who was once a three-star recruit and could seize the open QB job.

3. RB Zach Hrbacek (Soph.)

Hrbacek made a great first impression as a redshirt freshman on a mediocre offense. The native of Troy, Texas rushed for 495 yards and three touchdowns in nine games for the Bearkats.

THREE KEY LOSSES

1. WR Cody Chrest

Chrest caught 36 passes for 548 yards and two touchdowns last season before completing his eligibility.

2. DE Toby Ndukwe

The grad transfer from SMU was second on the Bearkats with 10 tackles for loss last season.

3. CB B.J. Foster

Foster missed two games, but still made an impact after transferring from Texas, making 29 tackles, three tackles for loss and an interception while earning first team all-WAC honors.

Former Arizona and North Texas QB Grant Gunnell will be joining the Bearkats as a graduate transfer in the fall, hoping to win a wide-open competition.

THREE KEY ADDITIONS

1. RB John Gentry (Soph.)

Gentry only rushed for 268 yards and two scores in his career at Utah State, but the Houston native had a great high school resumé and the Sam Houston backfield needs more depth in 2023, so Gentry should see the field sooner rather than later.

2. WR Quintavius Workman (Soph.)

The suitably-named Workman has an outstanding athletic frame at 6’6”, 215 pounds and averaged over 16 yards per catch at East Los Angeles College last year. Workman grew up in North Carolina, went to high school in Texas and originally signed with UTEP before going the JUCO route.

3. QB Grant Gunnell (Sr.)

Gunnell was a late addition from the portal after spring practice, and there’s hope that he might finally fulfill his potential at Sam Houston. A 6’6”, 225-pound pocket passer, Gunnell started off his career strong in 2019-2020 at Arizona, combining for 1,864 yards, 15 touchdowns and only three interceptions, but since then, has thrown only nine passes during brief stints at Memphis (where he didn’t play following a leg injury) and North Texas. If he can finally put it all together as a super-senior, Gunnell could be the guy that can lead the Bearkats’ new offense.

The Bearkats will be in their first season as an FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) member, and they’ll be in their inaugural Conference USA campaign as well.

2023 Preview – Offense

The Bearkats are entering their first season in the FBS with an offense under new leadership.

Head coach K.C. Keeler dismissed offensive coordinator John Perry after a rough start to the season. Only one season after winning an FCS national championship, the Sam Houston offense averaged a paltry 18.3 points per game in 2022, ranking 103rd in the FCS.

Tight ends coach Matt Merkens was promoted from within to be the interim coordinator; the Bearkats finished a disappointing 5-4 in their final FCS season. Merkens remains on staff, but Keeler looked to outside help to change direction on offense.

New coordinator Brad Cornelsen oversaw units at both Memphis (2015) and Virginia Tech (2016-21) and will have some interesting pieces to work with, both in terms of returning players and newcomers.

Quarterback play was a massive issue in 2022. Incumbent Keegan Shoemaker, now a junior, completed only 46.5 percent of his passes for 1,122 yards, six touchdowns and five interceptions last season. North Texas grad transfer Grant Gunnell and Washington State transfer Xavier Ward are both intriguing, strong-armed options who might challenge for the starting job.

Running back Zach Hrbacek returns after leading the Bearkats in rushing and averaging a healthy 5.8 yards per carry. Utah State transfer John Gentry and converted QB Jordan Yates add some depth, and Coco Brown was a three-star freshman recruit.

Wide receiver is a mixed bag. No one posted eye-popping numbers last season, and while Sam Houston returns four of their top five pass-catchers, none had more than 16 catches last year. Qua-Vez Humphreys, Quintavius Workman and Malik Phillips are all handy JUCO transfers who should add more explosiveness to the group. The best returnees are probably senior Noah Smith and former Texas Longhorn Al’vonte Woodard.

The Bearkats’ offensive line could be a source of concern. There’s only two seniors on the depth chart (Khalil Miller and Noah Barboza) and the unit lost second team all-conference pick Jordan Boatman. Keeler chose to beef up the line by adding SMU transfer Rhett Larson (290 pounds) as well as JUCO transfers Graceson Jackson-Smith (300) and Will McCollum (325) in the recruiting class. Keeler also hired offensive line coach Brian Natkin, who has prior CUSA experience as a UTEP alum and former assistant.

2023 Preview – Defense

Sam Houston was top 20 in the FCS in both scoring defense and against the run, and though they’ll be facing stiffer competition in 2023, they’re hoping for a repeat performance under veteran co-coordinators Joe Morris and Clayton Carlin.

It all starts at linebacker, where Kavian Gaither and Jaylen Phillips return after combining for 115 tackles last season. Gaither, a junior from Waco, was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, given annually to the FCS’s best defensive player, and could be an all-conference contender now that the Bearkats are in C-USA.

On the defensive line, the Bearkats lost veterans Ellison Hubbard, Toby Ndukwe and Tyler Moore, but will hope to reload with New Mexico transfer DE Jaden Phillips (played in 19 career games at UNM) and Georgia State transfer DT Akeem “Meatball” Smith (35 career games), both of whom have significant experience.

In the secondary, Sam Houston has former TCU player Da’Veawn Armstead (nine tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, one interception) and sophomore David Fisher (18 tackles, two interceptions, two pass breakups), both of whom are keepers, but depth is a concern here as well. JUCO teammates D’Marcus Crosby and Dakerric Hobbs are reuniting in Huntsville and could be good fits immediately.

Morris & Carlin have some exciting athletes and proven production at their disposal, but they’ll need to buckle up and weather the storm as they prepare to face plenty of high-powered offenses this fall.

2023 Preview – Special Teams

Sophomore punter Jadon Cardell and junior kicker Seth Morgan are both back as returning starters. Cardell averaged only 39 yards per punt, but he did pin opponents inside the 20-yard line 14 times and kicked only one touchback. Morgan was a second team all-WAC choice after going 15-for-21 on field goals and a perfect 14-for-14 on PATs.

Summary

Keeler is a respected coach, being the only man in history to win an FCS national championship at two different schools (Delaware in 2003 and Sam Houston in 2020). So he’s a logical choice to lead the Bearkats into the FBS entering his 10th season in Huntsville.

Although the offense was a huge disappointment in 2022, there’s renewed optimism that the Bearkats can bounce back in 2023, but their opening schedule is brutal; they face new Big 12 opponents BYU and Houston on the road, plus a neutral-site game against Air Force, in the first three weeks.

If the offense can stay healthy and score more, Sam Houston should be able to compete in most games, but it’s unlikely that they can challenge Conference USA’s best teams. The Bearkats will be ineligible for the postseason or the CUSA Championship Game for the next two seasons due to the NCAA transition rules, so therefore, 2023 will be more about building a strong foundation for future FBS success.

On September 28th, Sam Houston will host fellow FBS/CUSA newcomer Jacksonville State, which will be as good a barometer as any as to how the Bearkats will fare as they adjust to a higher level of competition.

2023 NMSU opponent preview: Massachusetts Minutemen

• LOCATION: Amherst, Massachusetts (population 37,819)
• CONFERENCE: FBS Independent
• 2022 RECORD: 1-11
• HEAD COACH: Don Brown, 2nd season of 2nd stint (43-19 from 2004-08, 1-11 from 2022-present)
• STADIUM: Warren G. McGuirk Alumni Stadium (built 1965, capacity 17,000)

2022 Results

• L, 10-42 @ Tulane
• L, 10-55 @ Toledo
• W, 20-3 vs Stony Brook
• L, 0-28 @ Temple
• L, 13-20 @ Eastern Michigan
• L, 24-42 vs Liberty
• L, 7-34 vs Buffalo
• L, 13-23 vs New Mexico State
• L, 10-27 @ Connecticut
• L, 33-35 @ Arkansas State
• L, 3-20 @ Texas A&M
• L, 7-44 vs Army

2023 Schedule

• Aug. 26 @ New Mexico State
• Sept. 2 @ Auburn
• Sept. 9 vs Miami (Ohio)
• Sept. 16 @ Eastern Michigan
• Sept. 23 vs New Mexico
• Sept. 30 vs Arkansas State
• Oct. 7 vs Toledo
• Oct. 14 @ Penn State
• Oct. 28 @ Army
• Nov. 4 vs Merrimack
• Nov. 18 @ Liberty
• Nov. 25 vs Connecticut

2023 Recruiting Class – High School

1. Donovan Dyson, DE (St. Frances Academy – Baltimore, Maryland)
2. Zach Anderson, OL (Quince Orchard HS – Gaithersburg, Maryland)
3. Ahmad Haston, QB (Palm Beach Central HS – Florida)
4. Christian LeBrun, S (Avon Old Farms HS – Connecticut)
5. Jyree Roberts, LB (Cathedral Prep – Erie, Pennsylvania)
6. Peyton Miller, OL (Mountain Ridge HS – Frostburg, Maryland)

2023 Recruiting Class – Transfer Portal

1. Parris Heath, OL (Albany/Spring Valley, New York)*
2. Jerrod Cameron, CB (Coastal Carolina/Ft. Lauderdale, Florida)
3. Matt Smith, TE (Duke/Needham, Massachusetts)
4. Shambre Jackson, DE (Florida State/Orlando, Florida)
5. Jalen John, RB (Arizona/Lake Oswego, Oregon)
6. Dashuan Jerkins, S (Ole Miss/Woodbridge, Virginia)
7. Mark Pope, WR (Miami/Miami, Florida)
8. Taisun Phommachanh, QB (Georgia Tech/Bridgeport, Connecticut)**
9. Jerry Roberts, DE (Arizona/Erie, Pennsylvania)***
10. Jackson Paradis, RB (Buffalo/Kingston, New Hampshire)
11. Brandon MacKinnon, OL (Northern Illinois/Lakeville, Massachusetts)
12. Shawn Harris, WR (Stony Brook/Mt. Vernon, New York)
13. Marcellus Anderson, OL (Saginaw Valley State/Culver, Indiana)
14. Jalen Harrell, S (Miami/Hialeah, Florida)
15. Steven Ortiz, S (Minnesota/Goodyear, Arizona)
16. Jermaine Wiggins Jr., DE (Arizona/Boxford, Massachusetts)
17. Anthony Simpson Jr., WR (Arizona/Bloomfield, Connecticut)
18. Tyler Martin, LB (Arizona/Acton, Massachusetts)
19. Carlos Davis, QB (Western Carolina/Baltimore, Maryland)****
20. Christian Wells, WR (Appalachian State/Ft. Lauderdale, Florida)
21. J.B. Brown, DE (Arizona/Long Beach, California)
22. R.J. Edwards, LB (Arizona/Henderson, Nevada)

*also lettered at ASA College – New York and Maryland

**also lettered at Clemson

**also lettered at Bowling Green

***also lettered at Fort Scott CC and East Mississippi CC

2023 Recruiting Class – Junior College Transfers

1. Wyatt Terlaak, OL (Santa Ana College – CA/Orange, California)*

*also redshirted at Navy

ASSISTANT COACHES

• Steve Casula, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks
• Keith Dudzinski, defensive coordinator/linebackers
• Ben Albert, assistant head coach/special teams coordinator/defensive ends
• Alex Miller, associate head coach/offensive line
• Valdamar Brower, defensive line
• Mike McCray, outside linebackers
• Damian Mincey, running backs
• Matt Layman, tight ends
• Mike Livingston, defensive backs
• Matt Zanellato, wide receivers

THREE KEY PLAYERS

1. CB Jordan Mahoney (Jr.)

Mahoney is one of the best athletes that UMass has in an experienced secondary. He picked off two passes, broke up six more and also chipped in 42 tackles.

2. LB Gerrell Johnson (Jr.)

Entering his third year as a starter, the D.C. native made 54 stops last season, third on the team.

3. WR George Johnson III (Jr.)

Johnson transferred in from Michigan before last season, then led the Minutemen in catches (28) and receiving yards (402).

THREE KEY LOSSES

1. LB Jalen Mackie

 The grad transfer from Dartmouth easily led the team in both tackles (100) and tackles for loss (15).

2. RB Ellis Merriweather

Merriweather was a consistent threat on an offense that needed one, rushing for over 1,600 yards the past two seasons.

3. DE Marcus Cushnie

Cushnie was another valuable grad transfer who’s now one-and-done; he made 13 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.

THREE KEY ADDITIONS

1. WR Christian Wells (Sr.)

This graduate transfer from Appalachian State appeared in 22 career games, catching 35 passes for 650 yards and 10 touchdowns. He showed signs of deep-threat potential, averaging just under 18 yards per catch. 

2. QB Ahmad Haston (Fr.)

Haston enrolled at UMass after graduating high school early in Palm Beach, Florida and threw a touchdown pass in the spring game. A 6’3”, 190-pound dual-threat athlete, Haston was in a competition with incumbent Brady Olson, Western Carolina transfer Carlos Davis and Georgia Tech transfer Taisun Phommachanh. He’s still a long-shot to win the job, but the Minutemen have suffered through mediocre QB play for years, so it might be anyone’s gig. 

3. S Dashaun Jerkins (Sr.)

Jerkins arrives at UMass and has 38 career games under his belt at two different SEC schools: Vanderbilt (2018-21) and Ole Miss (2022). He has 148 tackles, four interceptions, and six pass breakups on his résumé.

Former Appalachian State wide receiver Christian Wells is one of four transfers at the position in UMass’s most recent recruiting class.

QUOTE

“We were probably one of the top five to 10 youngest teams in America. We made it a point to get older, to get guys that have been through college practices, been through college seasons and have learned college football.”

—Head coach Don Brown, on bringing transfers into the program

2023 Preview – Offense

The search continues for a reliable quarterback at UMass, and the answer might be a transfer.

Taisun Phommachanh (pronunciation: PUMA-chawn) is back in New England after brief stints at Clemson and Georgia Tech. Phommachanh is a Connecticut native and former four-star recruit with dual-threat capabilities, but he’s completed only 44 percent of his career passes.

Carlos Davis has some experience, both at the JUCO level and at FCS Western Carolina. Junior Brady Olson is also back after posting less-than-impressive numbers, although he showed signs of progress in the spring, and true freshman Ahmad Haston enrolled early and threw a TD pass in the spring game. The Minutemen averaged a mere 12.5 points per game in the first year under coordinator Steve Casula, ranking dead last in the nation.

Losing leading rusher Ellis Merriweather hurts, but UMass does return sophomore speedster Greg Desrosiers Jr., who’s one of the more athletic players on the roster, as well as Kay’Ron Adams, who rushed for 297 yards and a score in third-string duty last season. Jalen John, a former Arizona Wildcat, will reunite with head coach Don Brown in Amherst and offers a 225-pound option, while Buffalo transfer Jackson Paradis is cut from the same cloth. Paradis had a great spring, according to the staff.

Wide receiver is a position of need, so the Minutemen added a handful of transfers to help contribute there as well. Christian Wells (App State), Anthony Simpson Jr. (Arizona) and Mark Pope (Miami) are all keepers.

Simpson was convinced to head to Amherst by Brown, who recruited him at Arizona, while Pope was a former four-star recruit who never quite caught on at Miami. Slot receiver George Johnson III led the Minutemen with 28 catches last fall, and he could emerge further if the QB play is consistent. Shortly before spring practice, Brown admitted that receiver might be the most improved position on the Minutemen’s roster.

Graduation and portal losses thinned out the depth chart at tight end, where the leading returnee is Eni Falayi, who had only two catches last season. Converted QB Gino Campiotti was actually second on the team in rushing and provides an athletic, versatile option.

Similarly, starting tackle Max Longman transferred to Indiana, but UMass’s offensive line wasn’t terrible last season (25 sacks) and brings back a trio of players with starting experience: center Josh Atwood, right guard Ethan Mottinger and right tackle Jonny Hassard. Cole Garcia can play either guard or tackle and showed great improvement in the spring.

Reinforcements are on the way in the form of Northern Illinois transfer Brandon Mackinnon and Saginaw Valley State transfer Marcellus Anderson — both of whom tip the scales at 6’5″, 300-plus pounds — plus two three-star high schoolers from Maryland, Zach Anderson and Peyton Miller.

Second-year UMass defensive coordinator Keith Dudzinski previously coached under Don Brown at UMass (2004-08) and Arizona (2021).

2023 Preview – Defense

Brown has long been considered one of the nation’s best defensive minds, and he might have some more ingredients to make his blitz-happy scheme work. The Minutemen were terrible against the run, but great against the pass, leading them to be respectable overall (55th nationally in total defense). Now it’s year two for coordinator Keith Dudzinski, a longtime Brown disciple who followed the veteran coach from Arizona to UMass before last season.

While the Minutemen only recorded 18 sacks last season, they do have five returning starters in the front seven. Junior Gerrell Johnson finished third on the team in tackles (54) and Nahji Logan had 29 of his own.

Meanwhile, the defensive line has three upperclassmen looking to take a step forward, including Billy Wooden (5.5 TFL). Predictably, there’s a handful of transfers hungry to emerge, including Jerry Roberts (Arizona), J.B. Brown (Arizona) and Shambre Jackson (Florida State) shaping up as players to watch on the edge.

The secondary was one of the nation’s best in 2022, although that was more of an indictment of the Minutemen’s run defense than anything else. Safety Tyler Rudolph and corner Jordan Mahoney return after combining for 104 tackles, five INTs and 11 pass breakups.

There is improved depth; Jalon Ferrell and Javon Batten showed promise in reserve roles at safety last season, while sophomore corner Dorian Helm, who mostly played special teams last year, picked off a pass in the spring game.

Some portal additions could also help, including Steven Ortiz (Minnesota), Dashaun Jerkins (Ole Miss) and Jalen Harrell (Miami).

UMass defensive lineman Billy Wooden is a run-stuffer who has registered 74 tackles, half a sack and a forced fumble in the past two seasons.

2023 Preview – Special Teams

For a team that punted a lot (81 times), the Minutemen honestly could’ve used a better one. Junior C.J. Kolodziey averaged only 36.6 yards per boot.

Placekicker is in slightly better hands with Cameron Carson, although he did miss five, including three from inside 50, last season. In the return game, Simpson could be an option after showing flashes as a returner at Arizona last fall.

UMass was 43-19 during Brown’s first stint in Amherst (2004-2008), back when they were an FCS powerhouse.

Summary

The Minutemen are coming off back-to-back 1-11 seasons — both a byproduct of being in no-man’s-land as an FBS independent and by Brown inheriting a roster last year that was devoid of talent. Improvement on offense is imperative, and frankly, it can’t get much worse. Since UMass left the Mid-American Conference in 2016, they’ve gone a cringe-inducing 13-63.

Last year, it had to sting watching fellow independents UConn and NMSU overachieve and make bowl games while the Minutemen languished in the cellar once again.

While this year’s schedule doesn’t offer much reprieve, there are a few winnable home games (New Mexico, Arkansas State and FCS program Merrimack). Brown has punched above UMass’s weight in recruiting, both among high schoolers and in the portal. The secondary was excellent last season and returns a majority of its starters. While McGuirk Alumni Stadium is still a below-average FBS stadium, the practice and weight room facilities are slowly improving under Brown’s watch, generating renewed optimism.

The bottom line is that UMass should be faster, deeper and more experienced, and hopefully one of the four quarterbacks (Davis, Olson, Phommachanh or Haston) will emerge in fall camp. It remains to be seen if it will result in wins for a team that has not beaten an FBS opponent since October 2021.

2023 NMSU opponent preview: New Mexico Lobos

• LOCATION: Albuquerque, New Mexico (population 564,559)
• CONFERENCE: Mountain West
• 2022 RECORD: 2-10, 0-8 in Mtn. West
• HEAD COACH: Danny Gonzales, 4th season (7-24, 3-20 in Mtn. West)
• STADIUM: Turner & Margaret Branch Field at University Stadium (capacity 39,224) 

2022 Results

• W, 41-0 vs Maine
• L, 14-31 vs Boise State
• W, 27-10 vs UTEP
• L, 0-38 @ LSU
• L, 20-31 @ UNLV
• L, 14-27 vs Wyoming
• L, 9-21 @ New Mexico State
• L, 9-41 vs Fresno State
• L, 10-27 @ Utah State
• L, 3-35 @ Air Force
• L, 10-34 vs San Diego State
• L, 0-17 @ Colorado State

2023 Schedule

• Sept. 2 @ Texas A&M
• Sept. 9 vs Tennessee Tech
• Sept. 16 vs New Mexico State
• Sept. 23 @ Massachusetts
• Sept. 30 @ Wyoming
• Oct. 14 vs San Jose State
• Oct. 21 vs Hawai’i
• Oct. 28 @ Nevada
• Nov. 4 vs UNLV
• Nov. 11 @ Boise State
• Nov. 18 @ Fresno State
• Nov. 25 vs Utah State

Bold indicates Mtn. West game.

2023 Recruiting Class – High School

1. Hunter Wiggins, S (Lincoln HS – San Diego, California)
2. Devon Dampier, QB (Saguaro HS – Scottsdale, Arizona)
3. Jayden Wilson, LB (Austin HS – El Paso, Texas)
4. Aidan Armenta, QB (La Cueva HS – Albuquerque, New Mexico)
5. Skylar Cook, S (Central Union HS – El Centro, California)
6. Dereck Moore, S (Woodbridge HS – Irvine, California)
7. Matthew Toilolo, OL (Orem HS – Orem, Utah)
8. Nic Trujillo, WR (Cleveland HS – Rio Rancho, New Mexico)
9. Evan Wysong, WR (Cleveland HS – Rio Rancho, New Mexico)
10. Edward Blacklock, CB (Klein Forest HS – Spring, Texas)

2023 Recruiting Class – Transfer Portal

1. Sam Telesa, OL (Georgetown/Waipahu, Hawai’i)
2. Bryson Washington, S (Oklahoma/Houston, Texas)
3. D’Arco Perkins-McAllister, S (TCU/Nashville, Tennessee)
4. Caleb Medford, WR (TCU/Henderson, Texas)
5. Gabriel Lopez, DE (Washington State/Las Vegas, Nevada)
6. Marvin Covington, S (TCU/Mansfield, Texas)
7. Xavier Van, WR (San Diego/San Diego, California)
8. D.C. Tabscott, QB (Appalachian State/Nashville, Tennessee)
9. Dylan Hopkins, QB (UAB/Maryville, Tennessee)
10. Andrew Henry, RB (Louisiana-Monroe/Dallas, Texas)*
11. Ryan Davis, WR (UAB/Roswell, Georgia)
12. Jeremiah Hixon, WR (Alabama State/Spanish Fort, Alabama)
13. Magnus Geers, TE (Temple/Zürich, Switzerland)
14. Travis Gray, OL (Colorado/Aurora, Colorado)
15. Max Lantzsch, TE (TCU/Dresden, Germany)
16. Noa Pola-Gates, S (Nebraska/Gilbert, Arizona)
17. Kaydin Pope, WR (Mississippi State/Savannah, Tennessee)
18. Taurrian Stafford, OL (Alabama State/Miami, Florida)
19. Jacory Merritt, RB (Alabama State/Montgomery, Alabama)

*also lettered at Fort Scott CC

2023 Recruiting Class – Junior College Transfers

1. D.J. Washington, WR (Iowa Central CC/Belle Glade, Florida)
2. Everett Hunter, TE (Modesto JC – CA/Modesto, California)
3. Ikani Tuiono, OL (Independence CC – KS/Salt Lake City, Utah)*
4. Devon Smith, OL (Jones College – MS/Biloxi, Mississippi)
5. Dimitri Johnson, LB (Santa Rosa JC – CA/Rohnert Park, California)
6. Dorian Lewis, RB (Coffeyville CC – KS/Rio Rancho, New Mexico)
7. Mihalis Santorineos, LB (Sierra College – CA/Rohnert Park, California)
8. Reese Steele, OL (Iowa Central CC – Des Moines, Iowa)
9. Aaron Smith, S (Mt. San Antonio College – CA/Long Beach, California)
10. Hunter Rapolla, DE (Mt. San Jacinto College – CA/Temecula, California)

*also lettered at Snow College

ASSISTANT COACHES

• Bryant Vincent, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks
• Troy Reffett, defensive coordinator/cornerbacks
• Jamie Christian, special teams coordinator/running backs
• Jerome Haywood, defensive line
• David Howes, safeties
• Jake Rothschiller, linebackers
• Heath Ridenour, offensive assistant – quarterbacks
• Cam Blankenship, offensive line
• Joe Scelfo, tight ends
• Cornelius Williams, wide receivers

Bryant Vincent, who went 7-6 as the interim head coach at UAB last season, was hired by New Mexico head coach Danny Gonzales to breathe life into a stagnant Lobo offense.

THREE KEY PLAYERS

1. QB Dylan Hopkins (Sr.)

His spring game performance still left the door open for other contenders (like Appalachian State transfer D.C. Tabscott), but Hopkins is familiar with Bryant Vincent’s offense—having followed him from UAB—and boasts 4,750 career passing yards and 31 touchdowns on his resumé.

2. RB Christian Washington (Soph.)

Washington led the Lobos with over 800 all-purpose yards as a true freshman. The San Diego product also returned a kick 100 yards for a score in a loss to Boise State.

3. P Aaron Rodriguez (Jr.)

The former Missouri transfer averaged over 44 yards per punt.

THREE KEY LOSSES

1. S Jerrick Reed II

Reed was a three-year starter for the Lobos, racking up 265 career tackles and bailing out a young secondary many times. The Mississippi native was a sixth-round draft pick of the Seattle Seahawks.

2. S A.J. Haulcy

Haulcy was thrown into the fire as a true freshman and mostly held his own, finishing third on the team with 87 tackles, while adding two picks, three pass breakups and two forced fumbles. He had an epic 24-tackle game in the loss to Fresno State, but then entered the portal in December, later landing at Houston.

3. LB Cody Moon

The Albuquerque native and former walk-on led UNM with 105 tackles, while also adding 4.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss, then abruptly entered the portal the day after defensive coordinator Rocky Long left.

THREE KEY ADDITIONS

1. LB Mihalis Santorineos (Soph.)

Santorineos may have locked down a starting spot at middle linebacker in the spring after several Lobos players transferred and several others were recovering from injuries. He made 56 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss during his lone season at Sierra College in northern California.

2. WR Caleb Medford (Jr.)

He played in only five career games in two seasons at TCU, but Medford was still part of a winning program and looked great in his first spring practice at New Mexico. 

3. S Hunter Wiggins (Fr.)

Wiggins played for a Lincoln High team in San Diego that won its first-ever Class 2A state championship in 2022. Although undersized at 6’0”, 195 pounds, Wiggins was a three-star prospect who chose UNM over the likes of Oregon State, Arizona, Colorado and San Diego State.

Former TCU Horned Frogs receiver Caleb Medford transferred to the Lobos in the offseason and quickly became a spring standout in Albuquerque.

QUOTE

“Do we have an opportunity to compete with them, or will we have an opportunity to spoil? Do we have an opportunity to be in that conversation? It’ll all play itself out.”
—Coach Danny Gonzales, on UNM’s chances in the Mountain West

2023 Preview – Offense

A year after averaging 12.2 points per game—the worst mark in school history—the UNM offense averaged a mere 13.1 points per game in 2022. Coordinator Derek Warehime was dismissed after four games, and quarterbacks coach Heath Ridenour, who had never coached at any collegiate level before, took over as interim offensive coordinator.

In the offseason, Gonzales brought in Bryant Vincent, formerly OC and interim head coach at UAB, and he brought a few familiar faces with him: tight ends coach Joe Scelfo, wide receivers coach Cornelius Williams and offensive line coach Cam Blankenship, who all either played for or coached with Vincent in Birmingham.

But of course, it all revolves around the situation up front and quarterback, neither of which were strengths for UNM in 2022.

For the third straight season under head coach Danny Gonzales, the Lobos started multiple players and the stats were horrific: in this case, three different QBs combined for less than 1,300 passing yards and threw three touchdowns against nine interceptions.

One out of three returns: junior Justin Holaday, who played in multiple games and did not have a touchdown pass.

The Lobos signed two freshmen in December: Devon Dampier and Aidan Armenta, and also brought in D.C. Tabscott, a transfer from Appalachian State, but it’s expected that UAB transfer Dylan Hopkins, a three-year starter, will be handed the keys to the offense.

In addition to his prior relationship with Vincent, Hopkins has solid mobility. However, Hopkins had a shaky showing in the spring game, potentially opening the door for Tabscott to take the reins. Stay tuned.

Last fall, Lobo quarterbacks were too busy dodging pass-rushers behind a porous offensive line that gave up 43 sacks while breaking in an entirely new starting five. Four starters now return up front, including junior center C.J. James, and improvement there is imperative.

Gonzales brought in three junior college players, a grad transfer and an early enrollee freshman to help provide more competition and depth. One of them, Mississippi JUCO transfer Devon Smith, quickly found a starting spot at right tackle in spring practice.

The Lobos do have some talent and depth at running back, which will be important in Vincent’s run-first scheme. That was made more difficult when it was revealed in the spring that leading returning rusher Nate Jones had quit the team.

Sophomore Christian Washington brings significant speed, and Sherod White tied for the lead with three rushing TDs for the Lobos. Andrew Henry, a grad transfer from Louisiana-Monroe, has the most FBS experience out of the group, although redshirt freshman Zach Vigil, a former New Mexico Gatorade Player of the Year, shined in the spring.

Wide receiver always seems to be a position of need for UNM, and junior Luke Wysong is a handy possession receiver (68 career catches), but he had only one touchdown last season. This team sorely needs a deep threat who can stretch the field. Help is on the way: UAB transfer Ryan Davis and TCU transfer Caleb Medford are both being given every chance to contribute. Medford looked great in the spring, according to coaches, and 6’4″ JUCO transfer D.J. Washington has terrific athleticism.

Tight end is unproven. Elijah Queen and Will Dennis played a little bit last year, but Gonzales again looked to transfers to provide competition. California JUCO transfer Everett Hunter and Temple grad transfer Magnus Geers, who’s originally from Switzerland, will provide a boost to the two-deep.

2023 Preview – Defense

For a unit that was on the field for far too long, Rocky Long’s defense continued to develop in 2022, giving up 28 points per game and showing a knack for timely takeaways. However, the secondary still took a beating and the Lobos must replace veterans at every level (defensive end Justin Harris, linebacker Reco Hannah and safety Jerrick Reed II, just to name a few).

Altogether, UNM returns four starters and lost multiple players to the portal. Even worse, Long bolted for Syracuse the week before Christmas. Looking to keep continuity, Gonzales promoted cornerbacks coach Troy Reffett from within, and he has 15 prior years of experience in the DC role, including previously at UNM (in 2008), UTEP, Louisiana-Monroe and North Texas.

After Cody Moon and Dion Hunter left via the portal, they’ll have a few veterans trying to pick up the slack in his absence at linebacker.

Sy Riley (36 tackles in eight games) has potential, sophomores Alec Marenco and Marquis Jones got their feet wet in 2022, and junior Ray Leutele is healthy again after being hobbled with a foot injury. Marenco missed the spring with a shoulder problem, which allowed JUCO transfer Mihalis Santorineos to possibly nail down a starting spot after enrolling early in Albuquerque, where he’s reuniting with his old high school teammate, Dimitri Johnson.

The secondary is more of a concern, as the Lobos lose veterans like Jerrick Reed II to the NFL, as well as A.J. Haulcy and Ronald Wilson to the portal.

TCU transfer Marvin Covington could help out at safety, while corner Donte Martin is undersized, but experienced. UNM successfully experimented with converted receiver Bobby Wooden at safety in the spring, and he could at the very least provide leadership to a thin group. Sophomore Christian Ellis could be a darkhose candidate to emerge, as could true freshman Hunter Wiggins.

Up front, priority number one for New Mexico is finding capable replacements at defensive end for the departed Jake Saltonstall and Justin Harris (combined five sacks and 10.5 TFL).

Kyler Drake, Omar Darame and Bryce Santana return on the interior, and they’ll need to take a step forward while the Lobos try to locate playmakers around them. Some other possible names could include New Mexico native Tyler Kiehne, who began his career at UCLA, JUCO transfer Hunter Rapolla and Washington State transfer Gabe Lopez.

2023 Preview – Special Teams

In a season full of lowlights, the emergence of kicker Luke Drzewiecki was a bright spot after years of kicking game woes for the Lobos.

The junior from Michigan made 10-of-14 field goals, with a long of 44, and he was a perfect six-for-six on PATs.

Similarly, punter Aaron Rodriguez saw the field far too often, but the former Missouri transfer made the most of it, averaging 44.2 yards per boot, with only six touchbacks in 81 attempts.

Washington emerged as a dynamic kick returner, returning one 100 yards to the house in an early-season loss to Boise State.

Danny Gonzales is an Albuquerque native who walked on as a player during UNM’s heyday under Rocky Long during the late 90s and earily 2000s, but he is only 7-24 at his alma mater in three seasons since taking the job in 2020.

Summary

As has become the recurring theme of the Gonzales era, a stagnant offense has been what’s kept UNM in the Mountain West cellar. Last season was more of the same, as a quarterback carousel once again ensued and a solid defense had to carry way too much of a burden.

A 2-10 mark was the worst for the Lobos yet under Gonzales, a loyal alum, and then things got worse. Lobo legend Rocky Long, their ex-head coach (1998-2008) and defensive coordinator, left Albuquerque for Syracuse, and an already-young roster was gutted by the transfer portal.

After being unafraid to play true freshmen out of necessity during his first three seasons, Gonzales signed more transfers than ever, searching for immediate solutions and hoping to breathe life into an overhauled offense. He dismissed all but two offensive assistant coaches as well, and promoted cornerbacks coach Troy Reffett from within to take over Long’s unique 3-3-5 defense.

While athletic director Eddie Nuñez has assured the media that Gonzales’s job is secure, the Lobos simply need to show more life as they try to avoid a seventh straight season without a bowl. They’ve lost 20 of their past 23 conference games and haven’t made a bowl game since 2016.

University Stadium has been home of the Lobos since 1960.

2023 NMSU opponent preview: Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors

• LOCATION: Honolulu, Hawai’i (population 350,964)
• CONFERENCE: Mountain West
• 2022 RECORD: 3-10, 2-6 in Mtn. West
• HEAD COACH: Timmy Chang, 2nd season (3-10, 2-6 in Mtn. West)
• STADIUM: Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Complex (built 2015, capacity 17,000)

2022 Results

• L, 10-63 vs Vanderbilt
• L, 17-49 vs Western Kentucky
• L, 10-56 @ Michigan
• W, 24-14 vs Duquesne
• L, 26-45 @ New Mexico State
• L, 14-16 @ San Diego State
• W, 31-16 vs Nevada
• L, 13-17 @ Colorado State
• L, 20-27 vs Wyoming
• L, 13-55 @ Fresno State
• L, 34-41 vs Utah State
• W, 31-25 vs UNLV
• L, 14-27 @ San Jose State

2023 Schedule

• Aug. 26 @ Vanderbilt
• Sept. 1 vs Stanford
• Sept. 9 vs Albany
• Sept. 16 @ Oregon
• Sept. 23 vs New Mexico State
• Sept. 30 @ UNLV
• Oct. 14 vs San Diego State
• Oct. 21 @ New Mexico
• Oct. 28 vs San Jose State
• Nov. 4 @ Nevada
• Nov. 11 vs Air Force
• Nov. 18 @ Wyoming
• Nov. 25 vs Colorado State

Bold indicates Mtn. West game.

2023 Recruiting Class – High School

1. Elijah Palmer, CB (Bishop Gorman HS – Las Vegas, Nevada)
2. Domata Peko Jr., LB (Calabasas HS – California)
3. John-Keawe Sagapolutele, QB (Punahou School – Honolulu, Hawai’i)
4. Jamih Otis, LB (Bishop Gorman HS – Las Vegas, Nevada)
5. Junior Fiaui, LB (St. Francis HS – Mountain View, California)
6. Aiden McComber, DE (Bishop Gorman HS – Las Vegas, Nevada)
7. Ha’aheo Dela Cruz, DE (‘Iolani School – Honolulu, Hawai’i)
8. Zoram Petelo, DE (Layton Christian Academy – Utah)
9. Ezekiel Rodrigues, S (Mililani HS – Hawai’i)
10. Kaleb Jackson-Carter, OL (Desert Edge HS – Goodyear, Arizona)
11. Maclane Watkins, WR (Kennedy Catholic HS – Burien, Washington)
12. Eddie Osei-Nketia, WR (Scots College – Wellington, New Zealand)
13. Isaac Maugaleoo, OL (James Campbell HS – Ewa Beach, Hawai’i)
14. Vaifanua Peo, LB (Samoana HS – Pago Pago, American Samoa)
15. Li’atama Uiliata, WR (Waipahu HS – Hawai’i)
16. Makanale’a Meyer, S (Mililani HS – Hawai’i)
17. Deliyon Freeman, CB (East Coweta HS – Sharpsburg, Georgia)

2023 Recruiting Class – Transfer Portal

1. Joshua Atkins, OL (Houston/Arlington, Texas)
2. Cam Stone, CB (Wyoming/Angleton, Texas)
3. Steven McBride, WR (Kansas/Gonzales, Louisiana)
4. Patrick Hisatake, DE (Cal/Mililani, Hawai’i)
5. Kuao Peihopa, DT (Washington/Honolulu, Hawai’i)
6. Josh Jerome, DT (Eastern Washington/Monroe, Washington)
7. Elijah Robinson, DE (East Carolina/Wilmington, North Carolina)*
8. Justin Prince, S (UTEP/Compton, California)**
9. Oakie Salave’a, WR (Colorado/Pago Pago, American Samoa)
10. Kilinahe Mendiola-Jensen, CB (UNLV/Pearl City, Hawai’i)
11. Jonah Chong, QB (Nevada/Kahalu’u, Hawai’i)

*also lettered at Louisburg College

**also lettered at Long Beach City College

2023 Recruiting Class – Junior College Transfers

1. Justin Sinclair, S (College of San Mateo – CA/Mountain View, California)
2. DaMarco Moorer, S (Riverside City College – CA/Arcadia, California)
3. C.J. Williams, S (Shasta College – CA/Tallahassee, Florida)
4. Caleb Brown, CB (Butler CC – KS/Anniston, Alabama)*
5. Daniel Williams, DT (Trinity Valley CC – TX/Converse, Texas)**
6. Freddie Pelling, OL (Garden City CC – KS/Ampthill, Bedfordshire, England)

*also redshirted at Kennesaw State

**also lettered at Navarro College (TX)

ASSISTANT COACHES

• Roman Sapolu, co-offensive coordinator/offensive line
• Ian Shoemaker, co-offensive coordinator/tight ends
• Eti Ena, co-defensive coordinator/defensive tackles
• Jacob Yoro, co-defensive coordinator/safeties
• Thomas Sheffield, associate head coach/special teams coordinator
• Chris Brown, linebackers
• Steven Irwin, cornerbacks
• Keiki Misipeka, running backs
• Jared Ursua, wide receivers
• Jordan Pu’u-Robinson, defensive ends

Head coach Timmy Chang, a Honolulu native and a former record-setting Hawai’i QB, is back at his alma mater for his second season in charge.

THREE KEY PLAYERS

1. QB Brayden Schager (Jr.)

He needs to cut down on the interceptions, but the dual-threat Schager led the Warriors with 2,348 passing yards and 13 scores. Schager, who was not recruited by Chang, will continue to compete with ex-Pitt transfer Joey Yellen and 6’5” former walk-on Jake Farrell.

2. LB Logan Taylor (Sr.)

A converted safety from the JUCO ranks, Taylor transitioned to linebacker at Hawai’i and then came back for one more season. He is the Warriors’ leading returning tackler (85) and coaches raved about his leadership in the spring.

3. S Peter Manuma (Soph.)

The former walk-on earned all-Mountain West honors after finishing third on the Warriors with 70 tackles, while also picking off two passes and breaking up five more.

THREE KEY LOSSES

1. RB Dedrick Parson

Parson’s versatility in the backfield (830 rushing yards) and as a receiver (30 receptions) made him a unique weapon in the Warriors’ offense. 

2. WR Zion Bowens

Bowens caught 35 passes despite only playing in nine games, and also led Hawai’i with 14.1 yards per catch and four receiving TDs.

3. LB Penei Pavihi 

The American Samoa product was second on the Warriors with 78 tackles from his middle linebacker position, including five for loss.

THREE KEY ADDITIONS

1. DT Kuao Peihopa (Soph.)

The Honolulu native and Washington transfer is hoping to write a new chapter in his home state after he rarely played at UW and fell out of favor with their new coaching staff. He was ranked the #4 recruit in Hawai’i out of high school according to 247Sports and looked excellent in the spring.

2. S Ezekiel Rodrigues (Fr.)

The Warriors need help in the secondary, they’re looking to prioritize local recruiting, and the state of Hawai’i is well-known for producing hard-hitting, scrappy defensive backs. So, it’s therefore a match made in heaven for Rodrigues, who had four interceptions and eight pass breakups in his final two seasons at Mililani High School, only 45 minutes from the UH campus. He was one of four high school recruits that participated in the Polynesian Bowl and later signed with the Warriors.

3. WR Eddie Osei-Nketia (Fr.)

Osei-Nketia might just be the most unique recruit in the country. Hailing from all the way in New Zealand, Osei-Nketia is the fastest sprinter in the country’s history, breaking his own father’s record in the 100 meters (10.08). After he failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, Osei-Nketia briefly flirted with a switch to a rugby career in New Zealand before shocking everyone and choosing to play American football at Hawai’i. He’s never played a down of football and will be a 22-year-old freshman. Osei-Nketia will obviously be extremely raw, but he is an athletic freak at 6’5″, and his 100-meter time, if converted to a 40-yard dash time, would make him the nation’s fastest player by far.

QUOTE

“We’re a unique culture. We’re a unique place. And these guys have got to want to be here. That’s the main common goal, you know? We want to go after guys that want to be here, want to be in Hawai’i, want to represent this state, want to represent this program, understand my vision and where we want to take this thing.” 
—Head coach Timmy Chang

2023 Preview – Offense

The Rainbow Warriors are changing up the playbook after the offense averaged only 19.8 points per game in a transition year.

Second-year head coach Timmy Chang is a decorated former UH QB who had great success running the run-and-shoot offense, and he’ll be taking over the playcalling duties. Chang wants to run a modified run-and-shoot with some tight end sets, as opposed to last season, when the Warriors ran more of a multiple spread/Air Raid scheme under Ian Shoemaker and Roman Sapolu, who are now co-coordinators.

“I wanted to go to the run-and-shoot because, historically, we’re good at it,” Chang told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in the offseason. “That’s what I know. That’s the offense I’ve been in for a number of years at Saint Louis and the University of Hawaii. That’s what I grew up doing. And we’re really, really good at it on the island.”

Chang’s next task is to get more out of quarterback Brayden Schager. The junior from Dallas competed hard under a scheme that he wasn’t recruited to play in, passing for 2,348 yards and 13 scores, but he also threw 10 picks and completed only 55 percent of his passes. Backup Joey Yellen was less than impressive in four games last season as well, so unless the Warriors are looking to the portal, Schager might be their best bet. Former walk-on Jake Farrell could be a wild-card, or it could be highly-touted local kid John-Keawe Sagapolutele, who arrives in the fall.

At receiver, the Warriors lost their top three pass-catchers: receiver Zion Bowens, tight end Caleb Phillips and running back Dedrick Parson. Jalen Walthall, a transfer from Houston, and junior Jonah Panoke both caught 27 passes and might be ready to further step up.

Tamatoa Mokiao-Atimalala only had 15 catches last season, but he caught two touchdowns and could be a factor on an offense that needs new red zone threats. Kansas grad transfer Steven McBride has potential, too, after playing sparingly in his Jayhawk career. Despite only being 5’7″, sophomore Koali Nishigaya impressed coaches enough to receive a scholarship in the spring.

The running game loses Parson, but returns Tylan Hines, a sophomore who averaged 7.6 yards per carry and was second on the team with 634 rushing yards and two TDs. Senior Nasjzae Bryant-Lelei is a bigger back who can get the hard yards, and sophomore Jordon Johnson is another small, speedy type.

The Warriors will miss Ilm Manning and Micah Vanterpool up front after the duo both earned all-Mountain West honors last season. UH signed three linemen who are 6’5″ or bigger, so Sapolu, who’s also the Warriors’ O-line coach, knows what he’s looking for. Hawai’i gave up only 20 sacks last fall (third in the MW), but they will need to develop young players quickly to avoid a drop-off. Center Eliki Tanuvasa is the anchor here.

2023 Preview – Defense

It was another forgettable season for the UH defense, giving up 34.7 points per game and finishing last in the Mountain West in total defense. Veteran coordinator Jacob Yoro, a childhood friend of Chang’s, retains six starters and has added (or will be adding) 11 transfers.

There is some returning talent in the back end thanks to the presence of safety Peter Manuma, a former walk-on who earned all-MW honors after collecting 70 tackles, two interceptions and four pass breakups. Corner Virdel Edwards II, a former Iowa State transfer, also contributed with 50 tackles, three picks and five pass breakups of his own.

Meki Pei, an Oahu native who began his career at Washington, earned a scholarship after a 53-tackle season. Kaulana Makaula had 21 tackles last season and should take over for Tiger Peterson at nickel.

Searching for more depth and immediate production, Chang also brought in five transfers here, plus four freshmen, in his recruiting class. The best of the bunch might be Wyoming transfer corner Cam Stone, senior JoJo Forest or JUCO All-American safety DaMarco Moorer.

The situation in the front seven is more concerning, as the Warriors are relying on a collection of newcomers to turn things around after the group was underwhelming last season.

Seniors Jonah Kahahawai-Welch and Andrew Choi, junior Ezra Evaimalo, sophomores Tariq Jones and Anthony Sagapolutele, and redshirt freshman Dean Briski will try to form a capable rotation at defensive end.

Wynden Ho’ohuli was a ballyhooed Nebraska transfer, but he played in only three games last season. Similarly, Cal transfer Patrick Hisatake was a four-star prospect out of high school, but lacks experience. East Carolina grad transfer Elijah Robinson is another newcomer who could make an impact here.

Plenty of players in this group are undersized as well, so defensive line coach Eti Ena will need to work his magic to improve upon a unit that finished last in the Mountain West with only 17 sacks. On the interior, Eastern Washington grad transfer Josh Jerome is a proven talent, while Daniel Williams is a 330-pound JUCO transfer who could start immediately.

At linebacker, super-seniors Logan Taylor and Isaiah Tufaga are back for one more go after they combined for 114 tackles, but there’s not much depth. Noah Kema and Demarii Blanks are unproven JUCO transfers, although the Warriors did sign a quartet of freshmen, including Domata Peko Jr., a signing day surprise in February whose dad played a decade in the NFL.

2023 Preview – Special Teams

Kicker and punter Matthew Shipley returns for one more season after averaging 40.7 yards per punt and making 16 of 20 field goals.

The Warriors have improved the roster’s speed as a whole, but they lack an obvious return man. Special teams coordinator Thomas Sheffield — who worked with Chang at Nevada — will presumably continue auditions for that role in the fall.

Summary

Chang knew he was inheriting a cultural rebuild after the tumultuous exit of Todd Graham, so the 3-10 debut shouldn’t necessarily reflect badly on him.

Chang has had to navigate a tough stadium situation, as well as a chronic lack of depth thanks to portal issues. Aloha Stadium was condemned by the state government and the demolition is pending, while a new stadium built on the same site might not be completed until 2027. In the interim, the Warriors must play home games at the glorified practice field known as the Ching Athletic Complex, which seats a mere 17,000 after renovations.

Chang adding new wrinkles to the offense and taking over play-calling duties himself should help Schager’s development and generate more scoring opportunities, but the Warriors still need new players to emerge on the O-line and better receiving play. The defense needs to step up and stop somebody this season.

With that said, there should still be notable improvements in the second season under Chang, as the Warriors avoid Boise State and Fresno State on the schedule and get Air Force and San Diego State at home. Achievable goals would be to score some more upsets in Mountain West play and be more physical on both sides of the ball, but getting back to the postseason is still unlikely.

Despite the stadium question lingering over the program, Chang is keeping it simple in terms of long-term vision: foster a positive atmosphere, emphasize the program’s Polynesian roots, and become a landing pad for Power Five conference players who hop in the portal. Those are all key points of emphasis as Chang crosses his fingers for a big jump forward in Year Two.

2023 Conference USA preview: Florida International Panthers

• LOCATION: Miami, Florida (population 442,241)
• 2022 RECORD: 4-8, 2-6 in CUSA
• 2023 PREDICTION: 7th in CUSA
• HEAD COACH: Mike MacIntyre, 2nd season (4-8, 2-6 in CUSA, 50-73 overall)
• STADIUM: Alfonso Field at Riccardo Silva Stadium (opened 1995, capacity 20,000)

2022 Results

• W, 38-37 (OT) vs Bryant
• L, 21-41 @ Texas State
• L, 0-73 @ Western Kentucky
• W, 21-7 @ New Mexico State
• L, 12-33 vs Connecticut
• L, 10-30 vs UTSA
• W, 34-15 @ Charlotte
• W, 42-24 (2 OTs) vs Louisiana Tech
• L, 14-52 @ North Texas
• L, 7-52 vs Florida Atlantic
• L, 6-40 @ UTEP
• L, 28-33 vs Middle Tennessee

2023 Schedule

• Aug. 26 @ Louisiana Tech
• Sept. 2 vs Maine
• Sept. 9 vs North Texas
• Sept. 16 @ Connecticut
• Sept. 28 vs Liberty
• Oct. 4 @ New Mexico State
• Oct. 11 vs UTEP
• Oct. 18 @ Sam Houston 
• Oct. 25 vs Jacksonville State
• Nov. 11 @ Middle Tennessee
• Nov. 18 @ Arkansas
• Nov. 25 vs Western Kentucky

Bold indicates CUSA game.

2023 Recruiting Class – High School

1. Keyone Jenkins, QB (Miami Central HS – Florida)
2. Jamari Holliman, S (Miami Norland HS – Florida)
3. Kyle McNeal, WR (Dwyer HS – West Palm Beach, Florida)
4. Luby Maurice Jr., WR (Palm Beach Central HS – Florida)
5. A.J. Cobb, DE (Frostproof HS – Florida)
6. Jaheim Buchanon, OL (Lehigh Sr. HS – Lehigh Acres, Florida)
7. Braiden Staten, TE (Green Hill HS – Mt. Juliet, Tennessee)
8. Toddrick Brewton, DE (Miami Northwestern HS – Florida)
9. Landon Hale, S (Yulee HS – Florida)
10. Mister Clarke, CB (Miami Carol City HS – Florida)
11. Preston Thompson, S (Moore Haven HS – Florida)
12. Rowdy Beers, TE (Valor Christian HS – Littleton, Colorado)
13. Victor Evans III, CB (Monsignor Pace HS – Opa Locka, Florida)
14. Daniel Michel, OL (Dillard HS – Ft. Lauderdale, Florida)
15. Mykeal Rabess, OL (Miami Norland HS – Florida)
16. Atavious Weaver, LB (North Ft. Myers HS – Florida)

2023 Recruiting Class – Transfer Portal

1. Shomari Lawrence, RB (South Dakota/Pompano Beach, Florida)
2. Elijah Anderson-Taylor, LB (Northern Colorado/Aurora, Colorado)
3. JoJo Evans, S (Kent State/Palm Beach Gardens, Florida)*
4. Claude Larkins, DE (NC State/Hollywood, Florida)
5. Bobby Salla Jr., S (Temple/Delray Beach, Florida)
6. Avery Huff, LB (Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Florida)
7. Christian Pedersen, TE (Louisville/San Mateo, California)
8. Eric Rivers, WR (Memphis/Chattanooga, Tennessee)
9. Travis Burke, OL (Gardner-Webb/Hollywood, Florida)
10. J.T. Anderson, CB (Bryant/Tampa, Florida)
11. Jack Daly, DT (Bryant/Glastonbury, Connecticut)
12. Ladarian Paulk, CB (Memphis/Apopka, Florida)**
13. Jackson Schultze, OL (Texas State/Broken Arrow, Oklahoma)***

*also played at Marshall

**also played at Fort Scott CC (KS)

***also played at Northeast Oklahoma A&M

2023 Recruiting Class – Junior College Transfers

1. Marquez Tatum, DT (Pearl River CC – MS/Mobile, Alabama)*
2. Ja’Coby Matthews, WR (Southwest Mississippi CC/McComb, Mississippi)

*also redshirted at Grambling and lettered at Mississippi Gulf Coast CC

FIU’s head coach, Mike MacIntyre, is known for taking on rebuilding projects at places that are notoriously hard to win, such as San Jose State, where he coached three seasons from 2010-12, and at Colorado from 2013-18.

ASSISTANT COACHES

• David Yost, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks
• Jovan Dewitt, defensive coordinator/linebackers
• Zac Roper, special teams coordinator/tight ends
• Eric Hickson, associate head coach/running backs
• Joshua Eargle, deputy head coach/offensive line
• Jay MacIntyre, wide receivers
• George Frazier, defensive line
• Nate Taye, safeties
• Anthony Gaitor, outside linebackers/nickelbacks
• DeMarcus Van Dyke, cornerbacks

FIU quarterback Grayson James (#3)

THREE KEY PLAYERS

1. WR Jalen Bracey (Sr.)

The speedy JUCO transfer caught a team-high 39 passes in his Panther debut, serving as an ideal slot receiver in coordinator David Yost’s offense. The Panthers are hoping to get more out of their vertical passing game, and Bracey is one of the more experienced players in the receivers room.

2. QB Grayson James (Jr.)

James has a decent arm and possesses solid athleticism, but he has something to prove after he tossed 11 touchdowns against 11 interceptions in his first season as the full-time starter.

3. LB Donovan Manuel (Sr.)

Manuel and fellow ‘backer Gaethan Bernadel were a productive one-two punch on an inexperienced and overmatched defense. The East Tennessee State transfer made 97 stops and 8.5 tackles for loss.

THREE KEY LOSSES

1. WR Tyrese Chambers

Chambers made 51 catches for 544 yards and four scores and was an unselfish locker room presence before entering the transfer portal at the end of the year.

2. TE Rivaldo Fairweather

A big target at 6’5″, 245 pounds, Fairweather hit the transfer portal after finishing fourth on the team in receptions and yardage, later landing at Auburn.

3. LB Gaethan Bernadel

Although undersized at 6’1″, 210 pounds, Bernadel led the Panthers with 103 total tackles before leaving via the portal in December.

Kent State transfer defensive back JoJo Evans, a South Florida native, is back home and should be an impact player in the Panthers’ secondary in 2023.

THREE KEY ADDITIONS

1. S Landon Hale (Fr.)

A three-star freshman safety, Hale made 179 tackles in three seasons, plus 20 tackles for loss, 16 pass breakups, three interceptions and five forced fumbles. He also crushed it in the classroom, graduating with a 4.6 GPA and turning down scholarship offers from all three U.S. service academies: Army, Navy & Air Force. Fun fact: Hale attended the same high school as Tennessee Titans star Derrick Henry.

2. S JoJo Evans (Jr.)

Evans is on his third school, but he’s been productive everywhere he’s been, playing two seasons at Marshall before spending last season at Kent State. So far, he’s got 106 tackles, one interception, six pass breakups and a forced fumble to his credit. At 6’2”, 200 pounds, Evans has a great frame and adds depth to the Panthers’ secondary.

3. RB Shomari Lawrence (Soph.)

Lawrence is another transfer player returning to the Sunshine State; he rushed for 766 yards and four touchdowns in his career with the South Dakota Coyotes, an FCS team.

QUOTE

“The way we do the portal is we search kids from the state of Florida: South Florida, Tampa, Orlando and Miami first, then work our way up. Because we want the kids to have a connection to here and want to be here.”

–FIU head coach Mike MacIntyre, referring to FIU’s recruiting philosophy

2023 Preview – Offense

Lacking experienced playmakers and learning a new offense, the Panthers averaged only 18.6 points per game last season.

Second-year coordinator David Yost’s system is a fast-paced and QB-driven Air Raid system — he once coached Justin Herbert at Oregon, but it’s unclear if he has anyone on the Panthers’ roster of that caliber.

Yost will need more consistency from incumbent Grayson James, who tossed just as many picks as touchdowns (11). Sophomore Haden Carlson showed plenty of promise with a 414-yard, four TD performance in a near-upset of Middle Tennessee in the season finale, and the former three-star recruit could be much more of a factor in year two of Yost’s scheme. True freshman Keyone Jenkins was a prized recruit, although four healthy options were reduced to three in the spring when redshirt freshman Amari Jones suffered an Achilles injury.

Leading receiver Tyrese Chambers left via the portal, but the Panthers do return slot receiver Jalen Bracey (37 receptions) as well as tight end Josiah Miamen. Another candidate who could emerge is Dean Patterson, a speedy former walk-on with 20 career catches. Eric Rivers, a Memphis transfer, has solid speed and was on campus during the spring. The Panthers will miss reliable tight end Rivaldo Fairweather, who also transferred.

The offensive line was one of the nation’s youngest (and thinnest) last season, and the Panthers added four newcomers in their recruiting class, but they were dealt a major blow during spring practice when both projected starting tackles (Lyndell Hudson and Shamar Hobdy-Lee) suddenly entered the portal.

The only returning starters up front might be John Bock II, a true sophomore, and Jacob Peace, a former VMI transfer.

On the bright side, the Panthers did sign a trio of three-star freshmen here. Josh Eargle, who coached tight ends last year, is now moving over to coach the line after Greg Austin left for an assistant coaching job with the Philadelphia Eagles.

FIU was dealt a serious blow in the spring when leading returning rusher Lexington “Flex” Joseph (536 yards, five TDs) tore his ACL; he will miss the season. Vying to replace him will be a combination of sophomore Kejon Owens (26 carries last season), redshirt freshman Antonio Patterson and South Dakota transfer Shomari Lawrence.

Jovan Dewitt enters his second season as FIU’s defensive coordinator after joining MacIntyre’s staff from a job at UNC-Chapel Hill.

2023 Preview – Defense

Second-year coordinator Jovan Dewitt had his hands full in 2022, inheriting one of the nation’s least-experienced defenses, and year one was rough — the Panthers finished 122nd in the nation in total defense and 127th in scoring D.

Returning starters include linebacker Donovan Manuel (97 tackles, 7.5 TFL), an East Tennessee State transfer who made an impact on a run defense that needed proven playmakers. Converted running back Shaun Peterson Jr. is also a likely starter, or it could be Miami transfer Avery Huff, senior Alex Nobles or Northern Colorado transfer Elijah Anderson-Taylor.

The Panthers want to be able to pressure the quarterback, but they had only 21 sacks as a team and are thin on the front four. Latarie Kinsler (20 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack) has potential as a difference-maker, but he’ll need to adapt to a likely starting role at end. Travonte O’Neal showed some flashes as well, and Jeramy Passmore is a returning starter at end after recording 43 tackles, but only one sack. NC State transfer Claude Larkins, a South Florida native, has intriguing size and potential.

In the secondary, FIU gave up 260 passing yards per game, but does return some starting experience in Jamal Potts, who can play nickel or safety, and cornerback Adrian Cole (36 tackles, one pick), who transferred from Syracuse before last fall. The spring allowed more youngsters to crack the depth chart at corner after Cole suffered a shoulder injury, although he should be OK for the season.

Junior safety C.J. Christian played in five games before hurting his shoulder as well and missing the rest of the year, while sophomore Hezekiah Masses could see more action at corner. Safety J.T. Anderson was another underrated pickup from FCS Bryant, reuniting with his teammate, defensive tackle Jack Daly. Temple transfer Bobby Salla and Kent State transfer JoJo Evans were two key additions as well.

2023 Preview – Special Teams

Daton Montiel is one of CUSA’s best punters, averaging 42.1 yards per boot and becoming a key weapon on a team whose defense needed all the relief it could get. Rivers could be the main punt returner after an encouraging spring.

Junior Chase Gabriel was frustratingly inconsistent, missing five field goals and having one blocked. As of press time, MacIntyre had not signed any additional kickers.

The special teams will also have a new face at coordinator in tight ends coach Zac Roper, taking over for the departed Ricky Brumfield.

Summary

Mike MacIntyre inherited one of the nation’s youngest and thinnest rosters and turned in a respectable 4-8 debut season, but the Panthers still have much work to do.

James needs to take a step forward in year two under Yost, while the defense simply needs to stop the bleeding after ranking in the bottom 10 nationally in both scoring D and total D. Depth is still shaky in numerous spots, including on both lines, and losing Joseph for the season leaves the running back position thin and unproven.

MacIntyre had FIU at 4-4 and within eyeshot of a postseason appearance before completely falling apart down the stretch, getting blown out in November conference games by an average score of 44-14, showing how much of a gap there remains between the Panthers and CUSA’s better teams.

The veteran coach will hope a more experienced roster, plus a decent recruiting class, will help get FIU back to the postseason for the first time since 2019.