Forde-Yard Dash: 10 Coordinator Hires Who Could Make or Break Their Teams

Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football, where USC fans were so excited by the program swapping out its traditional season-ending home game with Notre Dame for a Week Zero game against San Jose State that they simply didn’t bother showing up. First Quarter: Welcome to the Pressure Cooker.

Second Quarter: How Good Is Your New Coordinator?

Few things stoke more offseason optimism than a coordinator change. Invariably, the new guy is brilliant, aggressive and obviously superior to the dumb, timid previous guy. At least until the games start. We are at that point now, so The Dash assesses 10 big coordinator hires.

The firemen who run toward danger, not away from it, arriving to save a flailing coach:

Bobby Petrino (11), North Carolina offensive coordinator

Bill Belichick’s return on investment in the 65-year-old Petrino was immediate Saturday in Ireland, where the Tar Heels got smart, disaster-free quarterback play in wet conditions from transfer Billy Edwards Jr. Sonnets will not be written about a 15-point output (two of which were courtesy of special teams), but Carolina’s 322 yards of total offense was better than 10 out of 12 games last season. Petrino maximized new tight end Jelani Thurman, who had four catches for 94 yards, and the Heels ended the game with a four-minute drive that ran out the clock.

Gary Patterson (12), USC defensive coordinator

After a less-than-amicable parting with TCU, Patterson sat out long enough to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and is now running the Trojans’ defense for Lincoln Riley. This is a Chip Kelly–style setup for Patterson, who has wide latitude to run his side of the ball without doing a lot of the work he disliked outside the football building that goes with being a head coach.

The Trojans were 60% good in Patterson’s DC debut, pitching a shutout through San José State’s first six possessions and allowing just 3.7 yards per play. Then came the final 40%, when the Spartans scored 26 points on four possessions and averaged 8.8 yards per play. Patterson was working a lot of subs into the game in the fourth quarter, which was not a validation of USC’s defensive depth.

We’re doing this again—schools and coaches getting back together:

Will Muschamp (13), Texas defensive coordinator

Previous stint: Muschamp was the Longhorns’ DC under Mack Brown from 2008 to ’10, a period which encompassed their last appearance in a national championship game. Muschamp had been in the SEC ever since leaving Brown’s staff, working seven years as a head coach (Florida, South Carolina) and the last five on Kirby Smart’s staff at Georgia.

In conference play last season, Texas was 11th in the SEC in yards allowed per game (398) and ninth in points allowed (25.8), which was not good enough given the talent on that unit. Muschamp will particularly be tasked with getting better play out of the secondary this season.

Brent Pry (14), Virginia Tech defensive coordinator

This is a rare one, with Pry being fired last year as the head coach at Tech and then rehired by his old boss, James Franklin, as DC. But it makes sense on multiple levels. Pry is much better suited in a coordinator role, having done good work in that capacity under Franklin at both Vanderbilt and Penn State, and he can provide the new head coach with valuable institutional knowledge. Keeping Pry onboard also helped in retention of several of the Hokies’ best players, particularly on the defensive side.

Brent Pry answers questions from the media. — Brent Pry is in a unique position returning to a program that fired him as head coach last season as this season’s defensive coordinator under James Franklin. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Chad Morris (15), Clemson offensive coordinator

He was around when the Tigers rose to prominence under Dabo Swinney, working as OC from 2011 to ’14, and now Morris is back as a key part of the cleanup crew. In between he bombed as the head coach at Arkansas and bounced around various places. Now Swinney is hoping Morris can breathe some life in the Clemson offense that hasn’t been in the top five of the ACC in pass efficiency since Trevor Lawrence left campus.

Next man up—in-house promotions on both sides of the ball at successful programs:

Oregon (16)

Will Stein departed his OC role to become the head coach at Kentucky, and DC Tosh Lupoi left to take over the big chair at California. The Ducks offense is now in the hands of Drew Mehringer, previously the co-OC and tight ends coach, while the defense will be called by former defensive backs coach Chris Hampton. Mehringer has deep ties with Tom Herman, having worked with him at Iowa State, Ohio State and Texas. Hampton was the DC at Tulane under Willie Fritz before coming to Eugene, Ore.

Texas A&M (17)

Last year’s OC, Collin Klein, is now the head coach at his alma mater, Kansas State. Last year’s DC, Jay Bateman, is now in that same role at Kentucky. Mike Elko filled those positions with Holmon Wiggins on offense and Lyle Hemphill on defense. Wiggins got his big break on Nick Saban’s Alabama staff from 2019 to ’23, while Hemphill had been with Elko at Duke before going to James Madison for a year and reuniting with Elko in College Station, Texas.

NFL relocation program:

Arthur Smith (18), Ohio State offensive coordinator

Ryan Day has had huge success bringing NFL coaches in as coordinators, with Chip Kelly running the offense for the national championship team in 2024 and Matt Patricia arriving last year to coordinate the nation’s No. 1 defense. Smith is the latest to follow that path, arriving after 15 seasons in the NFL. On Smith’s to-do list: more physical play. The Buckeyes were 72nd nationally last season in rushing, getting stuffed on the ground in season-ending losses to Indiana and Miami; and their wildly talented receiving corps was surprisingly poor in yards after the catch.

Following the old boss:

Jason Beck (19), Michigan offensive coordinator

He was with Kyle Whittingham last season at Utah, the second of two seasons at two schools with dual-threat quarterback Devon Dampier. Working under Beck at New Mexico and Utah, Dampier produced 7,259 yards of total offense and 65 total touchdowns. Beck will now be tasked with unlocking the massive talent within Michigan QB Bryce Underwood.

Surprise steal of the century:

LeVar Woods (20), Michigan State special teams coordinator

Grabbing a successful special teams coordinator away from Kirk Ferentz is like pirating the “Mona Lisa” out of the Louvre. An Iowa alum, Woods had been on Ferentz’s staff since 2008, and has been coordinating the coach’s passion project units since ’18. The jury is completely out on how good Pat Fitzgerald’s first Spartans team is, but expect them to cover kicks, block kicks and especially punt with authority.

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