10 new coordinators whose place of employment may be a surprise
This was an especially busy offseason for college football coordinators – 66 schools changed OCs, 56 changed DCs – and we’re betting the current places of employment for some of these 10 new coordinators (well, new to their current job at least) may be at least a slight surprise.
Robert Anae, Syracuse OC
The skinny: Anae’s offense at Virginia last season was incredibly prolific through the air, averaging 392.6 passing yards per game (second nationally). But when Bronco Mendenhall surprisingly retired, Anae was left in the lurch. He ended up at Syracuse, which was horrendous throwing the ball last season (153.0 passing yards per game, 122nd nationally). It’ll be interesting to see how Anae tries to revamp the Orange offense without a proven passing quarterback. It’ll also be interesting to see how Anae, 63, adjusts to working for someone other than Mendenhall for the first time in a decade. Anae is Syracuse coach Dino Babers’ fourth OC in seven seasons. This will be Anae’s sixth FBS assistant’s job; he also has worked at UNLV, Texas Tech, BYU and Arizona, and was at Boise State when it was a Division I-AA program (back in the pre-FCS days).
Walt Bell, Indiana OC
The skinny: After going 2-23 as UMass coach in three seasons, Bell was fired with three games remaining on the 2021 schedule. Bell, 37, quickly resurfaced as the new OC for the Hoosiers. IU was horrible on offense last season because of an unreal spate of injuries at quarterback: The Hoosiers started four different signal-callers. Missouri transfer Connor Bazelak figures to be IU’s starter this fall. Bell has been an assistant at Southern Miss, North Carolina, Arkansas State, Maryland and Florida State, serving as the OC at the last three.
Graham Harrell, West Virginia OC
The skinny: Harrell, 36, worked for a hot-seat coach last season (USC’s Clay Helton) and will do the same this season (WVU’s Neal Brown). He’s obviously hoping Brown doesn’t meet the same in-season fate as Helton, who was fired in September last year. WVU’s offense has been inconsistent during Brown’s whole tenure, a surprise considering he made his bones on that side of the ball. Harrell’s philosophy seemingly meshes better with Brown. Another positive: WVU’s new quarterback is J.T. Daniels, whom Harrell worked with at USC in 2019. Daniels was the starter that season but was injured in the opener and missed the rest of the year; he transferred to Georgia after that season.
Vic Koenning, ULM DC
The skinny: Koenning, 62, is a longtime college assistant who spent last season as an assistant at Gulf Shores (Ala.) High for former Louisiana coach Mark Hudspeth. Now, he’s working for Terry Bowden, whose entering his second season as Warhawks coach. Koenning began his college coaching career in 1986 and has been a defensive coordinator at Wyoming, Troy, Clemson, Illinois and West Virginia; he also was head coach at Wyoming and an assistant at North Carolina and Memphis. Koenning stepped down as WVU’s coordinator after the 2019 season following allegations of mistreatment of players. He didn’t coach in 2020 before working for Hudspeth last year.
Todd Orlando, FAU DC
The skinny: “Todd Orlando” has 11 letters and so does “peripatetic,” and that might not be a coincidence. This will be the seventh school in 13 years for Orlando, 51. He spent the past two seasons at USC after spending the previous three at Texas. He also has worked at UConn, FIU, Utah State and Houston since 2010. Orlando replaces Mike Stoops on Willie Taggart’s staff at FAU; Stoops left to become linebacker coach for his brother, Mark, at Kentucky.
Paul Petrino, Central Michigan OC
The skinny: Petrino, 54, Bobby’s younger brother, spent the previous nine seasons as Idaho’s coach, going 34-66 with the Vandals. During the first five seasons of his tenure, Idaho was a FBS school; it dropped to the FCS ranks in 2018. Petrino has been an OC at Arkansas, Illinois and Louisville, and also has worked at Utah State, Southern Miss and with the Atlanta Falcons. He is taking over an offense that was highly productive in 2021, one featuring the nation’s leading rusher (Lew Nichols) and a freshman quarterback (Daniel Richardson) who threw 24 TD passes.
Ted Roof, Oklahoma DC
The skinny: Roof, 58, definitely is well-traveled: This will be his sixth school in six seasons. He started his career as a grad assistant at Alabama in 1987 – when Bill Curry was coach. Roof has worked at nine FBS schools as an assistant: Appalachian State, Auburn, Duke, Georgia Tech, Minnesota, NC State, Penn State, UCF and Vanderbilt; he also spent four seasons as Duke’s head coach. Roof was a defensive analyst at Clemson last season and worked for then-Tigers DC Brent Venables, who brought Roof with him to OU. There’s a 100 percent chance this will be Venables’ defense, but Roof’s long coaching history proves he is adaptable and the Sooners will feature some of the best talent he has worked with in his long career.
Bob Shoop, USF DC
The skinny: Shoop, 55, was a defensive analyst at Miami last season, where he worked for Manny Diaz (who now is defensive coordinator at Penn State). USF is Shoop’s 15th full-time coaching job; he spent two seasons as a grad assistant before being hired by Division I-AA Northeastern as a secondary coach in 1991. In the FBS ranks, he has worked for Army, Boston College, Michigan, Mississippi State, Penn State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt; Shoop has been a DC at Mississippi State, Penn State, Tennessee and Vandy. He also was head coach at Columbia from 2003-05 and has worked at six FCS schools (including Northeastern) overall. He takes over a defense that has been horrible the past two seasons and hasn’t been good since 2017.
Charlie Weis Jr., Ole Miss OC
The skinny: This is the third OC job in four seasons for Weis, 29. He was coordinator at FAU in 2018-19 for Lane Kiffin, who also will be his boss with the Rebels. Weis was OC the past two seasons at USF, and the Bulls struggled offensively because of uneven quarterback play (“uneven” is a kind description; it was flat-out horrible at times). Weis will be working closely with new Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart, a USC transfer, and also has some good running backs and receivers with whom to work.
David Yost, FIU OC
The skinny: Yost, 51, is well-known for his long, flowing locks, and he brings a lot of experience with him to FIU, where he will work for new coach Mike MacIntyre. Yost has been an OC at Missouri, Utah State and Texas Tech and also had assistant stints at Oregon, Washington State and Toledo. He has coached some highly productive quarterbacks, including Chase Daniel and Blaine Gabbert at Mizzou and Jordan Love at Utah State. Yost, who was out of football last season, does not have that type of talent at quarterback at FIU.