Tracking FBS assistants leaving for NFL as coaching carousel continues

In January 2024, Jeff Hafley spoke with On3 just days before he left the Boston College head coaching job for a defensive coordinator role with the Green Bay Packers in the NFL. Hafley was blunt in his assessment of the battles he was fighting at Boston College between tampering in the college football transfer portal and building a roster.

“How do you define tampering, right?” he told On3 at the time. “Agents calling kids and telling kids that they can get them at this school for this amount of money and this school is interested. What’s true and what’s not true? I’ve had an example of hearsay. This school will take me out of the portal right now and give me this amount of money. And then I pick up the phone and call that school, call a buddy of mine, and it’s, ‘No, we don’t even know who that kid is.'”

Hafley was named the Miami Dolphins head coach last month, less than two years after leaving Boston College. His exit in 2024 was the latest evidence of a college coach citing NIL and the portal as his reasoning for leaving for the NFL. Hafley told On3 at the time he had gotten away from coaching the game, to spending almost all hours on roster construction.

Not much in the college game has changed since Hafley’s exit. The portal windows have been shortened and revenue sharing has been introduced, yet industry sources continue to tell On3 that college assistants are seeking NFL opportunities. Over the last month, at least 17 FBS assistant coaches have left for NFL roles.

“Most college coaches are willing to take a pay cut if that means working in the NFL,” one industry source told On3. The source also noted that college assistants’ buyouts are the only factor slowing the rate of departures.

Navy defensive coordinator P.J. Volker recently accepted a job on the Ravens staff. Notre Dame lost multiple defensive assistants. In the last 72 hours, Michigan saw defensive line coach Lou Esposito for the same role on the Ravens staff.

As Super Bowl Sunday arrives, multiple FBS programs are conducting coaching searches to fill holes on their staff due to NFL departures. And sources across the industry tell On3 that this carousel could continue until mid-February, at least.

Here is the full breakdown of FBS assistants who have accepted NFL jobs in recent weeks:

Coach	College	Position	NFL
Harland Bower	Duke	EDGEs	Ravens
Matt Merritt	Miami	RBs	Cardinals
Lou Esposito	Michigan	DL	Ravens
Jimmy Thompson	Vanderbilt	Nickels	Chargers
C.J. Ah You	Texas Tech	EDGEs/OLBs	Steelers
Noah Pauley	Penn State	WRs	Packers
Eric Henderson	USC	Co-DC	Commanders
Chidrera Uzo-Diribe	Georgia	OLBs	Cowboys
Chandler Whitmer	Indiana	QBs/Co-OC	Buccaneers
Jay Valai	Oklahoma	Co-DC/Secondary	Bills
Bobby April	Minnesota	EDGEs	Bills
Matt Applebaum	Boston College	OL	Dolphins
C.J. Cox	Coastal Carolina	Safeties	Chiefs
P.J. Volker	Navy	Defensive Coordinator	Ravens
Mike Mickens	Notre Dame	DBs	Ravens
Al Washington	Notre Dame	LBs	Dolphins
Will Lawing	Boston College	Offensive Coordinator	Bears