Philip Montgomery agrees to terms, will be Auburn's newest OC/QB coach
AUBURN — Philip Montgomery has officially agreed to terms and will be Auburn’s next offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Multiple sources confirmed the news to Auburn Live on Sunday night. Montgomery confirmed the news vial social media late Sunday night.
He will coach quarterbacks in addition to coordinating the offense. Montgomery coached quarterbacks Baylor and Houston, both of his last two offensive coordinator stops.
Terms of the deal aren’t yet known. Montgomery joins Ron Roberts as Sunday night hires. Roberts will coordinate the defense after serving a stint at Baylor under Dave Aranda.
This is where Hugh Freeze’s first coaching staff now stands entering Monday, December 11.
| Position | Confirmed New Hire | Names of Interest |
| OC | Philip Montgomery | |
| DC | Ron Roberts | |
| DL | Jeremy Garrett (from Liberty) | |
| LB | Christian Robinson (likely) | |
| DB | Zac Etheridge (likely) | |
| DB | Wesley McGriff | |
| WR | Grant Heard, Jacob Peeler, Kodi Burns, Curtis Luper | |
| QB | Philip Montgomery | |
| OL | Jake Thornton | |
| RB | Carnell Williams | |
| TE | Ben Aigamaua (from Liberty) | |
| Assoc. HC | Carnell Williams |
From our previous reporting on Montgomery’s expected hiring
Montgomery spent the last eight seasons as the Tulsa head football coach, going 43-53 during that time. He is regarded as one of the best offensive minds in college football, and it’s easy to see why.
In his career, Montgomery has coached award-winning quarterbacks, including Big 12 Player of the Year Bryce Petty, Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III, Baylor All-American Nick Florence, Conference USA MVP Kevin Kolb and Houston standout Case Keenum.
Before Tulsa, Montgomery was the co-OC at Baylor from 2008-2011 before earning the OC position outright from 2012-2014.
In each of his final four seasons at Baylor, Montgomery called plays for an offense that was among the top two in the country. Baylor led the country in total offense in 2014 with 581.3 yards per game and 48.8 points. The Bears finished first in the nation in total offense in 2013 (618.8), second in 2012 (572.2), and 2011 (572.2).
For two straight seasons at Baylor, Montgomery’s quarterbacks earned All-America honors.
In 2013, Bryce Petty threw for 4,200 yards and 32 TDs. He finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting and was named the unanimous Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. In 2012, Nick Florence threw for a school-record 4,309 yards in 2012 and was named an honorable mention All-American by Sports Illustrated.
During his first seven years at Tulsa, Montgomery led the Golden Hurricane to four bowl games, has coached 40 all-conference performers and three All-Americans. The last two years marked the first time since 1993 and ’94 that a Tulsa coach has had back-to-back NFL draft picks and in 2020 he became the first coach in school history to defeat two top-20 teams in the same season – No. 11 UCF and No. 19 SMU.
In year one under Montgomery, Tulsa ranked among the nation’s leaders the entire season for passing, scoring and total offense, while appearing in the 2015 Camping World Independence Bowl. Tula completed the 2015 season ranked 11th nationally in passing, 13th in total offense and 21st in scoring.
Tulsa’s offense also established an NCAA record in 2016, becoming the first team in FBS/DI history with a 3,000-yard passer (Dane Evans), two 1,000-yard rushers (James Flanders and D’Angelo Brewer) and two 1,000-yard receivers (Keevan Lucas and Josh Atkinson).
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
|---|---|
| 1994 | Tarleton State (SA) |
| 1995 | Celeste HS (TX) (OC/QB/RB) |
| 1996 | Stephenville JR HS (TX) (QB/RB) |
| 1997–2001 | Stephenville HS (TX) (QB/RB) |
| 2002 | Denton HS (TX) (OC) |
| 2003–2006 | Houston (QB/RB) |
| 2007 | Houston (co-OC/QB/RB) |
| 2008–2011 | Baylor (co-OC/QB/RB) |
| 2012–2014 | Baylor (OC/QB) |
| 2015–2022 | Tulsa |
