BREAKING: Frank Ponce leaving Miami for OC position at App State
Miami quarterbacks coach Frank Ponce Is leaving the Canes to return to his old job as offensive coordinator at Appalachian State .
The move opens up options for Mario Cristobal as he and current offensive coordinator Josh Gattis work out the future of the Miami offense and decide whether Gattis will return in 2023 or pursue other opportunities sources tell CaneSport are coming his way in the pro or college ranks.
Ponce is returning to a position he has held twice before on two separate stints from 2013-2018 and then again in 2021. His departure was first reported by The Athletic.
Ponce served as the Canes’ pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach during the 2022 season and was responsible for working withstarting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke and Jake Garcia and Jacurri Brown. Van Dyke threw for 1,835 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions in nine games while battling injuries. Garcia threw for 805 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions in five games.
Ponce had previously served as the wide receivers coach at FIU from 2007-2012 as a member of head coach Mario Cristobal’s staff and had numerous ties to the Miami area from his time as a high school coach.
Ponce had been relentless on the recruiting trail over the past several weeks pursuing multiple blue-chip 2024 and 2025 quarterbacks including four-star 2025 quarterback Ryan Montgomery and four-star 2024 quarterback Air Noland. Ponce had planned on traveling to Ohio at some point in the next two weeks to watch Montgomery in person.
He also signed three-star quarterback Emory Williams in the 2023 cycle, the only quarterback Miami took in this year’s recruiting class.
His departure will mark the fourth time in five seasons the Hurricanes brought in a new quarterback coach following Dan Enos in 2019, Rhett Lashlee in 2020 and 2021 and Ponce in 2022.
