SMU QB coach Jonny Brewer leaving to be Duke OC
SMU quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Jonny Brewer is leaving the program to become the Duke offensive coordinator, joining Manny Diaz‘ staff. Sources confirmed to On3 the departure of one of SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee’s top assistants.
Brewer was a longtime staffer under Lashlee, who calls the plays for the Mustangs. Under Diaz, Brewer will get his first shot as a play caller. He spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons under Diaz and Lashlee at Miami as an analyst.
This season, quarterback Preston Stone ascended to Third Team All-American Athletic Conference with his impressive season, his first as a starter. Stone set career highs with 3,197 yards passing and 28 touchdowns before suffering a season-ending injury against Navy. At the end of the regular season, Stone ranked 10th in the NCAA in passing touchdowns and powered an SMU offense that ranked fourth in all of FBS in scoring at 41.8 points per game.
Brewer also helped ready four different SMU quarterbacks to play this season as Kevin Jennings led the Mustangs to an AAC Championship game win over Tulane. Transfer Alex Padilla and true freshman Keldric Luster also saw time in relief.
In his first season as quarterbacks coach, Brewer helped create the seventh ranked passing offense in the nation, which also finished 12th overall in scoring offense and 14th in total offense. The Mustangs’ 4,117 passing yards and 331 first downs set program marks, while the 36 passing touchdowns and total plays (1,005) rank second. The 2022 squad also posted top-three program marks in scoring (3rd, 484), passing yards per game (3rd, 316.7), completion % (3rd, 64.9), completions (2nd, 333), total offense (3rd, 6147) and first downs – passing (3rd, 174).
Quarterback Tanner Mordecai ranked eighth in the country, with 33 passing touchdowns thrown, and averaged 293.7 passing yards per game, good enough for 11th in the nation. Mordecai set program records for career touchdown passes (72), career touchdowns responsible for (76), career games with 4+ passing touchdowns (7), career 300-yard passing games (13) and single-game touchdowns responsible for (10), he also ranks second as a Mustang in career total offense (7454) and third in career passing yards (7152).
Under Brewer’s direction, Mordecai was a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien and Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Aawrds and was named to the CFPA National Performer of the Year Trophy Midseason Watch List.
Brewer has also been part of Lashlee’s staffs at UConn (2017) and Auburn (2013-16), serving in offensive analyst roles (2016-17) and as a graduate assistant with the Tigers’ offensive line (2013-15). Prior to entering the collegiate ranks, Brewer served as an offensive coordinator and assistant at various high schools in Arkansas from 2005-12.
Brewer is the second SMU coach to leave the program this offseason. Running backs coach Khenon Hall left for Baylor earlier this month.
Lashlee will be tasked with replacing Brewer, but an intriguing option could be on staff already. Former Houston and Miami quarterback D’Eriq King is in his first year as an analyst. King played under Lashlee for his two seasons in Miami, where he was the Hurricanes’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
