Possible Texas A&M offensive coordinator candidates

It was announced today that Darrell Dickey has been relieved of his offensive coordinator duties at Texas A&M. It was a move that has been expected for weeks now. The Aggies offense ranks in the bottom three in the southeastern conference along with being ranked as the No. 94 overall in the 2022 season.

With the news of his position now being opened, it allows all kinds of conversations regarding who will take his place. It is almost a certainty that Fisher will go outside the program to fill the position.

Here we will take a look at some potential candidates. These are simply possibilities and are not guaranteed to be part of the search process for Texas A&M. In no particular order these are some potential candidates.

Garret Riley – TCU Offensive Coordinator

TCU boasts one of the most explosive offenses in the country this season, the primary reason the Horned Frogs have gone 12-0 in the regular season and are in prime contention to make the College Football Playoff. He is in his first season at TCU after following head coach Sonny Dykes from SMU.

At only 33-years old, Riley has made coaching stops at East Carolina, Kansas, and Appalachian State in addition to SMU and TCU. Riley is the younger brother of USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley, who is also one of the most respected offensive minds in the country.

Riley played quarterback at Texas Tech and after being in Dallas Fort-Worth the past three seasons, he has knowledge and experience in recruiting the state of Texas.

Jeff Grimes – Baylor Offensive Coordinator

Baylor’s offense this season is just inside the top-30 in scoring offense and is No. 37 overall in total offense. Grimes is in his second season as the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach in Waco. Approaching his 30th year in the coaching profession, Grimes has coached at 11 programs. In fact, he got one of his first starts at Texas A&M as a graduate assistant in the 1996-1997 seasons.

Since that time, he has coached at Hardin-Simmons, Boise State, Arizona State, BYU, Colorado, Auburn, Virginia Tech, LSU, BYU again, and now Baylor. He has been an offensive line coach nearly his entire career along with responsibilities as assistant head coach at Colorado, and OC duties at BYU and Baylor. Grimes was the offensive coordinator at BYU and was directly responsible for the rise of Zach Wilson, who was drafted No. 2 overall.

Grimes has worked at two schools in the SEC and has experience at four schools in Texas over his career. He has all the experience and knowledge you could want from a potential Texas A&M offensive coordinator.

Chad Morris – USF Offensive Analyst

Chad Morris is another name who just makes a lot of sense and checks a lot of boxes. He is currently an offensive analyst at USF. Morris is a Texas A&M alumnus and was a Texas high school from 1994-2009 and again in 2021.

In between those stops, he was the AHC/OC at Tulsa, the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Clemson, the head coach at SMU and Arkansas, along with a one year stint as the offensive coordinator at Auburn. He was the head coach at Texas high school powerhouse Allen in 2021 before leaving for USF.

Morris is almost certainly looking to get back to the power five level. There can’t be many more enticing jobs than his alma mater. Again, Morris has experience recruiting the state of Texas and would be very motivated to help Texas A&M.

Casey Woods – SMU Offensive Coordinator

Another coach currently in the FBS ranks in Texas is Casey Woods, the first year offensive coordinator at SMU. Woods is another younger option (39-years old) who has a bright future ahead of him. The SMU offense is top-15 in both total and scoring offense. Woods was a wide receiver at Tennessee and then immediately moved into coaching.

After starting as a graduate assistant in Knoxville, Woods was a quality control coach at Auburn for three seasons. He then spent one season at Arkansas State as the wide receivers coach before returning to Auburn as the Director of player personnel. He then moved to UAB, becoming the run game coordinator and tight ends coach. Woods was the run game coordinator and tight ends coach at Missouri next before getting hired as the offensive coordinator at SMU.

Zach Kittley – Texas Tech Offensive Coordinator/QB’s Coach

A very young and intriguing option would be the Red Raiders first year offensive coordinator, Zach Kittley. Kittley is an alumnus of Texas Tech and began his coaching career there from 2013-2017 as a student and graduate assistant. He then moved to Houston Baptist as the offensive coordinator for three seasons, then moving onto Western Kentucky for one year.

When Joey McGuire was hired at Texas Tech, he hired Zach Kittley as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. In his first season as a P5 offensive coordinator, he is responsible for the No. 32 offense in the nation. Kittley was a personal favorite of former Texas Tech QB and now Kansas City Chiefs star, Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes was very vocal in his support of Tech hiring Kittley to run the offense.

Due to injuries at Texas Tech, Kittley was forced to play three different quarterbacks this season. However, all three reached 1,000 yards passing and at least six passing touchdowns. He also had two running backs with 600+ rushing yards and six receivers with over 300 yards receiving. Two of the receivers were over 500 yards with another at 478 yards.

Phil Longo – UNC Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach

The first non-Texas related coach in the list is North Carolina’s offensive coordinator, Phil Longo. Longo grew up in New Jersey and spent the first 16 years of his coaching career throughout out the northeast at various programs such as La Salle, Southern Illinois, Youngstown State, and Slippery Rock. His first big job came at Sam Houston State from 2014-2016 as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He was then at Ole Miss for two seasons before going to UNC, where he has been since 2019.

UNC’s offense is top-15 in both total and scoring offense this season. Much of this is thanks to a stellar season from redshirt-freshman Drake Maye. It would be interesting to see whether Longo would be willing to leave Maye. But a young quarterback like Conner Weigman is enticing.