The coaching carousel has almost wrapped up ahead of spring football, and while the 30-plus head coaching changes — covering nearly a quarter of the Football Bowl Subdivision — have made headlines, there were plenty of fascinating moves in the assistant ranks as well.
From up-and-comers to familiar faces to coaches returning to their old jobs, a lot happened. These are the 25 most interesting assistant coach hires of the 2025-26 cycle, grouped by the type of move.
New head coach = new coordinator*Jason Beck, Michigan offensive coordinator
Uber-hyped quarterback Bryce Underwood showed promise but struggled with consistency as a freshman in Ann Arbor. Beck got the most out of Devon Dampier at New Mexico and Utah (the Utes finished 18th in yards per play in 2025), and he could be the key to unlocking Underwood’s dual-threat potential after coming over with head coach Kyle Whittingham.
Buster Faulkner, Florida offensive coordinator
Florida football wins national titles when its offense is explosive, and Jon Sumrall’s decision to hire Faulkner away from Georgia Tech looks like a good start. The Yellow Jackets had a prolific and physical offense the last few years, finishing fifth in yards per play in 2025. But with first-time starter (Aaron Philo) taking over at QB and a shaky offensive line, running back Jaden Baugh might have to become a workhorse.
Skyler Cassity, Oklahoma State defensive coordinator
It’s been a fast rise for Cassity, who was at FCS Abilene Christian three years ago. After a big year improving the defense at Sam Houston, he was hired by Eric Morris at North Texas. For all the headlines the Mean Green’s top-ranked scoring offense got last season, it was the defensive improvement (No. 51 in yards per play, up from No. 107) that turned North Texas from a fun story into a team that nearly made the College Football Playoff. Now Cassity inherits a Cowboys defense that ranked 123rd in yards per play.
Jordan Somerville, Cal offensive coordinator
Cal was able to hold on to star quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele after a breakout freshman season, and the 30-year-old Somerville is tasked with getting the most out of this future pro. Somerville spent the past three years as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant quarterbacks coach, and with a defensive-minded head coach in Tosh Lupoi, the Bears’ offensive hopes will come down to what Somerville and Sagapolutele can cook up together.
D’Anton Lynn, Penn State defensive coordinator
Lynn had a successful three years in Los Angeles, one at UCLA and two fixing USC’s broken defense. He returns to his alma mater to run the defense for Matt Campbell, launching a new era for a program that expects to compete for national titles in the near future.
LeVar Woods, Michigan State special teams coordinator
The former Iowa player who spent nearly two decades on Kirk Ferentz’s staff shockingly jumped to join Pat Fitzgerald’s staff in East Lansing. Iowa has been among the best special teams units in the country for years under Woods’ watch, finishing No. 1 in the special teams FEI advanced metric last year. (New Spartans co-defensive coordinator Max Bullough almost made this list as well.)
*Blake Baker, LSU defensive coordinator
Baker is here with an asterisk because he didn’t change jobs. The biggest hire Lane Kiffin made as head coach was keeping LSU’s defensive coordinator, who was in the mix for the Tulane head coaching job. Baker has really improved the Tigers’ defense in two years since the unit’s low point during Jayden Daniels’ Heisman season.
Guess who’s backBrent Pry, Virginia Tech defensive coordinator
In one of the strangest coaching moves in recent memory, Pry was fired after four years as Virginia Tech head coach but will stick around in Blacksburg as James Franklin’s defensive coordinator. The two have known each other for decades, and Pry was a very good DC for Franklin at Penn State and Vanderbilt before getting his shot to be a head coach. Still, it feels a bit awkward.
Brent Pry, fired by Virginia Tech in September, was back with the Hokies in an assistant capacity less than two months later. (Brian Bishop / Imagn Images)
Zach Arnett, Mississippi State defensive coordinator
Arnett is not quite like Pry, but he did spend 2023 as Mississippi State’s head coach, promoted from defensive coordinator after Mike Leach’s death, only to be fired after one season. Arnett returns to run the defense for a program that took a step forward into competitiveness in Jeff Lebby’s second year.
Will Muschamp, Texas defensive coordinator
Boom is back. The former Texas defensive coordinator and head-coach-in-waiting under Mack Brown will take over a Texas defense that certainly wasn’t bad last season (21st in yards per play allowed). Steve Sarkisian saw an opportunity to get an accomplished coach, one who happened to spend the past five years at Georgia, the program that has dominated the Longhorns over the past few seasons. Whiteboards should keep their head on a swivel.
Chad Morris, Clemson offensive coordinator
Will turning back the clock help Dabo Swinney? Morris held the Clemson OC role from 2011 to 2014 and helped build the foundation for the teams that would win two national championships after Morris left. He’s been out of full-time coaching for the past few years, watching his son Chandler finish his college career. Clemson’s 7-6 record last year was its worst since 2010.
Gary Patterson, USC defensive coordinator
The legendary TCU head coach is back in the game. Since his firing in 2021, Patterson had brief stints at Texas and Baylor, but now he takes over a much-maligned defense under his former Big 12 rival, Lincoln Riley. The Trojans have improved in the past few years, but defense has held this program back since Riley’s arrival. Does the 66-year-old Patterson have one more big run left in the tank?
Chip Kelly, Northwestern offensive coordinator
What a weird couple of years for Kelly. He left the UCLA head coaching job to be Ohio State’s offensive coordinator in 2024, won a national title, took the Las Vegas Raiders OC job with a $6 million salary, got fired 11 games into the season and now comes to Northwestern. What should we expect? I have no idea.
Power 4 hires in high-profile spotsBobby Petrino, North Carolina offensive coordinator
Bill Belichick and Bobby Petrino together would indeed make for a good Hulu documentary series. For all the flak Belichick got last year, the Tar Heels’ defense really did improve into a respectable unit by the end of the season. But the team was putrid on offense. For all of Petrino’s past baggage, the guy still knows how to coach offense, as we saw at Arkansas last year: The Razorbacks finished seventh in yards per play.
Arthur Smith, Ohio State offensive coordinator
Ryan Day now has two former NFL head coaches as coordinators, with Smith joining Matt Patricia on defense. It’s a signal of where high-level college staffs are going: Coordinators don’t need to grind on the road recruiting as much with the removal of limits on staff sizes. On the field, Smith inherits two Heisman Trophy candidates in star receiver Jeremiah Smith and quarterback Julian Sayin, but he’ll need to get the Buckeyes to run the ball better in big games.
Brennan Marion, Colorado offensive coordinator
Marion left the Sacramento State head coaching job to run an offense for Deion Sanders. Marion’s “Go-Go” offense helped take UNLV from the bottom of the Mountain West to the verge of the College Football Playoff two years ago. How will that offense fare in the Big 12?
Kendal Briles, South Carolina offensive coordinator
South Carolina fell way short of expectations last fall, and quarterback LaNorris Sellers went from potential first-round pick to running for his life behind a brutal offensive line. Sellers is back, but can Briles get the most out of him? His TCU offenses were a mixed bag in big games.
Jim Knowles, Tennessee defensive coordinator
Knowles won a national championship at Ohio State in 2024, then left for Penn State and a record-setting $3.1 million salary, only to have James Franklin be fired midway through the season. The Vols defense fell apart last year, but there’s still plenty of talent on the roster.
Knowles went to Penn State as the highest-paid coordinator in college football a year ago. (Matthew O’Haren / Imagn Images)
Bobby Hauck, Illinois defensive coordinator
Hauck stepped down as Montana head coach in early February, saying the changing game was not fun for him anymore. But a few days later, he took an assistant job at Illinois that will presumably let him focus more on actual football and less on the outside work required of a head coach. The Illini are coming off consecutive seasons with at least nine wins.
Rob Aurich, Nebraska defensive coordinator
Matt Rhule hasn’t had a breakthrough season in Lincoln yet and now is on his third defensive coordinator in three years. Aurich comes from San Diego State to fix a Huskers unit that was 114th nationally in rushing defense last year. The Aztecs finished top six nationally in scoring defense and yards per play allowed. Against a schedule that includes Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon and Washington, the Nebraska defense will have to be better.
Group of 6Jordan Davis, East Carolina offensive coordinator
Could ECU make a CFP run in 2026? Davis brings the foundation of North Texas’ No. 1 scoring offense to ECU. He spent the past decade alongside Eric Morris, including last year as North Texas’ offensive coordinator, but Davis comes to ECU to call plays and run his own offense, and he’ll have former Miami backup quarterback Emory Williams under center.
Christian Taylor, Wyoming offensive coordinator
Taylor ran one of the most interesting offenses in the country as FCS William & Mary’s offensive coordinator from 2020 to 2023. After two years with the Buffalo Bills, he is back in college, charged with improving an offense that hasn’t ranked in the top half of the country in yards per play in a decade.
Cam Aiken, James Madison offensive coordinator
Billy Napier says he won’t call offensive plays as a head coach this time around, so he hired Aiken, who put together a dynamic unit at East Tennessee State that finished in the top 25 in most key stats. James Madison is coming off a CFP berth and hasn’t had a losing season since 2002. Will a new staff keep the Dukes rolling?
PromotionsHolmon Wiggins, Texas A&M offensive coordinator
Wiggins was on my list of rising coaches entering the 2025 season and has been one of the best wide receiver coaches in the country, producing five top-15 picks at Alabama. This winter he was promoted to OC at Texas A&M in place of Collin Klein, who left to become Kansas State’s head coach. Wiggins will have to help electric quarterback Marcel Reed find consistency and figure out how to finish strong after consecutive offensive collapses ended the past two seasons just short of an SEC championship.
Drew Mehringer, Oregon offensive coordinator
Oregon may be the preseason No. 1, but the Ducks are breaking in two new coordinators. They have come agonizingly close to the national championship game in the past few years and have sent quarterbacks like Bo Nix and Dillon Gabriel to the NFL. Mehringer, who has been on staff since 2022, was promoted to OC for a defensive-minded head coach in Dan Lanning, and he’ll have Dante Moore back at quarterback. The 38-year-old Mehringer has spent almost two decades in coaching but hasn’t been a sole OC since 2016.