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College Football Recruiting, Opinion, and Analysis

The Ten Best Offensive Coordinators Hires of 2023

Mike Huesmann runs through the best coordinator hires this season, starting with Phil Longo to Wisconsin

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The coaching carousel and speculation is one of my favorite aspects of college football. Which teams lost guys to head coaching jobs, who’s taking a job at a bigger school, who’s following a close friend, and now the added nuance of how it’ll affect the transfer portal, make for interesting speculation. There were some great hires, Garrett Riley and Kendal Briles, that I omitted for the sake of discussing some lesser known hires. Here are 10 OC hires I like a lot going into the 2023 season.

Phil Longo

North Carolina —> Wisconsin

Any list of OC hires has to start with Longo. Longo has done a great job as OC at Sam Houston St., Ole Miss, and North Carolina. He helped mold Drake Maye into a future #1 NFL draft pick. This was a coup by Luke Fickell and one that will move them past the same offense they’ve had for 30 years while simultaneously allowing them to recruit elite-level QBs.

https://www.instagram.com/p/p:CpbGHSrINAW

Sean Lewis

Kent State HC —> Colorado

On paper, Lewis’ record as head coach isn’t flattering, but his reputation in the game is stellar. The offensive concepts and ability to find mismatches in the MAC has made him a name to watch as a possible head coach for a few years. That made his move to Colorado as Deion Sanders‘ OC all the bigger. I told anyone who’d listen, and some who didn’t, that Coach Prime could do it all except X’s and O’s and that it was vital he hire top coordinators. In Lewis and Charles Kelly, he certainly did that.

Sep 10, 2022; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Kent State Golden Flashes head coach Sean Lewis during the game against the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Shannon Dawson

Houston —> Miami

Dawson is normally the type of hire that scares me, but I’m intrigued this time. He has been a coordinator multiple times, but with a HC (Dana Holgersen) who was calling plays and running the show. His lone season as play caller in the P5 (Kentucky in 2015) didn’t go well, and he was subsequently let go. But I hope he has improved in his time at Houston, after also being with Holgo at West Virginia, and this can lead to an improvement from Tyler Van Dyke and the Canes’ offense.

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Beau Baldwin

Cal Poly HC —> Arizona St.

While he’s lesser known to the casual fans, Baldwin has led some dynamic offenses at the FCS and FBS levels. Stops at Eastern and Central Washington as HC before going to Cal as OC and, most recently, Cal Poly as the boss, highlight a career where his teams have put up points in a hurry, spread the ball around, and are very easy on the eyes. Kenny Dillingham did a good job with this hire.

Kevin Sumlin

Houston Gamblers (USFL) HC —> Maryland

Former Houston, Texas A&M, and Arizona HC Sumlin is back in college and working with Mike Locksley at Maryland now. Sumlin certainly regressed as a head coach, and his final years were poor, but he also led some high-flying offenses along the way. I’m very curious if he can mentor Taulia Tagovailoa and a young WR corps to success.

Robert Anae

Syracuse —> NC State

Anae reuniting with Brennan Armstrong, who joined the Wolfpack via the portal, will be fun to watch. Anae did very work at BYU and Virginia with Bronco Mendenhall before a single season at Syracuse. These two have a good working relationship and come to a program where Dave Doeren has created a good culture and stability. I expect another solid year in Raleigh.

Virginia offensive coordinator Robert Anae

Will Stein

UTSA —> Oregon

Stein had been leading the Roadrunners’ offense for the past two years before bolting recently to be Dan Lanning’s OC at Oregon. Frank Harris and co. were very successful moving the ball, scoring, and breaking all kinds of school records under Stein. Moving to Oregon is likely Stein’s next step towards becoming a head coach before too long. He’ll bring a good mix of run and pass to Eugene in Bo Nix’s final season.

Graham Harrell

West Virginia —> Purdue

Leaving West Virginia and the hottest seat in the P5 was a smart move by Harrell. He goes to a school that will embrace his spread concepts. He also gets a huge portal pickup at QB in Hudson Card, formerly of Texas. This was a great hire by new HC Ryan Walters. The Boilermakers should continue to be a contender in the Big Ten West.

Brennan Marion

Texas WRs —> UNLV

Few things have me more excited than watching Marion’s Go-Go offense with the Rebels next year. The supremely talented young OC has made stops at FCS schools Howard and William & Mary as OC before coaching WRs at Hawaii, Pitt, and Texas. His unique and innovative concepts should make all of us tune in to watch him and new HC Barry Odom next fall.

Bobby Petrino

Missouri State HC —> Texas A&M

You didn’t really think I’d leave him off this list, did you? Jimbo needed to bring in a new OC and give him the reins, both for his and the team’s sake. Petrino, for all his flaws, is a first-rate offensive coach who knows how to move the ball and put points on the scoreboard. I’ve written about this before, it may turn out great and make the Aggies contenders, but it may crash and burn with two huge egos. Either way, I’m tuning in to the games in College Station. 

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