By David Asbury
Life is a carousel: sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down, and sometimes you're just going in circles.
College football is one of the only sports that has its off season while the season still isn't over. It causes weird situations like Lane Kiffin leaving playoff-bound Ole Miss for a bigger paycheck at LSU. Then there are situations like Bob Chesney continuing to coach James Madison in the playoffs when it was already announced he would be taking his talents to UCLA. Old Dominion fans will remember how USF played the Cure Bowl without most of their coaching staff and their star quarterback. All of that is to say that the vast majority of coaching movement occurred while college football was still being played. The season is now over and the carousel has stopped spinning. With the dust settled, the Sun Belt looks like it did very well getting and replacing coaches. Let's have some fun with it and grade each new major hire.
Please note that the grades given reflect the opinion of David Asbury and do not reflect the opinions of the other Monarchists.
James Madison - Billy Napier
In just Bob Chesney's second year with the program he won the Sun Belt Conference and punched JMU's ticket to the CFP. Two very successful seasons and multiple P4 teams came calling. Some rumors suggested Chesney held out for a call from Penn State since he is a native Pennsylvanian, but ultimately Chesney decided to take his talents to Los Angeles to coach the UCLA Bruins. He has little connections to the West Coast but some recruiters can recruit anywhere and with quarterback Nico Iamaleava learning his lesson and staying put, Chesney will have some tools for success.
Alonza Barnett surveys the ODU defense. Billy will need to replace the star QB in 2026 that led the Dukes to new heights. Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography
The Dukes did not waste any time finding a coach. Although they interviewed FCS Coach of the Year Kevin Cahill of LeHigh, they decided to go with Florida's Billy Napier. Napier was very good for the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns sporting a 33-5 record in his last three seasons there and won two Sun Belt titles. However, his tenure at Florida was mostly a failure, going 22-23 overall and 12-16 in SEC games. Florida fans mocked him by calling him "Sun Belt Billy" before they eventually fired him. But SBC fans look at the nickname much more fondly. Napier is a good hire. He is a disciplined CEO that emphasizes a strong recruiting infrastructure. His recent tenure at Florida also means P4 teams will second guess poaching him. So he will likely stay longer than two years. However, this grade is somewhat hurt by who they turned down. JMU has had so much success hiring up-and-comer FCS coaches like Curt Cignetti and Bob Chesney. It feels weird they went in a different direction and picked Napier over Cahill. In fact, Sun Belt fans should keep their eyes on Lehigh for 2027's coaching carousel. Grade: B+
Southern Miss. - Blake Anderson
Southern Miss.'s last two head coaches will be rivals in the American Conference. The Golden Eagles' fired Will Hall after the disastrous 2024 season. He failed his way upward and will now coach the Tulane Green Wave in 2026 (Grade: F). Meanwhile, Sun Belt Champion Charles Huff coached USM for only one season but quickly turned the program around going 7-5. It was just too good a turnaround for him to stay, so Memphis poached him (Grade: A-). Who will Eagles fans root for when their last two coaches face off in the AAC?
Huff only won one SBC title. USM's new coach, Blake Anderson has actually won two SBC titles and a MWC title! He coached the Arkansas State Red Wolves from 2014-2020 winning the conference twice and the West Division thrice. He sports a 51-37 record from his time there and a 38-18 record in SBC conference games. After one bad season, Utah State hired him where he would earn a 23-17 record and go bowling in each of his three seasons there. In fact, he has gone bowling nine out of his ten seasons as a head coach. He was an A+ hire as an assistant for Charles Huff last season and keeping him in Hattiesburg is a homerun. But if he was so good, why was he even available? Why was he even Huff's coordinator last year? Well, in a word: scandal. USU fired him after the 2023 season for failing to adhere to reporting requirements on "investigating issues of sexual misconduct, including domestic violence" and failing to "manage the team in a manner that reflects USU's academic values." Utah State described it as, "significant violations." So yeah, that is not a great look. So...yikes...I hope Anderson learned his lesson and can be trusted. If Anderson does something like that again, the grade will deserve an F-. With that said, please note that my grade is purely based on football pedigree. Grade: A+
Coastal Carolina - Ryan Beard
Before the 2025 season started, I sat down with the rest of the guys and discussed the hottest seats in the Sun Belt. We were very much in agreement that Tim Beck's name was one of the hottest seats in the conference. He had a great first year, leading the Chants to a Hawaii Bowl victory. But the team was just not heading in the right direction. He may have been bowl eligible in each of his three seasons, but the losses last year were ugly. It is worth looking at the scores of his six losses this past season: UVA 48-7, ECU 38-0, ODU 47-7, Ga. So. 45-40, South Carolina 51-7, JMU 59-10. CCU had a hot streak in the middle of the season against the Sun Belt's lesser competition but when facing a good team, they looked downright awful. The writing was on the wall that if they stuck with Beck the team would continue to deteriorate. It was the right decision to make a move now before things got worse.
Coastal hired Missouri State's Ryan Beard. Beard was not only Bobby Petrino's defensive coordinator for three seasons but is also his son-in-law. Beard has been regarded as a solid up-and-comer for a bit now. He took over the Bears in 2023 and went 19-16. While that does not sound very impressive, it includes a 7-5 record in the Bears' FBS debut. He declared for Coastal before their bowl game. So, Nick Petrino Missouri State in the XBOX Bowl loss to Ark. State. But Nick Petrino did not stay put either. He followed Beard to CCU to be his offensive coordinator (and his brother-in-law). Beard has a high ceiling but brings a pretty light resume to Myrtle Beach. Grade: B-
Old Dominion Offensive Coordinator - Kody Cook
The Monarchs' offense last season was the best ODU fielded since Taylor Heinicke was taking snaps. It even broke the record for the most rushing yards in school history. It is understandable that schools with deeper pocket books would poach offensive coordinator Kevin Decker. Decker is taking his talents to Memphis and joins former USM coach Charles Huff. Decker is also taking with him both of ODU's starting guards in Maarten Woudsma and Skyler Grant. Colton Joseph and the rest of 2025's stars have left in the portal too, so the new offensive coordinator will have a lot of work to do with brand new offensive line, wide receivers, and quarterback groups.
Two years ago, I gave out hiring grades, and gave ODU an A- for hiring Kody Cook as its wide receivers coach. Boy was I right. The former K-State QB/WR excelled and the wide receiver group flourished. In 2025, Old Dominion was one of nine schools to have three players with more than 600 yards receiving. Tre Brown finished sixth in the country with 20.01 yards per reception and earned third team All-Sun Belt honors while Ja'Cory Thomas caught 41 passes for 719 yards and Na'eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding led the trio with 51 catches. Cook is also an excellent recruiter and helped build a recruiting pipeline with Hutchison Community College that has turned out some studs for the Monarchs. The only knock on the hire is that there is always some risk of the Peter Principle when you promote within. But OC's have to start being an OC somewhere at some time. All other signs indicate that this is a homerun internal hire and promotion. Cook earned it. Grade: A-
Ga. So. Defensive Coordinator - Mike Mutz
Despite the 7-6 bowl-winning record, things are not alright in Statesboro. After Old Dominion crushed them at home, what was left of the Eagles' student section were chanting "Fire Clay Helton!" Helton just signed an extension last offseason increasing his buyout, so firing him was just out of the question. But firing the defensive coordinator Brandon Bailey was an obvious low-hanging fruit to appease those unhappy fans. The defense was atrocious. The Eagles allowed 458 yards per game. That is not just the worst in the Sun Belt Conference but the third worst in all FBS football, just slightly better than Charlotte and Sam Houston State. They allowed a ridiculously high amount of rushing yards (218.1 per game) and only sacked the quarterback 12 times (UCLA was last in FBS with 10 sacks). No DC can expect to keep his job with a defense like that.
Helton announced the hiring of Mike Mutz as the Eagles' new defensive coordinator. Mutz is a veteran coach with nearly 30 years of experience, he returns to Statesboro after a record-setting, three-year run leading the Stephen F. Austin defense. Last season the Lumberjacks' defense was pretty elite at the FCS level. But I will level with you. Mutz is a solid hire, but I am giving this move a lot of points just because the Eagles had to do something. The defense cannot get much worse than last years' unit. There is no place to go but up. Grade: A
ULM offensive coordinator - Jesse Montalto
Bryant Vincent wore a lot of hats last season. He was ULM's head football coach, offensive coordinator, and interim athletic director. He announced at the end of 2024 that he would hire an OC but then just never did. That showed on the field as the offense struggled. They were the worst Sun Belt school passing the ball (160.4). In fact, the Warhawks had one of the worst passing games of any FBS team that does not run the triple option. It was pretty bad.
Jesse Montalto comes in from Iowa Central Community College to try to sling shot this offense. After his arrival in 2018, the ICCC Tritons had the biggest turnaround in the NJCAA, winning eight games and ranking 13th in the final NJCAA rankings. That is some impressive work but Montalto's jump from the NJCAA to the FBS is a little audacious. Similar to Ga. So.'s DC position, ULM's offense was so bad that making any change is good because there is no place to go but up. However, I am put off by Montalto's big jump to the FBS that might be too early for his career. On top of that, ULM may not give him the resources needed to succeed. Grade: C-
South Alabama Defensive Coordinator - Todd Orlando
When Texas State hired Dexter McCoil as defensive coordinator, I was skeptical because he seemed too inexperienced for the job. I was right. After two disappointing seasons, they let him go. He will stay in the Sun Belt coaching safeties at Louisiana Tech. In turn, TXST poached South Alabama's Will Windham before they exit the Sun Belt for the Pac-12. The Jaguars replaced Windham with Todd Orlando.
The 54-year-old Orlando was defensive coordinator at South Florida the last three seasons, and has also directed defenses at Florida Atlantic (2022), USC (2020-21), Texas (2017-19), Houston (2015-16), Utah State (2013-14), Florida International (2011-12) and Connecticut (2005-10). He also worked with Applewhite at Houston. Orland has a lot of experience and was pretty successful in most of his landing spots but never excelled to get a head coaching job...yet. Grade: B
Troy Offensive Coordinator - Adam Austin
In 2025, the Trojans ranked 11th in the 14-team Sun Belt Conference in scoring offense (23.5 points per game) and last in total offense (307.2 yards per game). Not great for second-year offensive coordinator Sean Reagan and unacceptable for a team that expects to on the top of the SBC West. That is why the Trojans decided to head in a new direction and even hired a new offensive coordinator before even announcing they had fired the last one.
ODU LB Jackson Forrest sacks Troy QB Goose Crowder in ODU's throttling of Troy. Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography
Troy hired Adam Austin. Austin was the architect of the highest-scoring offense in the FCS in 2025. Austin just completed his second season as the offensive coordinator at Tarleton State, where the Texans led the FCS, averaging 42.4 points per game, while ranking ninth in total offense (457.6), 16th in passing yards (263.6) and 18th in rushing (193.9). In his two seasons calling plays, Tarleton averaged 36.6 points and 436.7 yards per game. This is a classic hiring of an up-and-comer FCS coach which usually brings good results. Grade: A-
Marshall Defensive Coordinator - Brad Lambert
Marshall's head coach Tony Gibson finished his first season with a brand new squad. His offense seemed fine but the defense was a little rough allowing 30.0 points per game and causing them to slip to 5-7. The Herd missed bowl eligibility for the first time since 2016. Gibson decided to do a complete defensive overhaul and relieved DC Shannon Morrison.
In comes a very familiar face with Brad Lambert. He returns to Marshall after being the Herd's DC there in 2019. Before then he was the Charlotte 49ers head coach for 2011-2018. More recently, he had stints as a DC for Wake Forest, Purdue, and last season was an analyst for Kentucky. Lambert's career has kind of been all over the place. It frankly seems be going in the wrong direction lately. Grade: C-
Ark. State Offensive Coordinator - Garrett Altman
Keith Heckendorf coached the Red Wolves' offense for the past seven seasons. It was a fast air-attack offense. Quarterback Jaylen Raynor excelled under Heckendorf's guidance passing for 8,694 yards and 52 touchdowns over three seasons. He also ran for 1,183 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns in the same period. Sun Belt fans know where this is going. Iowa State poached Heckendorf and Raynor as a package deal leaving Butch Jones to search for a new OC and QB.
At offensive coordinator, Jones named Vanderbilt's quarterback coach Garrett Altman. Altman spent the past few seasons coaching quarterback Diego Pavia to prominence and oversaw Vanderbilt's emergence as one of the better SEC teams. Altman's scheme may differ from Heckendorf's, because, on paper, Altman is supposedly a much more balanced offensive coordinator. Right now, it is unclear what the new Ark. State offense will look like, but hiring Diego Pavia's coach is a solid hire for a G6 OC position. Grade: B+
No major coaching changes at App. State, Ga. State, LT or UL.
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