Lebanon, TN – Of 29 potential, regular season Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) games we plugged into our tentative 2024 schedule, 11 coaches will lead teams making their coaching debuts for a new team. Most bring solid reputations to their new programs. Several we’ve seen lead former schools to successful seasons in recent years.
One comes out of self-imposed retirement. Another returns from a network television analyst position. Several rebound via key coordinator stints following head coaching experience. One makes the jump from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Several schools hired to rebuild. Others hope to build on momentum left behind by others.
Questionable situations lie ahead for most depending on what players they may bring in through the transfer portals. Even trickier, who and how many key players abandoned their new program to go elsewhere. We will have first-rate glimpses this season to see what each of the 11 brings to their new employers. In the chronological order we plan to see each along the sidelines in 2024, here are brief summaries of the new hires and what we anticipate from each.
Our August-September coaching introductions
Bronco Mendenhall, University of New Mexico – In 2021, we watched Bronco coach Virginia against his former team, Brigham Young, in a 66-49 loss in Provo. It was his farewell of sorts to both programs as he decided to ride off into retirement after that season. He’s back! He performed as Defensive Coordinator (DC) at UNM from 1998-2002. Next, he moved on to BYU where he became Head Coach (HC) after two years. He finished with an 11-year record of 99-43. Thereafter, success landed him at Virginia to revive that program in 2018. In his second season, his Cavaliers won the ACC before he “retired” after 2021.
He brings both his former long-time offensive and defensive coordinators, Jason Beck and Nick Howell with him. We will see his Lobos host tough FCS squad Montana State returning from an 8-4 season. They ranked 8th in the FCS in 2023. These Bobcats pose a formidable foe in Mendenhall’s New Mexico coaching debut. They return with many key players and their HC Brent Vigen, former North Dakota State OC. He will be hard-pressed to improve the Lobos record of 4-8 in his first year. Give him a year to show some improvement to his new fans in Albuquerque.
Manny Diaz, Duke – Diaz left Miami with a 16-9 ACC record as HC after 2021 before landing the DC position at Penn State. There, he displayed his defensive prowess with quality talent. Here in Durham, he has his work cut out for him. The Blue Devils return only five starters on each side of the football after an 8-5 season. Considered good in the annals of Duke football history. Despite losing stalwart QB Riley Leonard to Notre Dame, Diaz picked up Texas phenom Maalik Murphy as his replacement. Inexperience reins at RB, and seven transfers come in to bolster the one returning Offensive Lineman (OL) for Duke.
All five Defensive Linemen (DL) need to be replaced. We attend a Blue Devils’ game at home for the first time in Durham. They open against 6-5 FCS Elon from a year ago. Duke should handle them, and same goes at Middle Tennessee where we see them again. MTSU (below) has a bigger rebuild than the Devils have pending. We will see them host 15th-ranked Florida State later in the season. How much improvement will Diaz bring to the Blue Devils? That remains to be seen against a very tough ACC slate.
Derek Mason, Middle Tennessee – After taking over as HC at Vanderbilt to replace James Franklin in 2014, he recorded a record of 27-55 finishing 0-9 in Covid season 2020. After a year as DC at Auburn and at Oklahoma State, he worked on the SEC TV broadcast team. I expected the Blue Raiders to pick a younger, more energetic HC to build on former HC Rick Stockstill’s record over 18 years including 12 bowl appearances. MTSU returns tough and talented QB Nick Vittiato. Preseason reports say the offense will be more run-oriented than pass-oriented. I believe Vittiato can manage either efficiently, but the OL returns only one stater. Among experienced receivers, only TE Holden Wills (All-CUSA) returns. However, the DL lost all five starters. Mason has a lot of work ahead of him in his MTSU coaching debut.
Being a fan of the local team in nearby Murfreesboro, I plan to attend five Blue Raider home games. We’ll be looking for some new energy under Mason to power the Blue Raiders. They’ll face FCS Tennessee Tech, aforementioned Duke, new FBS member Kennesaw State, and top CUSA foes, Liberty and New Mexico State. With Vittiato leading some experienced runners, they can hopefully weld an inexperienced line together to lead the way. Without any experience up front on defense, will MTSU be able to hold back the enemy lines? Sounds like the Blue Raiders will need to control the clock to keep opponent offenses off the field as much as possible to earn some victories.
Bill O’Brien, Boston College – Not too much need for introduction here. We saw Tom Brady’s former New England Patriot QB coach lead Penn State for two seasons during the Sandusky-imposed sanctions. He kept the Nittany Lion program afloat under tough circumstances. He then went on to lead the Houston Texans for six seasons before becoming Nick Saban’s OC. They made it to the College Football Playoffs twice at Alabama. He signed on to start 2024 with Ryan Day’s Ohio State Buckeyes. However, he jumped at the chance to take over as head man at Boston College in the ACC when Jeff Hafley decided to go pro.
O’Brien finds himself in a better position than most first-year coaches. Nine Eagles return on offense including starting QB Anthony Castellanos who led the team in rushing and passing. Three OL return and two of three leading receivers. Pro prospects return on defense, and new DC Tim Lewis comes in with pro experience. I think O’Brien replaces Hafley with a lot more enthusiasm for this squad. We see BC open at Florida State. Look for a tougher matchup than expected by the Seminoles. They may have invested in new talent to replace a lot of players who opted out before playing Georgia last season. This could be a surprise at the start of 2024.
We look for O’Brien to make quick improvements. We may also see BC on a Thursday night game at Virginia Tech in October. O’Brien has learned a lot since he coached as HC at Penn State. In his 2012 coaching debut at Penn State, he lost his first two games to Ohio and Virginia before defeating Navy.
October coaching debuts in the right direction?
Gerard Parker, Troy – Parker will be filling big shoes at Troy. He comes in from Notre Dame as OC and TE coach the last two seasons. Jon Sumrall left Troy for Tulane after only two seasons with a 23-4 record. On top of that, only two starters on both offense and defense remain at Troy after an 11-3 season and the Sun Belt Conference Championship. Inexperience among key positions will require a rebuilding year. In Parker’s inaugural head coaching debut at Purdue as interim HC in 2016, the Boilers finished 0-6.
The Trojans will have two tough meetings at Memphis and at Iowa early on before we see them host highly improved Texas State. The Bobcats come in off an 8-5 record in 2023 under second-year HC GJ Kinne. He turned them into an offensive juggernaut last year. They are expected to challenge for the SBC title with their high-powered passing attack in 2024.
Jon Sumrall, Tulane – Sumrall inherited 18 starters at Troy following three consecutive 5-win seasons there before he won two consecutive Sun Belt Championships with the Trojans. The Green Wave of Tulane returns 15 starters in 2024 following a 23-5 record the past two seasons including a 46-45 Cotton Bowl victory in 2022. A key Tulane loss will be QB Michael Prater. Kai Horton impressed in two starts a year ago, and some more depth has been added at QB. Sumrall brings both his OC and DC from Troy the last few years. They will have the benefit of returnees such as leading RB Makhi Hughes (1,378 rushing yards), six OL with eight+ games of experience, and their three top tacklers from a year ago.
In both his coaching debut season at Troy followed by his second, his teams started at 1-2. At Tulane, his first three games come against FCS Southeast Louisiana and Kansas State at home followed by a meeting at Oklahoma. Deja vu’? We will see Sumrall’s team in their sixth game of the season. They will visit Alabama-Birmingham under second-year HC Trent Dilfer following his 4-8 debut. We think that we will have a very good chance to see the Green Wave play in the American Athletic (AAC) title game on December 6. Most likely, we see them going up against Memphis who they will meet on the road the previous week to determine who gets home field AAC advantage. UT San Antonio also figures to be in the mix for the AAC
Scotty Walden, UTEP – Having seen Walden’s FCS Austin Peay State Governors in action the past three years, we thought this would be a guy sure to bring a new level of energy to any FBS program who needs a boost. He took over APSU at the age of 26 four years ago. He finished three full seasons with a record of 22-13. We witnessed UTEP lose twice last season in close games to Jacksonville State and MTSU. If any program could use a boost coming off a 3-9 record and without a bowl win since 1967, Walden could turn out to be their man. We’ve never seen a HC bring such enthusiasm to his sideline. Hopefully, that will rub off on the Miners’ following as well.
In the past three seasons, we watched Austin Peay upset UT Chattanooga away, lose by two to Tennessee State, defeat Murray State, 47-7, on the road, beat a good Eastern Kentucky squad, and fall at FBS Western Kentucky, 38-27, in their 2022 opener. With ten APSU transfers Walden brought along with him, we will see our Miners coaching debut for him once again visiting WKU. Only this time as a Conference USA foe on October 10. It will be a good measure of how far along he’ll have UTEP for our comparison purposes.
Prior challenges for the Miners before our sighting will be at Nebraska in their opener and at Liberty who will be considered the C-USA favorite. No doubt it will be a rebuilding year for Walden at UTEP. A foundation of players who followed him along with his DC and Special Teams coach from APSU should help in his inaugural conference schedule in the FBS.
Late season, first year Head Coaches: where will they stand?
Tony Sanchez, New Mexico State University – Former HC Jerry Kill improved the Aggies to a record of 10-5 last season including a big road win at Auburn, 31-10. Kill, whose career has been impacted regretfully by health issues, decided to step down after 2023. Former NMSU assistant and former UNLV HC Tony Sanchez takes over in 2024. The strength of the offenses returns up front on the OL. Only eight starters return.
Improvement will come from what Sanchez has learned under Kill since his days at UNLV with a 20-40 mark as HC. No QB experience returns. Diego Paiva led the team in rushing and threw 28 TDs last season. The run game relies on lone returning RB Monte Watkins and a couple of transfers behind their team strength – nine of top ten OL including All-CUSA LT Shiyash Pete. Defensively only three starters return to play for new DC Joe Morris. He comes in from 3-9 Sam Houston after its first FBS season in C-USA.
We will see the Aggies for only our second time since 1999 when they played at Army. They will visit MTSU late in November when both teams enter their final weekend of play. Last season, the Aggies defeated the Blue Raiders in a 13-7 defensive struggle. It will be a battle between Sanchez and Derek Mason who will probably both need a win for respectability in late 2024.
Major Applewhite, South Alabama – We saw Applewhite as HC twice before when he led Houston in wins against Tulsa and at Navy in 2018. He coached the Cougars for two seasons before becoming an analyst at Alabama and then stepping in as OC for the Jaguars. Last season, we saw his offense lose, 52-44, at Texas State. Gio Lopez returns at QB with five games under his belt where he ran and passed well. A good OL and some experience at RB along with three of top four receivers returning should give USA some depth on offense. Applewhite’s DC Will Windham steps up from LB coach from their 7-6 season. Only three starters return for him from a year ago. Like everyone else though, positions will be filled with questionable transfers.
We will see South Alabama visit tough Appalachian State in week four in an early key barometer of Sun Belt strength. ASU fell to Troy in last year’s SBC title game at Troy. Under HC Shawn Clark in his fifth season (35-18) with his Mountaineers, their fans will be fired up on a Thursday night in Boone for the Jags. Then, we’ll see USA wrap up their season once again versus Texas State, though in Mobile this time. The game could have implications on the 2024 SBC title game.
Dell McGee, Georgia State – In probably our last regular season game of 2024 and our first game at Center Parc Credit Union Stadium, McGee’s Panthers will display how well they overcame his late assignment as new HC when spring practice started – better than what happened to Lance Leipold at Kansas when he took over the Jayhawks in 2021. Dell McGee replaced Shawn Elliott who decided to return as an assistant at South Carolina.
Only four GSU offensive starters return. After a 7-6 season where they lost their last five in regular season, transfers with little experience will weigh in at QB. McGee, who comes in from Georgia as their Run Game Coordinator for the last four years, will call on RB transfers with little experience filling in. Top receivers transferred, and one OL starter returns. With five of their top eight tacklers returning, they will rely on their defense early in the season as the offense comes together. CB Gavin Pringle picked off four passes.
Five of their last six games come against some of the best among the Sun Belt’s top teams. We will see them finish up with Coastal Carolina. Under HC Tim Beck back for his second season with 66 transfers including several QB prospects, the Chanticleers to replace Gray McCall after four years. Like last season, McGee risks a late season downfall that will make a bowl bid very difficult. The Panthers have a tough season coming up.
“Week Zero” not too far away
Our 45th season and 682nd game starts on August 24th; our first game ever in the state of New Mexico. Look for upcoming preseason reports regarding some of the top teams we will see play this year. Some of our traditional mainstays (some among the top), and a smattering of teams we will see play. This allows us to catch up with friends around the county, new stadiums to be visited, and some very competitive games among teams we don’t get to see play too often. We also have a couple of preseason pictorials in the works including “Cheerleaders.” Come back and check us out as we roll into our 45th season. Can’t wait!
ed. by Steve Koreivo- Member of Football Writers Association of America (FWAA)