Coordinator Carousel: Big East and Conference USA

Starting today, CGB is taking two weeks to look at the various coordinator changes in college football this past off season. While head coaches get most of the glory, a good coordinator can single handily morph a unit from sub par to successful given the right coaching strategies. Where applicable we'll add some commentary, but we just wanted to make sure our readers were on top of the less publicized coaching changes of the off season.

Big East

Louisville Offensive Coordinator
Out: Charlie Stubbs. Quite frankly, Louisville was a disaster this past season, so it is no surprise that Stubbs resigned from his position after following Steve Kragthorpe from Tulsa.

In: Jeff Brohm. The older brother of former quarterback Brian Brohm, Jeff has been on successful Louisville teams in the past, and as a local product, Louisville fans hope that he can improve the offense from last season.

Louisville Defensive Coordinator
Out: Mike Cassity. In a tenure that closely compared to the one he had at Illinois, Cassity followed up a BCS bowl season with an absolutely abysmal performance. Louisville could not get rid of him soon enough.

In: Ron English. English was perhaps the most respected assistant from Lloyd Carr's old staff, and this could turn out to be a great hire for the Cardinals.

Pittsburgh Defensive Coordinator
Out: Paul Rhoads. Rhoads left Pittsburgh, where he had the fifth ranked defense in the country this past season, to become the defensive coordinator at Auburn, and it is hard to argue that it is not a step up for him.

In: Phil Bennett. While Bennett was not a successful head coach at SMU, he got that opportunity by being a very good defensive coordinator at Kansas State. This is a pretty safe and solid hire by Pittsburgh.

Syracuse Offensive Coordinator
Out: Brian White. White left for a position on Ty Willingham's staff, but I do not think that Syracuse fans were disappointed to see him go.

In: Mitch Browning. This is without question the best hire in the Big East. Browning was one of the masterminds behind Minnesota's fantastic rushing attack under Glen Mason. This was the perfect hire for a school and coach that needs to quickly find a successful offensive identity.

Syracuse Defensive Coordinator
Out: Steve Russ. Russ also left for an assistant position, this one at Wake Forest.

In: Derrick Jackson and Greg Robinson. Jackson was promoted from defensive line coach, and Robinson is going to make sure that he takes an active role in the defense in his "put up or shut up" season.

West Virginia Offensive Coordinator
Out: Calvin McGee. McGee followed Rich Rodriguez to Michigan.

In: Jeff Mullen. Mullen was formerly the quarterbacks coach at Wake Forest, where he helped lead Riley Skinner to his successful freshman season. This is a good stylistic fit with the skills that West Virginia's offensive players have.


Conference USA

Houston Offensive Coordinator
Out: Randy Clements and Phillip Montgomery. Clements and Montgomery followed Art Briles to Baylor.

In: Jason Phillips. Phillips was the wide receivers coach this past year for Houston's high powered offense. Houston hopes that this promotion will help keep their offensive momentum intact.

Houston Defensive Coordinator
Out: Alan Weddell. Weddell was not retained following Briles' departure.

In: John Skladany. Before spending one season at UCF, Skladany was the defensive coordinator under Dan McCarney at Iowa State from 1997-2006.

Marshall Offensive Coordinator
Out: Larry Kueck. Kueck was fired after Marshall's sub par season.

In: John Shannon. Shannon was the offensive coordinator for some productive Toledo squads.

Marshall Defensive Coordinator
Out: Steve Dunlap. Dunlap left for a position on the new West Virginia staff.

In: Rick Minter. Minter's last job was as Notre Dame's defensive coordinator in 2006. However, he is familiar with CUSA, having coached Cincinnati from 1994-2003.

Memphis Defensive Coordinator
Out: Rick Kravitz. Kravitz was fired after his defense gave up more than 400 points in 20007.

In: Tim Walton. Walton was Miami's defensive coordinator this past season, so it will be interesting to see how he does with less raw talent at Memphis.

SMU Defensive Coordinator
Out: Jim Gush. Gush was not retained after Phil Bennett was fired.

In: Tom Mason. Mason hopes some of the winning attitude that was around the program at Fresno State rubs off on his new players. He was the linebackers coach during Fresno State's recent run of success.

Southern Miss Offensive Coordinator
Out: Jay Johnson. Johnson was not retained from Jeff Bower's staff.

In: Darrell Wyatt. Wyatt comes from Arizona where he led a successful passing attack in 2007.

Southern Miss Defensive Coordinator
Out: Jay Hopson. It was not a good off season for Jays at USM as Hopson was also not retained.

In: Todd Bradford. Bradford was the linebackers coach at Oklahoma State where Larry Fedora was on staff.

Tulane Defensive Coordinator
Out: Thom Kaumeyer. Kentucky hired Kaumeyer as their secondary coach.

In: O'Neill Gilbert. Tulane kept the hire in house as Gilbert was promoted from defensive line coach.

UCF Defensive Coordinator
Out: John Skladany. Skladany left to become the defensive coordinator at Houston.

In: Dave Huxtable. UCF's staff did a very good job in 2007, so they just promoted Huxtable from linebackers coach to the coordinator position.

UTEP Offensive Coordinator
Out: Eric Price. Price will be coaching wide receivers for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2008.

In: Bob Connelly. While Connelly is coming from UCLA, the reason he was hired was his close relationship with head coach Mike Price. Connelly was the offensive line coach for Price when the two were in Pullman, WA.

UTEP Defensive Coordinator
Out: Tim Hundley. Hundley left to join SMU's staff as an assistant head coach.

In: Osia Lewis. Lewis has coached on BCS conference staffs before, but he cut his coordinator teeth at New Mexico. Price stayed in the southwest for this hire.