2023-24 FCS Football Coaching Changes Tracker

College football sees a lot of changes every season, especially in coaching positions. Just like last year, we will be tracking FCS head coaching changes. However, this year we will try and keep up with all the offensive and defensive coordinators that have changed as well.

Alcorn State — SWAC

Head Coach

• Former: Fred McNair
• New: Cedric Thomas

Austin Peay — UAC

Head Coach

• Former: Scotty Walden (hired as UTEP’s new Head Coach)
• New: Jeff Faris (Former UCLA TE Coach)

Campbell — CAA

Head Coach

• Former: Mike Minter
• New: Braxton Harris (returns to Campbell after a single season as Head Coach of Houston Christian)

Columbia — Ivy League

Head Coach

• Former: Mark Fabish
• New: Jon Poppe (Former Columbia Assistant from 2015-2017 and DIII Union College Head Coach)

Cornell — Ivy League

Head Coach

• Former: David Archer
• New: Dan Swanstrom (Former UPenn Offensive Coordinator)

Dartmouth — Ivy League

Head Coach

• New: Sammy McCorkle (Interim head coach April 4th, 2023)

East Tennessee State — SoCon

Head Coach

• Former: George Quarles
• New: Tre Lamb (Former Gardner-Webb HC)

Offensive Coordinator

• New: Joe Scelfo (Former TE Coach at New Mexico, was the OL Coach at Gardner-Webb with Tre Lamb)

Eastern Illinois — Big South/OVC

Offensive Coordinator

• Former: Joe Davis (New Head Coach of Western Illinois)

Florida A&M — SWAC

Head Coach

• Former: Willie Simmons
• New: James Colzie III

Gardner-Webb — Big South/OVC

Head Coach

• Former: Tre Lamb
• New: Cris Reisert (Former DII Tiffin University Head Coach)

Grambling State — SWAC

Head Coach

• Former: Hue Jackson
• New: Mickey Joseph

Hampton University — CAA

Head Coach

• Former: Robert Prunty (RB Coach Trent Boykin will serve as interim HC for the 2024 season)

Harvard — Ivy League

Head Coach

• Former: Tim Murphy (announced he is retiring after 30 seasons at Harvard)
• New: Andrew Aurich (former Rutgers TE Coach)

Holy Cross — Patriot League

Head Coach

• Former: Bob Chesney (left to be the Head Coach at James Madison)
• New: Dan Curran (former Head Coach of Merrimack)

Houston Christian — Southland

Head Coach

• Former: Braxton Harris (left to be the Head Coach at Campbell)
• Jason Bachtel (served as OC and QB coach for HCU last year)

Marist — Pioneer

Head Coach

• Former: Jim Parady
• New: Mike Willis (Former OC at Princeton)

Mercer — SoCon

Head Coach

• Former: Drew Cronic (left to become the offensive coordinator for Navy)
• New: Mike Jacobs (Former head coach of DII Lenoir-Rhyne)

Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers

• Former: Joel Taylor (left to be the Head Coach at FCS transitioning West Georgia)
• New: David Cole and Jimmy Long will serve as Co-Defensive Coordinator

Merrimack — NEC

Head Coach

• Former: Dan Curran (left to become the new Head Coach for Holy Cross)
• New: Mike Gennetti (promoted from Defensive Coordinator)

Morehead State — Pioneer

Head Coach

• Former: Rob Tenyer
• New: Jason Woodman (former Head Coach of DII Fairmont State)

Murray State — MVFC

Head Coach

• Former: Dean Hood
• New: Jody Wright (served as South Carolina’s TE coach)

North Dakota State — MVFC

Head Coach

• Former: Matt Entz (will finish out the season before taking the LB Coach position at USC)
• New: Tim Polasek (former OC at Wyoming, he was a former assistant coach at NDSU as well)

Northern Arizona — Big Sky

Head Coach

• Former: Chris Ball
• New: Brian Wright (former DII Pittsburg State Head Coach)

Northwestern State — Southland

Head Coach

• Former: Brad Laird
• New: Blaine McCorkle (former DIII Belhaven Head Coach)

South Carolina State — MEAC

Head Coach

• Former: Buddy Pough
• New: Chennis Berry (former DII Benedict College Head Coach)

Southern — SWAC

Head Coach

• Former: Eric Dooley
• New: Terrence Graves

Stony Brook — CAA

Head Coach

• Former: Chuck Priore
  New: Billy Cosh (Former Western Michigan, Richmond, and VMI offensive coordinator)

Tennessee Tech — Big South/OVC

Head Coach

• Former: Dewayne Alexander
• New: Bobby Wilder (Former Old Dominion Head Coach during their transition from the FCS to FBS)

Offensive Coordinator

• Former: Wesley Satterfield
• New: Brian Scott (Former OC at New Hampshire)

Texas Southern — SWAC

Head Coach

• Former: Clarence McKinney
• New: Cris Dishman (Former Defensive Coordinator for the XFL’s Las Vegas Vipers)

UC Davis — Big Sky

Head Coach

• Former: Dan Hawkins
• New: Tim Plough (Former UC Davis QB, comes back to UC Davis after stops at Boise State and Cal)

Utah Tech — UAC

Head Coach

• Former: Paul Peterson
• New: Lance Anderson (Former Boise State offensive analyst and 16 year assistant at Stanford)

Western Carolina — SoCon

Offensive Coordinator

• Former: Kade Bell (Left for the same position at Pitt)

Defensive Coordinator

• Former: Chazmon Scales
• New: Jerry Odom (Spent the last 8 seasons as the Head Coach of DII Tusculum)

Western Illinois — MVFC → Big South-OVC in 2024

Head Coach

• Former: Myers Hendrickson
• New: Joe Davis