*Blake Baker, LSU defensive coordinator<\/p>\n
Baker is here with an asterisk because he didn\u2019t change jobs. The biggest hire Lane Kiffin made as head coach was keeping LSU\u2019s defensive coordinator, who was in the mix for the Tulane head coaching job. Baker has really improved the Tigers\u2019 defense in two years since the unit\u2019s low point during Jayden Daniels\u2019 Heisman season.<\/p>\n
Guess who\u2019s backBrent Pry, Virginia Tech defensive coordinator<\/p>\n
In one of the strangest coaching moves in recent memory, Pry was fired after four years as Virginia Tech head coach but will stick around in Blacksburg as James Franklin\u2019s defensive coordinator. The two have known each other for decades, and Pry was a very good DC for Franklin at Penn State and Vanderbilt before getting his shot to be a head coach. Still, it feels a bit awkward.<\/p>\n
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\n Brent Pry, fired by Virginia Tech in September, was back with the Hokies in an assistant capacity less than two months later. (Brian Bishop \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
Zach Arnett, Mississippi State defensive coordinator<\/p>\n
Arnett is not quite like Pry, but he did spend 2023 as Mississippi State\u2019s head coach, promoted from defensive coordinator after Mike Leach\u2019s death, only to be fired after one season. Arnett returns to run the defense for a program that took a step forward into competitiveness in Jeff Lebby\u2019s second year.<\/p>\n
Will Muschamp, Texas defensive coordinator<\/p>\n
Boom is back. The former Texas defensive coordinator and head-coach-in-waiting under Mack Brown will take over a Texas defense that certainly wasn\u2019t bad last season (21st in yards per play allowed). Steve Sarkisian saw an opportunity to get an accomplished coach, one who happened to spend the past five years at Georgia, the program that has dominated the Longhorns over the past few seasons. Whiteboards should keep their head on a swivel.<\/p>\n
Chad Morris, Clemson offensive coordinator<\/p>\n
Will turning back the clock help Dabo Swinney? Morris held the Clemson OC role from 2011 to 2014 and helped build the foundation for the teams that would win two national championships after Morris left. He\u2019s been out of full-time coaching for the past few years, watching his son Chandler finish his college career<\/a>. Clemson\u2019s 7-6 record last year was its worst since 2010.<\/p>\n Gary Patterson, USC defensive coordinator<\/p>\n The legendary TCU head coach is back in the game. Since his firing in 2021, Patterson had brief stints at Texas and Baylor, but now he takes over a much-maligned defense under his former Big 12 rival, Lincoln Riley. The Trojans have improved in the past few years, but defense has held this program back since Riley\u2019s arrival. Does the 66-year-old Patterson have one more big run left in the tank?<\/p>\n Chip Kelly, Northwestern offensive coordinator<\/p>\n What a weird couple of years for Kelly. He left the UCLA head coaching job to be Ohio State\u2019s offensive coordinator in 2024, won a national title, took the Las Vegas Raiders OC job with a $6 million salary, got fired 11 games into the season and now comes to Northwestern. What should we expect? I have no idea.<\/p>\n Power 4 hires in high-profile spotsBobby Petrino, North Carolina offensive coordinator<\/p>\n Bill Belichick and Bobby Petrino together would indeed make for a good Hulu documentary series. For all the flak Belichick got last year, the Tar Heels\u2019 defense really did improve into a respectable unit by the end of the season. But the team was putrid on offense. For all of Petrino\u2019s past baggage, the guy still knows how to coach offense, as we saw at Arkansas last year: The Razorbacks finished seventh in yards per play.<\/p>\n Arthur Smith, Ohio State offensive coordinator<\/p>\n Ryan Day now has two former NFL head coaches as coordinators, with Smith joining Matt Patricia on defense. It\u2019s a signal of where high-level college staffs are going: Coordinators don\u2019t need to grind on the road recruiting as much with the removal of limits on staff sizes. On the field, Smith inherits two Heisman Trophy candidates in star receiver Jeremiah Smith and quarterback Julian Sayin, but he\u2019ll need to get the Buckeyes to run the ball better in big games.<\/p>\n Brennan Marion, Colorado offensive coordinator<\/p>\n Marion left the Sacramento State head coaching job to run an offense for Deion Sanders. Marion\u2019s \u201cGo-Go\u201d offense helped take UNLV from the bottom of the Mountain West to the verge of the College Football Playoff two years ago. How will that offense fare in the Big 12?<\/p>\n Kendal Briles, South Carolina offensive coordinator<\/p>\n South Carolina fell way short of expectations last fall, and quarterback LaNorris Sellers went from potential first-round pick to running for his life behind a brutal offensive line. Sellers is back, but can Briles get the most out of him? His TCU offenses were a mixed bag in big games.<\/p>\n Jim Knowles, Tennessee defensive coordinator<\/p>\n Knowles won a national championship at Ohio State in 2024, then left for Penn State and a record-setting $3.1 million salary, only to have James Franklin be fired midway through the season. The Vols defense fell apart last year, but there\u2019s still plenty of talent on the roster.<\/p>\n \n Knowles went to Penn State as the highest-paid coordinator in college football a year ago. (Matthew O\u2019Haren \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n Bobby Hauck, Illinois defensive coordinator<\/p>\n Hauck stepped down as Montana head coach<\/a> in early February, saying the changing game was not fun for him anymore. But a few days later, he took an assistant job at Illinois<\/a> that will presumably let him focus more on actual football and less on the outside work required of a head coach. The Illini are coming off consecutive seasons with at least nine wins.<\/p>\n Rob Aurich, Nebraska defensive coordinator<\/p>\n Matt Rhule hasn\u2019t had a breakthrough season in Lincoln yet and now is on his third defensive coordinator in three years. Aurich comes from San Diego State to fix a Huskers unit that was 114th nationally in rushing defense last year. The Aztecs finished top six nationally in scoring defense and yards per play allowed. Against a schedule that includes Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon and Washington, the Nebraska defense will have to be better.<\/p>\n Group of 6Jordan Davis, East Carolina offensive coordinator<\/p>\n Could ECU make a CFP run in 2026? Davis brings the foundation of North Texas\u2019 No. 1 scoring offense to ECU. He spent the past decade alongside Eric Morris, including last year as North Texas\u2019 offensive coordinator, but Davis comes to ECU to call plays and run his own offense, and he\u2019ll have former Miami backup quarterback Emory Williams under center.<\/p>\n Christian Taylor, Wyoming offensive coordinator<\/p>\n![\"Penn](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_26023590-scaled-e1771468339156.jpg\")
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