Keeping track of players at their new schools is hard enough. When you factor in the coaching carousel, it’s downright impossible to keep everything straight.
That’s why we’re turning to Action Network's Mike Calabrese to identify a handful of coordinator swaps that could make a major difference — both positive and negative — in 2025.
Let’s start with the offensive playcallers.
Biggest Offensive Coordinator Upgrades
Southern Miss Golden Eagles
Chip Long ➝ Blake Anderson
Southern Miss was horrific under Long.
The Golden Eagles couldn’t run (3.16 YPC, 125th), and when they tried to pass the ball, it was more likely they’d throw it to the other team than find one of their own in the end zone, racking up seven touchdowns and 17 interceptions. That -10 margin between passing touchdowns and interceptions is the worst mark in college football since 2018.
But here comes Blake Anderson to save the day.
Anderson has produced statistical monsters at programs with lesser resources. Logan Bonner and Cooper Legas had breakout seasons running Anderson’s offense at Utah State.
And before that, he elevated Justice Hansen into a Sun Belt household name when he exploded for 44 total touchdowns and 4,300 total yards in 2017.
His firing and legal troubles at Utah State appear to be behind him, but they’re the only reason why a coach of his caliber was available on the coaching carousel in the first place.
Oh, and did I mention he’s calling plays for Braylon Braxton? The 2024 Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year is exactly the kind of player that Anderson would want running his scheme.
As a dual-threat, Braxton posted a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 19:2 while rushing for 610 yards and four scores. This is a match made in heaven.
Houston Cougars
Kevin Barbay ➝ Slade Nagle
The Cougars scored 14 points per game last fall, which 0.1 higher than Kent State. You don’t want to be in the Golden Flashes’ offensive neighborhood.
Barbay got the boot, and Willie Fritz scored a huge win when he lured Conner Weigman to H-Town out of the portal. But the bigger thing happened a week before Weigman announced his intentions to play for the Cougars.
Slade Nagel spent the 2024 regular season as LSU’s special teams and tight ends coach. But it was his previous work with Fritz that made this a dream union.
He was a part of Tulane’s staff from 2016-23, but he played a major role as the Green Wave’s assistant head coach and OC from 2022-23.
Tulane won 23 games in those two seasons, and he was credited with unlocking Michael Pratt’s full potential.
Pratt accounted for 64 total touchdowns in those two seasons while leading Tulane to a Cotton Bowl victory over Caleb Williams and USC. The Nagle-Weigman combo should produce fireworks in the Big 12.
Utah Utes
Andy Ludwig ➝ Jason Beck
Andy Ludwig was in charge of the Utes' offense for the past six seasons. When he had a healthy Cam Rising, the offense worked, and the Utes made back-to-back Rose Bowls in 2021 and 2022.
Both of those Rose Bowl teams averaged over 36 points per game; they had balance, explosiveness and a clear identity.
Without Rising in the mix as a full-time starter, the offense fell off a cliff in the past two seasons. With the offense clearly bottoming out last fall, it was time to make a change.
Jason Beck arrives from New Mexico after turning that ragtag bunch into the best non-service academy rushing offense. The Lobos averaged 6.7 yards per carry, which is the second-highest average in the past decade.
For this offense to work, it needs a dynamic rushing threat at quarterback. Kyle Whittingham made it a package deal when he brought Beck and his star quarterback, Devon Dampier, to Salt Lake City.
Dampier will now be running behind the best offensive line in the Big 12, so I foresee another 1,000-yard campaign on the ground for him and a massive glow-up for the Utes offense overall.
Oklahoma Sooners
Seth Littrell ➝ Ben Arbuckle
You can list off all the stats about Oklahoma’s offense last year to get a feel for the Sooners’ dysfunction on that side of the ball. Or you can just watch one of their games. Defenders were streaming into their backfield on seemingly every snap.
The Sooners allowed 100 tackles for loss. That devastated their running game and broke quarterback Jackson Arnold. It was time for a change for Arnold and OU.
The former five-star landed at Auburn, and the Sooners swung a package deal of their own in December.
Ben Arbuckle is an offensive wizard. In his first season as a play-caller back in 2022, Western Kentucky led the nation in passing yards. Then he arrived on the Palouse and elevated a lackluster offense (26.1 PPG, 79th) into a feisty bunch in Year 1.
But the real explosion came in 2024 when he named John Mateer his starting quarterback. Arbuckle added a mountain of designed quarterback runs into his playbook. Mateer was good through the air with 3,139 yards and 29 touchdowns but absolutely lethal on the ground as he racked up 826 yards and 15 scores.
Now, the two are set to tackle the SEC with better weapons and a rebuilt offensive line. If the line gels, the OU offense will be unrecognizable this fall — in a good way.
Biggest Offensive Coordinator Downgrades
Washington State Cougars
Ben Arbuckle ➝ Danny Freund
Oklahoma’s gain was Wazzu’s loss, I’m afraid.
Arbuckle had the Cougars on the verge of the College Football Playoff last fall, and now they’re left to pick up the pieces after all of their playmakers either left via the transfer portal or bolted for the NFL.
Freund was accustomed to elite quarterback play at South Dakota State, where he served as co-OC last season. His quarterback, Mark Gronowski, was the former Walter Payton Award winner, the equivalent of the FCS Heisman.
That offense was also built to run the football, something it did extraordinarily well (236.1 YPG, third).
But when looking at the Wazzu roster, there are limitations for Freund to hit the ground running. The offensive line is replacing three starters. The two leading rushers — Mateer and Wayshawn Parker — have moved on, as did five of the top six pass-catchers.
Perhaps Freund and head coach Jimmy Rogers can make this work in a year or two, but the pieces don’t seem to fit together for a successful offense to materialize this fall.
Boise State Broncos
Dirk Koetter ➝ Nate Potter
Koetter remains on the staff as an offensive analyst, but head coach Spencer Danielson has made it clear that this is Potter’s show.
Now, if this were 2024 and all he had to do was dial up 35 touches per game for Ashton Jeanty, I wouldn’t be overly concerned. But Jeanty, and his legendary ability to break a big play, is gone.
The Broncos could really use a game-planning savant like Koetter to smooth things out in this transitional period, but instead, they’re relying on a green playcaller. I smell trouble.
The offense will need to rely more heavily on Maddux Madsen at quarterback. The undersized overachiever beat out a former blue-chip recruit in Malachi Nelson for the starting job last year, and he performed admirably throughout the season.
His 3,018 yards, 23 passing touchdowns and QBR of 75.1 (23rd) paint the picture of a star on the rise. But under the hood, you start to see some troubling trends.
He made nine big-time throws last season against 20 turnover-worthy plays — and that was with defenses keying on Jeanty.
If Potter doesn’t find his sea legs quickly, we could see this Boise offense uncharacteristically struggle, just as it did against USF in Week 1. After that, the Broncos have road trips to Air Force in Notre Dame in two of the next four weeks.
