Each year in college football, we have a lot of turnover in the coaching ranks. Instead of covering the head coaching moves, we will cover the new assistant coaching hires. History has shown that nailing an assistant coaching hire can make a bad team into good (Ryan Walters getting the Purdue head coaching job by turning Illinois into a top 10 defensive unit this year), a good team into great (Alex Atkins helping turn Florida State’s offense into a top 10 unit and leading the Noles to a 10-3 record), and a great team into a national champion (Todd Monken turning a pedestrian Georgia offense into a top five offense and in doing so, leading the Bulldogs to back-to-back national championships). Today we will look at five coaches that can help their new teams take those next steps and raise their profiles so that they can be future head coaches if they chose to.
Marques Hagans
Old Job: Wide Receivers Coach at Virginia
New Job: Wide Receivers Coach at Penn State
Marques Hagans is Virginia through and through. He was born in Virginia, went to high school in Virginia, went to University of Virginia, and finally he’s spent his entire coaching career at UVA. Penn State has been inconsistent at the receiver position, which is why the Nittany Lions have had multiple wide receivers coaches under James Franklin. Hagans is known for recruiting in the hotbed known as Hampton Roads. Keylen Adams, the top receiver in the state, is from the region, so he could be a strategic recruit for Penn State.
Hagans isn’t known for just being a recruiter, but he can also coach talent that he has had. Olamide Zaccheaus is the second-leading receiver in UVA history. Dontayvion Wicks had the most yards in a season in UVA history. Hasise Dubois had the third-most receiving yards in a season for UVA. Keytaon Thompson also is in the top 10 in single-season receiving yards at the school. To summarize, Hagans is responsible for some of the most prolific receiving talent in Virginia history. Penn State has gained a great coach.
Dan Enos
Old Job: Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach at Maryland
New Job: Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach at Arkansas
What is old is new again with Dan Enos, as he is back in his second stint at Arkansas. Both times, he has had the same position as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He has molded stellar quarterbacks such as Brandon Allen and Austin Allen at Arkansas, Tua Tagovailoa at Alabama, and Taulia Tagovailoa at Maryland. The one thing that they have in common is development. Taulia had set single-season records at Maryland in 2021. Tua had set the FBS passer rating record while Enos was at Alabama. The Allen brothers each threw for 3,000 yards when they were starters under Enos. All in all, if you are a quarterback, Dan Enos will develop you. This leads to my next point. Enos’ first task at Arkansas is to help continue the development of star QB KJ Jefferson. Jefferson’s numbers are already great, but there is always room for improvement. What will most likely change is that KJ will not have to run as much, as Enos’s offense de-emphasizes it. That said, KJ will have more protection throwing the ball. Every quarterback tends to have a statistical high under Enos, so KJ and Arkansas will not be any different.
Ben Arbuckle
Old Job: Co-Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach at Western Kentucky
New Job: Offensive Coordinator at Washington State
Ben Arbuckle is only a year older than me. There is a few things to that. The first thing is that it is an indictment on me being a failure, as he has made so much progress in the coaching ranks at this age. The second thing is that he is the next big coaching star. Arbuckle is best known for working under and eventually succeeding Zach Kittley at Western Kentucky. Under Arbuckle, the offense did not miss a beat, as the Hilltoppers finished the year ranked in the top 20 in scoring and led the nation in passing yardage. Austin Reed was this year’s Bailey Zappe in terms of breakout success. He led the nation in passing yards and was one of four quarterbacks to throw 40 touchdown passes.
Arbuckle runs a version of an Air Raid that is more of a passing type, while his predecessor at Washington State, Eric Morris, had a much more balanced approach. This should bode well for Cougars QB Cameron Ward and take their offense to new heights.
Will Stein
Old Job: Co-Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach at UTSA
New Job: Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach at Oregon
Will Stein took over the offensive coordinator job at UTSA from Barry Lunney Jr., who became the new offensive coordinator at Illinois. Stein learned a lot under Lunney and was also the wide receivers coach as well as the passing game coordinator at UTSA. In his years at UTSA, Stein helped develop star quarterback Frank Harris and the entire offense into stars. Sincere McCormick, Zakhari Franklin, Joshua Cephus, and Kevorian Barnes have been able to break out with Stein on staff. The good news is that the scheme that Stein runs is somewhat similar to the scheme that Kenny Dillingham ran at Oregon, so the transition should be a lot less painless compared to other coaching hires. All in all, it is a win for Oregon. An added bonus is that Stein has recruiting ties to Texas, so Oregon can strengthen the established pipeline that the Ducks have in the state.
Matt Caponi
Old Job: Cornerbacks Coach at Iowa State
New Job: Defensive Coordinator at North Texas
Matt Caponi is a good coach. Iowa State’s secondary is damn near elite. The Cyclones are a top 15 passing defense in the entire country, which is very impressive. Turning the likes of T.J. Tampa and Anthony Johnson Jr. into All-Big 12-caliber players, Caponi has shown that he is capable of being a force. This will be a nice change of pace for North Texas, who had a bottom third passing defense in the entire country. Growing pains will exist however, as Caponi will run a 3-3-5 compared to Phil Bennett’s 4-2-5. Some seniors remain that were around from the Troy Reffett and Clint Bowen years, where the team ran a 3-3-5, so the transition can be somewhat smoother. The only downside is that while Caponi has coached in the Big 12 with Iowa State and West Virginia, he does not have strong ties to Texas himself, so he will need his defensive staff to assist him in this venture.
About the author
I am a fan of the University of Georgia. I graduated from the University which shall not be named. An individual with a degree in International Business and Marketing, I am more interested in CFB than I am at work. The favorite CFB moment I have would be either the Rose Bowl semifinal vs Oklahoma or the 2017 SEC Championship vs Auburn. Both felt great for different reasons.
