Anonymous Assistants Sound Off on College Football's New Head Coach Hires
College football coaching changes are always good offseason fodder. And after a cycle that saw 34 new head coaches introduced, there was a lot to be said about an intriguing crop.
Assistant coaches at Power 4 programs spoke anonymously about several of the incoming coaches in the anonymous scouting repots featured in Athlon Sports' 2026 College Football Preview magazine. Unsurprisingly, new LSU coach Lane Kiffin merited mention in the Tigers' team preview. Some staffers also spoke on first-time coaches, such as Stanford's Tavita Pritchard and Ole Miss' Pete Golding, who replaced Kiffin in Oxford.
The comments varied in length in substance. Some spoke about the coach themselves. Others addressed the new staff as a whole. There was also focus on new systems, expectations and even some comparisons between the outgoing and incoming coach at select programs.
See what assistant coaches had to say about other programs' new leaders below.
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LSU
"Any offense that Lane (Kiffin) has had, they've been unique, they've been multiple, they've been unconventional. Schematically, with (offensive coordinator) Charlie Weis Jr., I think they're gonna make people play 11-on-11 football. I could see them easily getting back to doing what LSU does. It's gonna be a four-quarter game against those guys every time you play them with the tempo and the athletes they always have."
Kiffin's hiring was the most controversial in the 2025 coaching cycle. Case in point: Congress has introduced legislation that includes a provision known as the "Lane Kiffin Rule" that would bar midseason coaching changes.
Still, there aren't many qualms about Kiffin's coaching bonafides. (My colleague Steven Lassan gave the Tigers an A+ for the hire.) But given the controversy surrounding his move within the SEC - and his knack for staying in the conversation even in the offseason - these comments were surprisingly measured and focused on the on-field aspect of the move.
Kiffin's offenses at Ole Miss and Florida Atlantic over the past decade have consistently ranked among the highest-scoring units in the country. And with quarterback Sam Leavitt (Arizona State), tackle Jordan Seaton (Colorado) and wide receiver Jayce Brown (Kansas State) headlining the Tigers' top-ranked transfer portal class, that should continue in the Bayou.
Ole Miss
"In those three games that he coached last year, Pete Golding was Pete Golding. He was himself. He naturally transitioned into his role while staying the same dude. That's gonna be the challenge. Can he continue to rely on all the things that have made him a big-time ball coach, or is he going to try to be the anti-Lane (Kiffin)? A lot of people in Oxford want him to be the anti-Lane, but he just needs to be Pete Golding."
Golding's group hit the ground running in December after Kiffin's departure. The Rebels demolished Tulane, upset Georgia and gave Miami about all it could handle in the CFP semifinal. Following up that success - a 13-2 season punctuated by a deep playoff run - will be difficult. The return of quarterback Trinidad Chambliss gives Ole Miss a chance.
Unlike the rest of the coaches on this group, Golding already has experience coaching in Oxford over the past three seasons as defensive coordinator and three games as head coach. There will be less of an adjustment for Golding heading into his first full season in charge of the Rebels. But there might also be more pressure as a result.
Auburn
"Honestly, (Alex Golesh) is a pretty good fit. You see him paired with (defensive coordinator) DJ (Durkin), and he's a grinder. I see how the system could be attractive. You bring your quarterback with you, and there's not a big learning curve there. I could see them having success."
Golesh immediately turned around a floundering South Florida program. The Bulls won four games in the three seasons before he arrived in Tampa. They won 23 across three years under his watch, a run that earned him a job back in the SEC, where he made a name for himself as Tennessee's offensive coordinator.
To help ease the transition, Golesh brought along quarterback Byrum Brown, running back Nykahi Davenport and wide receiver Keshaun Singleton. USF finished third in yards and fifth in points per game in 2025, so Golesh's side of the ball should be covered.
Retaining defensive coordinator DJ Durkin was a big win for Golesh. The Tigers have ranked in the top half of the SEC in points allowed and in the bottom half in points scored. Their partnership could help Auburn end the five-year run without a winning record on the Plains.
Florida
"(Jon Sumrall) has hired extremely well. It feels like they've really opened up the checkbook."
Billy Napier came to be known for the sizable staffs he assembled across four fraught years at Florida. Sumrall, his successor in Gainesville, has put together an all-star class of coaches that will be even better compensated than Napier's army of assistants. The Gators will reportedly pay their staff more than $11 million this season, the lion's share of which will go to offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner ($2.1 million) and defensive coordinator Brad White ($1.85 million).
Faulkner made the move to UF from Georgia Tech and brought a handful of his former players with him, including quarterback Aaron Philo. "You're talking about a guy who builds the system around the players, doesn't ask the players to fit the system," Sumrall told Athlon Sports in the spring. White is staying in the SEC after a stint at Kentucky, Sumrall's alma mater.
Napier came under fire for the decision to continue calling offensive plays in the face of public criticism. Sumrall already seems willing and eager to delegate responsibility. And amid one of the worst stretches the program has endured in recent history, Florida is paying top dollar in hopes of turning around its fortunes on the field.
Oklahoma State
"(Coach) Eric Morris has all the right pieces, and he brought pretty much his entire staff from North Texas. I expect them to pick up right where he left off, and he has a background in this conference as well that holds weight."
Morris worked wonders at North Texas, where the Mean Green led the country in points and yards per game last fall. He essentially picked up that team and moved it from Denton to Stillwater on the heels of the Cowboys' worst season since they joined the Big 12.
Quarterback Drew Mestemaker is one of many impact players who followed his coach in the transfer portal. Running back Caleb Hawkins and wide receivers Wyatt Young also made the move. They'll all be playing in the same system that saw them light up the American last season.
Morris, who played wide receiver at Texas Tech under Mike Leach, spent time at his alma mater as offensive coordinator more than a decade ago. Now, he's back in the Big 12 with all the makings of an explosive offense that could spur one of the biggest year-over-year improvements in college football.
California
"I think they did a great job with this new staff. They have a great grasp of what they want for the future. It's a great alumni base."
The Golden Bears have a star on their hands in quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. And now, they have a coaching staff in place who can maximize his talent. Head coach Tosh Lupoi comes to Berkeley from Oregon, where he was the defensive coordinator for one of the top teams in the country.
Lupoi's hire shows a renewed commitment to compete in the ACC. California's new offensive and defensive coordinators both come from the NFL. Offensive coordinator Jordan Somerville spent the last three years as the Buccaneers' assistant quarterbacks coach. And defensive coordinator Michael Hutchings was the Vikings' safeties coach for the last two seasons. Both hires make sense given their bodies of work and Cal alumnus and general manager Ron Rivera's extensive NFL ties.
Nick Rolovich also stayed on with the Golden Bears as assistant head coach after finishing the 2025 season as the interim head coach with a 2-0 mark. Rolovich has six seasons of college football head coaching experience under his belt to help Lupoi adjust to the demands of the job in his first crack at leading a program.
Arkansas
"They're not considered a sleeping giant. Ryan Silverfield is a great coach who might have taken the wrong Power Four job at the wrong time."
"If you look at their SEC schedule, the nine teams that they have to play are pretty daunting, and then you add Utah. That doesn't set up for Year 1 success. In this day and age, if you don't have Year 1 success, narratives get forced upon you that you've gotta find a way to shake."
"(Silverfield) has always had excellent offenses. They put a lot on their quarterback to make checks and reads. He's very calm on game day, and very, very bright. He understands the ending of games and how to handle those situations with timeouts."
The skinny on the Razorbacks was all about Silverfield. After years at Memphis, one of the best (and most well-resourced) programs in the American, coaching at Arkansas will be an adjustment. The Hogs just bottomed out, going 0-8 in SEC play for the first time since 2013. How quickly can Silverfield turn those fortunes around?
The schedule does not bode well for a bowl bid in his debut. Few coaches in Silverfield's position would be able to successfully navigate a gauntlet that includes Georgia, Texas A&M, Texas and LSU. But as the anonymous coach said, a less than stellar first season at this level could spur to questions if there aren't meaningful signs of improvement.
Arkansas' offense should come together, whether it's KJ Jackson or Tigers transfer AJ Hill under center. The defense, however, might struggle again after surrendering the most points per game in the SEC.
Stanford
"The direction that they went with (new coach) Tavita Pritchard and obviously with (general manager) Andrew Luck being there, just having those guys in the building after they cried, sweat, bled in those same locker rooms and on that same field, that's gonna give those guys a bit of an edge."
"Knowing that they got someone there from home to be leading them, it's just like what Cal has with (new head coach) Tosh Lupoi being there."
The Cardinal are keeping things in the family. Pritchard is returning to his alma mater after a brief stint in the NFL. The hire reunites Pritchard and Luck, former teammates from a more successful era of Stanford football.
Luck laid the groundwork for a stronger foundation in his first season in charge at his alma mater. His former head coach with the Colts, Frank Reich, served as interim and there were signs of progress in Year 2 in the ACC. Now, Pritchard will lead the way after spending the last few seasons with the Commanders, where he was the quarterbacks coach for 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels.
Stanford last played in a bowl game in 2018. That was Pritchard's first year as the Cardinal's offensive coordinator. Both he and Luck know what it took for Stanford to hit its peak in the 2010s. Together, they'll try to bring the program back to that level.
Kentucky
"With the talent base that (new coach Will Stein) inherited, the only thing I wonder about is the fact that he had more talent than everybody else at Oregon for most of the games. It'll be interesting to see him going from one of the haves to one of the have-nots and how that's going to transition while still not losing your enthusiasm, your connection with the players and all of those kinds of things."
The question about how Stein will handle the transition from the Ducks to the Wildcats is valid. Oregon never had any problem bringing in five-star players, in the portal or from high school. That might be more of a challenge at Kentucky, which is traditionally in the bottom half of the SEC when it comes to recruiting.
To drive that point home, the Wildcats ranked 24th nationally in Athlon's roster rankings for 2026. The Ducks ranked fifth. Of course, one coach can change the narrative seemingly overnight, as we saw with Curt Cignetti at Indiana. The Hoosiers had never won double-digit games in a season before he arrived. Kentucky, on the other hand, is just five years removed from a 10-win season.
Stein's offenses were stacked at Oregon, but he also got the best out of them. The Ducks finished top three in scoring in the Big Ten the last two years and led the Pac-12 back in 2023. Transfer quarterback Kenny Minchey (Notre Dame) will be tasked with executing Stein's vision in Lexington.
UCLA
"I've heard they've been kind of arrogant on the road with following the (Curt) Cignetti model. Like, ‘Look who we are,' instead of saying, ‘We're gonna do this the right way.' I'm interested to see how (new head coach Bob Chesney) does, though."
This is hardly a rave review of Chesney's first offseason in Westwood. He, of course, followed in Cignetti's footsteps at James Madison and brought the Dukes to the CFP. Also similarly to Cignetti, he parlayed that success into a Power 4 job and brought some of his best players along with him. Does that mean the Bruins will be playoff-bound in Year 1 and win it all in Year 2? Not necessarily.
UCLA should be much better than it was a year ago, especially if former JMU offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy can get the most out of former five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Chesney did bring along running back Wayne Knight, edge Sahir West and defensive lineman Aiden Gobaira, among others, for some familiarity.
The so-called "arrogant" approach might work if the results are to back it up. The Bruins schedule breaks about as well as Chesney and Co. could hope. A repeat of last season would be a bit of an indictment.
Michigan State
"Their entire staff of position coaches made me go, ‘Oh, s-. Interesting.' They brought in a lot of good coaches, so I think they'll be a good team this year."
Pat Fitzgerald is back in the Big Ten and hoping to make a splash with a stacked new staff. Perhaps his biggest hire was special teams coordinator LeVar Woods, who developed a sterling reputation across nearly two decades at Iowa.
There is some holdover on Fitzgerald's first Spartans staff after another losing season spelled the end for Jonathan Smith. Defensive coordinator Joe Rossi is still at Michigan State, as is wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins. But Fitzgerald also went outside the program - and in some cases, the college ranks - to round out his coaching personnel.
Offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan came over from Alabama. Offensive line coach Nick Tabacca was most recently at Wake Forest. Running backs coach Devon Spalding previously held the same position at Wisconsin. And quarterbacks coach John McNulty was last at Rutgers. The Spartans haven't had a winning record since 2021. Maybe a fresh approach on the sideline and new blood on the field can turn things around.
Utah
"I'm really curious what it looks like without (former coach) Kyle Whittingham."
"But yeah, it's definitely a relief that (Whittingham) is out of the Big 12 because he's a great football coach, and he's an even better person."
The talk about the Utes was not about new coach Morgan Scalley. Instead, rivals rejoiced that Whittingham is out after more than two decades in charge in Salt Lake City, during which he became the winningest coach in program history.
Scalley cut his teeth on Whittingham's staffs. He started at his alma mater as a grad assistant in 2007 and worked his way up to defensive coordinator, head-coach-in-waiting and, finally, head coach. It's a new era for Utah, which retained some of its top talent but also saw a few stars follow Whittingham to Michigan. Fair or not, Scalley will be held up against what his old boss accomplishes in Ann Arbor.
Kansas State
"I'm interested to see if (new coach) Collin Klein takes the old Kansas State approach where it's 12 personnel, two-tight end offense, or kind of what he did at Texas A&M, which is get the ball out in space in 11 personnel."
The Wildcats were another program that saw a longtime coach leave when Chris Klieman retired in December. Kansas State tapped Klein, who starred at quarterback in Manhattan years ago and later coached under Klieman, to lead the team.
Klein's offenses at Texas A&M were known for creating explosive plays, an area the Wildcats have lagged in. With a few new pass-catchers in place and an experienced and mobile quarterback returning in Avery Johnson, Klein might be able to open up K-State's offense a bit more.
Iowa State
"(New head coach) Jimmy Rogers is a really good coach. I mean, he beat North Dakota State when he was at South Dakota State. Even when he was at Washington State last year, he didn't have a really good draw. They didn't have any money. He's a good coach, but it's just gonna take time, especially because of how late he got the job."
Rogers has one of the toughest tasks in the Power 4 next season. The Cyclones return zero starters after Matt Campbell's move to Penn State led to a mass roster exodus. The defensive-minded coach brought some of his players with him from Washington State, but the roster is still in rough shape to be competitive in the Big 12.
It says a lot about the opinion of Rogers that he landed this job after a .500 season, his first at the FBS level. But he went 27-3 in the FCS with a national championship to boot. There don't seem to be any illusions in Ames about this being a quick turnaround. Rogers will need a few years to rebuild the program in his image.
Related: Athlon Sports 2026 College Football Preview Magazine Available Now
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Related: Curt Cignetti Q&A: Indiana Coach Opens Up on Challenge of Title Defense
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This story was originally published June 8, 2026 at 8:17 AM.