Hurricanes defensive coordinator Lance Guidry fired after two seasons
The Miami Hurricanes have fired defensive coordinator Lance Guidry after two seasons on the job.
“I want to first thank Coach Guidry for his contributions to the University of Miami,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said in a statement Tuesday. “In a continuous effort to always improve all aspects of our program, I have decided to make a change on defense. We will move forward and make decisions that provide our players, staff and program the best opportunity to win and develop at the highest level.”
The Hurricanes’ defense regressed significantly in Guidry’s second season and was a major reason the season ended with a 10-3 record and Miami missing both the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game and a chance to compete in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
The Hurricanes ranked 68th nationally in scoring defense, allowing 25.3 points per game — a number that ballooned to 30.8 points per game in conference play. In Guidry’s first season as defensive coordinator, Miami allowed an average of 22.8 points per game but only gave up more than 40 points in a game once compared to three times this season.
Miami ended the season losing three of its final four games after a 9-0 start, including giving up 42 points apiece in its final two games to Syracuse and Iowa State, which averaged 34.1 and 31.1 points per game respectively. Miami led 21-0 in the second quarter of the Syracuse game and 38-28 midway through the third quarter of the Iowa State game before eventually losing both contests.
UM also lost 28-23 to a one-dimensional Georgia Tech team that ran for 271 yards — the most Miami has allowed in a game since giving up a school-record 554 rushing yards on Dec. 12, 2020.
“We didn’t adjust like we needed to,” Guidry said the Monday after the Georgia Tech loss. “I didn’t adjust like I needed to.”
The lack of adjustments continued down the stretch. Miami held off a lowly Wake Forest team before Syracuse and Iowa State took advantage of them to close out the season.
It all but negated the efforts of UM’s offense, which led the country in scoring (43.9 points per game), yards per game (537.2) and yards per play (7.57) and bailed out the defense’s deficiencies multiple times during the year.
Miami had to rally from double-digit deficits three times during ACC play after the defense struggled early in those games.
The Hurricanes came back from down 10 points multiple times in a 38-34 win against Virginia Tech, rallied from down 25 in the second half against Cal for a 39-38 win and overcame an 11-point third-quarter deficit against Duke for a 53-31 win.
UM also gave up 45 points in a road win against Louisville.
Guidry’s tenure at Miami was his first job at the Power 4 level. He was the defensive coordinator at Marshall for two seasons and ran the nation’s No. 8 defense in 2022 before being hired by the Hurricanes.
He also had defensive coordinator experience at Southeastern Louisiana (2019), McNeese State (2002-2003, 2013-2015) and Western Kentucky (2011-2012) and was the head coach at McNeese State (his alma mater) from 2016-2018.
Cristobal will now begin a search for the third defensive coordinator of his head coaching tenure at UM. Kevin Steele, his defensive coordinator in 2022, left for Alabama after one season, which opened the door for the Guidry hire.
The Hurricanes’ defense returns its share of talent — namely defensive linemen Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor (assuming he doesn’t opt to go pro), linebacker Wesley Bissainthe and cornerback OJ Frederique — and Miami has bolstered key spots in the transfer portal with the additions of cornerbacks Charles Brantley and Emmanuel Karnley, safety Zechariah Poyser and defensive tackle David Blay.
A few other players, notably freshman safety Zaquan Patterson, defensive tackle Ahmad Moten, and linebackers Jaylin Alderman, Raul Aguirre and Bobby Pruitt flashed at times during the season.
Cornerback Damari Brown missed most of the season with injury and Jadais Richard was sidelined down the stretch with injury as well.
This story was originally published December 31, 2024 at 11:00 AM.
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