Upgrade or not: Examining the notable offensive and defensive coordinator moves across the Big Ten

Georgia tailbacks coach Dell McGee was hired by Georgia State over the weekend, officially closing the books on the final head coach opening during a never-ending 2023-24 carousel cycle. 

All the movement precipitated lots of coordinator changes across college football, with new head coaches plucking assistants from other programs. While other staffs saw shakeups by firings or domino movement elsewhere

So simple question: Did your team’s staff get better this offseason?

We kickstarted the series with the SEC on Monday. What about the Big Ten?

The league saw some seismic shakeup within the coordinator ranks, as Sherrone Moore was promoted to head coach at Michigan, while Ohio State, Penn State and USC all made standout hires, too. They were hardly the lone changes, though, as Iowa eventually found a replacement for Brian Ferentz.

So let’s take a run through the conference and examine if the change was actually an upgrade or not for a bunch of different coordinator situations. 

Iowa offensive coordinator — Brian Ferentz to Tim Lester

Upgrade? TBD

Never go full Kirk Ferentz. It’s too nihilistic. In a classic Kirk Ferentz move, he waited forever to hire a new offensive coordinator to replace his son Brian, and when he finally did, it came with all the sad trombone music one might expect. 

Tim Lester is hardly an exciting hire. He probably will be better than Brian Ferentz, whose offenses set Big Ten records for ineptitude and toothlessness the last several years, but it’s no guarantee. 

Instead of opting for a modern, young and creative offensive mind, Ferentz went with a vagabond former MAC head coach. 

Lester did produce some NFL receivers at Western Kentucky (Dwayne Eskridge, Skyy Moore and Jayden Reed), but are there any future Sunday players in Iowa’s receiver room?

The Hawkeyes probably did upgrade at OC solely because they couldn’t get worse than the Brian Ferentz Era. But I still need to see improvement first before I auto-rubber-stamp the replacement. 

Michigan offensive coordinator — Sherrone Moore to Kirk Campbell

Upgrade? No

The Wolverines will have a new play-caller in 2024, as former offensive coordinator turned head coach Sherrone Moore is ceding the responsibilities to former Michigan quarterbacks coach Kirk Campbell. 

The 37-year-old has only been a Power Conference assistant for one season, yet he’s being paid over $1 million annually to keep the train going in Ann Arbor. Good luck. The good news is Moore is likely to remain heavily involved in the offense, so that should mitigate some of the concerns.

Still, Campbell is considered a strong recruiter for a coordinator (he was a factor in landing the commitment of 2024 four-star Jadyn Davis), and his lone year as the team’s QB coach saw J.J. McCarthy have the best season in school history (22 touchdowns, 72.3 completion percentage) en route to a national title. 

Although his lone stint as a play-caller at Old Dominion didn’t work out, he did call plays in Michigan’s season-opener in 2023 with Moore suspended. The Wolverines beat East Carolina 30-3, with McCarthy producing a nearly flawless stat line (26 of 30 for 280 yards and three touchdowns). He inherits a very tricky QB situation though, as the Wolverines enter the spring with a competition with three extremely inexperienced players (Alex Orji, Jayden Denegal and freshman Jadyn Davis) plus seventh-year senior Jack Tuttle.

Michigan defensive coordinator — Jesse Minter to Wink Martindale

Upgrade? No

Sherrone Moore made an audacious hire by tabbing Martindale to replace Minter, but despite the veteran NFL coordinator’s vast experience, it’s hard to see Michigan’s defense getting better in the next few seasons. 

Over the last two years, Minter took over for Mike McDonald and did take Michigan’s defense to record heights — but he also had better players to work with than Martindale will have. 

In 2023, the Wolverines were a Top 5 unit in almost every category — including allowing just 10.4 points per game, the best in the nation. 

Moore did well to land a coordinator who was the architect of the defensive scheme the Wolverines utilized the last several seasons under both McDonald and Minter, so that should ease some of the transition. Can Martindale (who has been in the NFL since 2003) adapt to the college game is a question, though. 

Michigan State offensive coordinator — Jay Johnson to Brian Lindgren

Upgrade? Yes

The Spartans have had all manner of problems the last two seasons, but chief among them has been the team’s inability to do much of anything offensively. 

Michigan State was 13th in the Big Ten in scoring and yards per play last season, and last in rushing offense. 

That’s about to change with Jonathan Smith and Brian Lindgren now orchestrating the offense. The former Oregon State head coach brought his offensive coordinator with him to East Lancing, as the duo has been in the foxhole together the last six seasons in Corvallis. 

The Beavers have had one of the more creative and punishing rushing offenses the last several seasons, tying for No. 2 in the Pac-12 in yards per carry in 2023. The Spartans need better players to trigger a dramatic offensive transformation, but without a doubt, the offensive staff is a night-and-day improvement.

Ohio State offensive coordinator — Bill O’Brien to Chip Kelly

Upgrade? Yes

Hiring Bill O’Brien was a strong move by Ryan Day. Landing Chip Kelly as BOB’s replacement when he left for the head coaching job at Boston College was Day’s ace-in-the-hole. 

Kelly might have underwhelmed as the head coach at UCLA, but he checks all the boxes for the Buckeyes as their coordinator in 2024. He’s arguably the strongest assistant hire the entire 2023-24 cycle.

Kelly remains an offensive mastermind, and his long-standing relationship with Day will allow the Ohio State head coach to embrace his new CEO role. 

The Buckeyes had their worst offense in over a decade last season, and it prevented them from beating Michigan and competing for a national title. Kelly provides an instant upgrade, and his scheme could unlock Ohio State’s rushing attack with TreYevyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins.

Penn State offensive coordinator — Mike Yurcich to Andy Kotelnicki

Upgrade? Yes

Andy Kotelnicki might not be a household name, but he’s among the best offensive coordinators in college football and if anyone can unlock Drew Allar and Penn State’s offense, it’s the former Kansas coordinator. 

While James Franklin has whiffed on multiple OC hires previously, plucking Kotelnicki away from Lance Leipold was a bold move. 

Kotelnicki developed Jalon Daniels into an all-conference quarterback, and even when Daniels was hurt for most of the 2023 season, the Jayhawks still averaged 7.01 yards per play and 33.6 points per game. 

He should instantly provide Penn State’s offense with more creativity and mailability, and considering his track record orchestrating units that were efficient (13th nationally in 3rd down offense) and explosive (Top 30 nationally), Kotelnicki looks like the perfect answer to PSU’s problems.

Penn State defensive coordinator — Manny Diaz to Tom Allen

Upgrade? No

Manny Diaz parlayed coordinating one of the nation’s top defenses the last two seasons into another ACC head coaching job. If Tom Allen can produce similar results, perhaps Happy Valley will serve as his opportunity to restart his career. 

James Franklin prioritized experience in tabbing Diaz’s replacement, and while the former Indiana head coach is certainly not some major downgrade, it would be completely inaccurate to expect Penn State’s defense to be better without Diaz calling the shots. 

The Nittany Lions ranked No. 2 nationally in yards per play allowed in 2023 (4.16) and tackles for loss (111). Diaz’s unit ranked first in success rate. They played excellent fundamental football, which has been in the DNA of Allen’s former defenses. 

The good news for Penn State’s new defensive coordinator is he does inherit some really talented players, headlined by star linebacker Abdul Carter and pass rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton. 

UCLA offensive coordinator — Chip Kelly to Eric Bieniemy

Upgrade? TBD

The Bruins did not have an offensive coordinator, with head coach Chip Kelly manning the duties himself. Kelly oversaw an offense that led the Pac-12 in rushing the last two seasons, but UCLA’s passing game regressed in its first season in five years without Dorian Thompson-Robinson at quarterback.

Kelly abruptly resigned from his position to take the OC job at Ohio State earlier this month, but new head coach DeShaun Foster quickly found a very interesting replacement in former Washington Commanders assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. The two-time Super Bowl champion coordinator will serve the same two roles with the Bruins, a place he actually worked previously as the team’s tailbacks coach 19 years ago.

Although Kelly is as acclaimed as any offensive mind in college football, Bieniemy is well-respected for his Xs and Os acumen, too, and he has been credited with heavily aiding in the development of Patrick Mahomes — who won the MVP Award twice in Bieniemy’s offense. If Bieniemy can work his magic with UCLA’s quarterback room (Ethan Garbers and Collin Schlee) then the Bruins could actually see an offensive uptick in 2024.

USC defensive coordinator — Alex Grinch to D’Anton Lynn

Upgrade? Yes

Lincoln Riley made the most critical hire of his head coaching career this offseason, axing much-maligned defensive coordinator Alex Grinch for UCLA hot-shot D’Anton Lynn. 

In Lynn’s lone season in Westwood, he turned the Bruins into one of the best defenses in the country. They went from 90th in scoring and 74th in yards per play to Top-20 nationally in both categories (and No. 1 in the Pac-12). UCLA was fantastic at creating havoc (league-high in sacks and TFLs) while limiting explosive plays (just 33 plays over 20 yards, the fewest in the Pac-12, compared to 68 allowed by USC). 

Riley finally seems serious about changing his philosophical approach to defense, and when you couple the impressive addition of Lynn with the rest of the defensive staff changes (bringing in former North Dakota State head coach Matt Entz and former Houston defensive coordinator Doug Belk, among others) this is a no-brainer upgrade for the Trojans.

Washington offensive coordinator — Ryan Grubb to Brennan Carroll

Upgrade? No

Jedd Fisch maintained offensive staff continuity by bringing Brennan Carroll with him from Arizona, and while it’s a Seattle homecoming for Pete Carroll’s son, he has some major shoes to fill following Ryan Grubb’s footsteps with the Huskies. 

Carroll and Fisch were great working alongside one another the last three seasons at Arizona, taking a dormant program from 1-11 to 10-3 last season. With Noah Fifita, Tetairoa McMillian and Jacob Cowing tormenting defenses, the Wildcats had the nation’s No. 8 passing attack in 2023. 

But that’s kind of the point, too. As good as Arizona was offensively last season, Washington was even better with Grubb running the show — and all the shiny toys he had to work with are no longer in the program.

Now it’s up to Brennan to make the most out of an offense that will break in transfer quarterback Will Rogers and likely feature 11 new starters.