Upgrade or not: Examining the notable offensive and defensive coordinator moves at Notre Dame, ACC and Big 12

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. I outlined the notable changes in the Big Ten on Tuesday. Today, we conclude the series by looking at the most interesting changes at Notre Dame, in the ACC and Big 12. 

Deion Sanders has a new defensive coordinator at Colorado. Jeff Grimes was fired from one Big 12 school and immediately hired by another. What do to make of Mike Denbrock’s return to Notre Dame?

Let’s run through a number of changes and evaluate if the moves were an upgrade or not for a bunch of different coordinator situations.

Arizona offensive coordinator — Brennan Carroll to Dino Babers 

Upgrade? TBD

One of the more intriguing coaching moves this offseason was Dino Babers’ decision to not step away from the game and enjoy the buyout life after getting fired by Syracuse. 

The former Orange head coach reportedly had $9 million reasons to head to the beach or golf course for as long as he wanted, but instead, Babers opted to join Brent Brennan’s Year 1 staff at Arizona. The two worked together previously in Tempe way back in 2000, and now they’re reunited nearly a quarter century later.  

The Wildcats offense was electric last season under head coach Jedd Fisch and OC/QBs coach Brennan Carroll. They’re off to Washington, but the Wildcats’ two stars in quarterback Noah Fifita and wideout Tetairoa McMillian opted to remain at Arizona. 

Now it’s up to Arizona’s new head coach/OC pairing to get the most of a potential Top 20 unit in its first season in the Big 12.

Babers parlayed his previous success as a coordinator into the head coaching job at Bowling Green and then Syracuse. 

Can he do it again?

Baylor offensive coordinator — Jeff Grimes to Jake Spavital 

Upgrade? Yes

After a 3-9 season where Baylor finished last in the Big 12 in both scoring offense and scoring defense, Dave Aranda, who is on a bubbling hot seat, made changes at both coordinator spots. Aranda will call the defense himself in 2024, and he landed an experienced play-caller in Jake Spavital to handle the other side of the ball. 

The decision to move on from Grimes didn’t come easy, though, as the former OL coach was a respected offensive coordinator who was a Broyles Award finalist with the Bears in 2021 — when the program went 12-2 and won the Big 12. But the team’s offensive outputs have cratered the last two years, particularly in 2023 when they ranked 13th in the league in yards per play (5.3) and explosiveness. Their scoring dropped by nearly 10 points per game, too.

Spavital didn’t pan out as the head coach at Texas State, but he’s been an acclaimed OC at multiple stops throughout his career (Texas A&M, Cal, West Virginia) — including his one-year return to Cal in 2023.

The Bears’ offense was much improved last season, especially their ground game where they went from being one of the worst rushing units nationally into finishing fourth in the Pac-12. Now he’s tasked with reviving a Baylor ground game they rode to record success in 2021.

Colorado defensive coordinator — Charles Kelly to Robert Livingston 

Upgrade? No

Deion Sanders has prioritized NFL experience with his second-year Colorado coaching staff, so when Charles Kelly left the program to return to the SEC, it was no surprise to see Coach Prime dip into the league for his next defensive coordinator. 

Only it wasn’t Mike Zimmer or another former NFL coach with ties to Sanders. It was Bengals secondary coach Robert Livingston. 

Huh?

Livingston has spent the last dozen seasons in the NFL, and his long coaching experience at a Power Conference school in college came in a single season as a quality control coach at Vanderbilt. 

It’s an odd hire, but maybe it’ll work out. 

Maybe is as far as I can go at this point because it will be a dramatic adjustment for Livingston when it comes to practice time and the ability to work directly with players at the collegiate level. And while Colorado’s defense was a tire-fire in 2023 (34.8 points per game allowed, 6.27 yards per play allowed), no one questions the coaching acumen of Charles Kelly. He’s as well-respected as they come, and he’s spent the last four decades in the sport. 

Kansas offensive coordinator — Andy Kotelnicki to Jeff Grimes

Upgrade? No

Earlier in the piece, I outlined how Jeff Grimes was a quality offensive coordinator who simply hadn’t delivered the requisite results at Baylor the last two seasons. And it’s clear that others in the industry still value his coaching ability, as he wasn’t out of a job long. 

When Andy Kotelnicki took the OC gig at Penn State, Lance Leipold quickly tabbed Grimes as the replacement.

The move makes sense considering Grimes’ background as a former OL coach who embraces a gritty, downhill attacking scheme with a bit of flair. He inherits an offense that returns quarterback Jalon Daniels and nearly every other notable contributor from a unit that averaged 33.6 points per game last season. 

Still, Kansas is going to miss Andy Kotelnicki. He’s been Leipold’s right-hand man for years. They spoke the same language and bounced ideas off each other to produce one of the most creative and interesting offenses in the country. 

Grimes is a solid get, but there’s no way this can be painted as if the Jayhawks’ staff got better. 

Kansas State offensive coordinator — Collin Klein to Conor Riley and Matt Wells

Upgrade? TBD

Three years ago, Collin Klein was promoted internally to become Kansas State’s offensive coordinator, and over the next two seasons, the ex-Wildcats’ star alum utilized a two-QB system to win the Big 12 Championship and then made the Wildcats’ offense into an even more dynamic unit without star tailback Deuce Vaughn.

Klein is off to Texas A&M now, though, so Chris Klieman is looking to strike gold twice with his latest OC hire — hoping another internal promotion works out just as well. 

Offensive line coach Conor Riley is K-State’s newest OC, and Klieman also brought in former Texas Tech head coach Matt Wells in a co-OC role to work with K-State’s quarterbacks. 

The Wildcats have one of the most intriguing sophomore QBs in the country, as former 5-star Avery Johnson will run the show in 2024. 

Riley has overseen some fantastic OLs at Kansas State, but his unit must replace four starters including All-American Cooper Beebe, and how he’s in charge of the entire rest of the offense, too. 

North Carolina defensive coordinator — Gene Chizik to Geoff Collins 

Upgrade? Yes

Geoff Collins bombed as the head coach at Georgia Tech, but the ‘Minister of Mayhem’ was an excellent defensive coordinator at three different stops (FIU, Mississippi State and Florida) — becoming the first assistant to be nominated for the Broyles Award at three different schools. 

He replaces Chizik, who was ousted after two underwhelming seasons coordinating North Carolina’s defense. After a terrible showing in 2022, the Tar Heels’ defense displayed signs of improvement early in 2023, but they finished the season on a three-game losing streak and allowed over 30 points in seven of their last eight games. 

Collins will bring a pressure-heavy defense to Chapel Hill — one that historically has been both great at limiting scoring and forcing oodles of turnovers. Part of the reason why Mack Brown’s program hasn’t gotten over the hump the last few seasons despite having a pair of NFL quarterbacks has been the defenses limitations. 

An upgrade at DC at least provides hope that could finally change. 

Notre Dame offensive coordinator — Gerad Parker to Mike Denbrock

Upgrade? TBD

Marcus Freeman’s quest for an offensive coordinator replacement went much smoother this time around than it did a year ago, swiping Mike Denbrock away from LSU after Parker became the head coach at Troy. 

We’ll see if the new guy can produce even better results, too. 

Denbrock spent a decade in South Bend before following Brian Kelly to LSU, and the last two seasons were the best of his career. The Tigers had perhaps the scariest offense in the country last season, with Denbrock calling the plays for Heisman Trophy quarterback Jayden Daniels. Although he didn’t directly coach the quarterbacks, Denbrock played a key role in Daniels’ record-breaking 2023 season. 

Now he’s expected to get the most out of another transfer quarterback in Duke’s Riley Leonard. 

Parker, who was promoted to OC after a whirlwind search by Freeman a year ago, did a nice job in his sole season calling plays for Notre Dame. The Irish averaged 39.1 points per game (No. 7 nationally) and had a Top 15 rushing attack. Still, outside of their game against NC State, Notre Dame’s offense really struggled against the three defenses they faced with a pulse last season (Ohio State, Louisville and Clemson), so it’s up to Denbrock if the Irish want to make the playoffs in 2024. 

Syracuse defensive coordinator — Rocky Long to Elijah Robinson

Upgrade? TBD

Rocky Long is one of the Godfathers of the 3-3-5 stack defense, but his stint at Syracuse was short-lived after Dino Babers’ program lost seven of nine games to end the 2023 season. 

The staff was axed and Georgia secondary assistant Fran Brown was hired as head coach. Brown quickly assembled his staff, which included the heralded hiring of Texas A&M defensive line assistant and interim head coach Elijah Robinson. 

Robinson is seen as one of the best recruiters in the country, and he spent the last six seasons with the Aggies overseeing one of the better units in the SEC. 

But the former Penn State standout will now be the defensive play-caller for the first time in his career. It’s a huge opportunity, but also one with questions. Syracuse’s previous roster has been recruited with a 3-3-5 scheme in mind. Robinson has worked in such a system at Baylor, and even at times, last season at Texas A&M. 

What will his system identify be, though? Can he get the most out of a unit that won’t have nearly the talent at his dispel with the Aggies?