KC Keeler helped lead Sam Houston during its transition to the FBS last year, and the team made a remarkable turnaround in 2024.
The Bearkats were just 3-9 overall in 2023. But they went 9-3 during the regular season this year, becoming bowl-eligible for the first time ever and nearly making it to the Conference USA Championship.
Keeler, who was on the ESPN Top 150 College Football Coaches of All-Time list, has been a head coach for the majority of his career. The former Delaware head coach is the only one to lead two different teams to FCS championships and the only one in NCAA history to lead three different programs to a national title game appearance.
But Keeler is now the head coach at Temple, so here are some coaches Sam Houston might consider hiring next.
Oregon Assistant Head Coach Ra’Shaad Samples
Samples, who’s from Dallas, is coaching running backs at Oregon but has a good amount of experience in Texas and has been an assistant head coach at three different FBS schools.
Samples is in his first season with the Ducks, and before this he was a wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator at Arizona State. Before that, he was the Los Angeles Rams’ running backs coach in 2022, which is when he was the youngest position coach in the NFL.
He was also an assistant head coach and running backs coach at TCU in 2021. He was an assistant at SMU for three years before that, first as an offensive assistant with an emphasis on recruiting before he was a running backs coach and recruiting coordinator and eventually an assistant head coach.
A former wide receiver at Oklahoma State and Houston, Samples began his coaching career as an assistant at Houston from 2016-17. He then was an offensive assistant and on-campus recruiting coordinator in 2018 at Texas.
He would make a ton of sense for Sam Houston.
SMU Offensive Coordinator Casey Woods
Woods is a successful coordinator at a current Power Four school who has coaching experience in Texas.
The Mustangs were eighth in the FBS in scored points per game (38.7) and 16th in yards per game (454.9) in 2023, their last year in the AAC. SMU, which is going to play in the ACC Championship, was fifth in the country with 39.2 points per game scored after the final week of the regular season.
Previously, Woods was a tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator at Missouri. He’s also been an assistant at UAB, Arkansas State, and Auburn.
If Woods were interested in a head coaching job, Sam Houston would be smart to consider him.
Kansas State Assistant Head Coach Van Malone
Malone hasn’t been a head coach at the collegiate level yet, but he has a good amount of experience as a coordinator and positions coach at several FBS programs.
Malone, who is also a defensive passing game coordinator and a cornerbacks coach, has been at Kansas State since 2019. Last year, the Wildcats were 18th in passing efficiency defense (118.63) and were 10th in the country with 16 interceptions the season before. Several K-State defensive backs have earned All-Big 12 accolades during Malone’s tenure.
Previously, Malone was a defensive quality control coach at Mississippi State (2018) and a defensive coordinator at SMU (2015-17). He also worked with defensive backs at Oklahoma State (2012-14), Tulsa (2010-11), Texas A&M (2006-09), North Texas (2005), and Western Michigan (2004). He was a wide receivers coach at North Dakota State in 2003, so he has worked with both sides of the ball. He also coached special teams at Western Michigan and North Texas.
Malone has the experience needed to be a great candidate for the Bearkats.
Duke Offensive Coordinator Jonathan Brewer
Brewer, another P4 coordinator, has familiarity with the region.
Brewer is in his first season being the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Duke, which is 9-3 overall this year. Before this, he was a co-offensive coordinator and QBs coach at SMU, which was competing in the American Athletic Conference at the time, from 2022-23. He was also an offensive quality control analyst there from 2018-19.
Brewer also worked under current Duke head coach Manny Diaz when he was the head coach at Miami. Brewer was a senior offensive quality control assistant from 2020-21.
He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant with a focus on the offensive line at Auburn from 2013-15. He also was an offensive analyst there in 2016 and at UConn in 2017.
Brewer would make sense for Sam Houston.
Syracuse Offensive Coordinator Jeff Nixon
Nixon has a plethora of experience coaching for NFL and college teams and has worked with plenty of star players.
Nixon is in his first season as the Orange’s OC, and they are 11th in the country in total offense (456.1 yards per game) and are 32nd in scoring offense (32.6 points per game) following the last week of the regular season. Before coaching at Syracuse, Nixon was a running backs coach with the New York Giants and worked with Saquon Barkley. He also was a coach for the Carolina Panthers before that and was briefly their interim OC while also coaching running backs.
Before that, Nixon called plays as a co-offensive coordinator for Baylor, which ranked 17th in the FBS with 35.2 points per game in 2019. He was in the NFL before that, coaching tight ends for the San Francisco 49ers (2016), running backs for the Miami Dolphins (2011-15), and offense and special teams for the Philadelphia Eagles (2007-10). He also coached running backs at Temple (2006), Chattanooga (2003-05), Shippensburg (1999-02), and Princeton (1998). The former West Virginia and Penn State running back began his coaching career as a student assistant at Penn State in 1997.
Nixon’s offensive knowledge and resume would make him a good choice.
Texas A&M Offensive Line Coach Adam Cushing
Cushing has been an assistant at multiple FBS schools and has head coaching experience, which could make him one for Sam Houston to consider.
He’s in his first season as Texas A&M’s offensive line coach and run game coordinator. The Aggies are 21st in the country with 199.2 rushing yards per game after the last week of the regular season.
Before this, he was a run game coordinator and offensive line coach at Duke for two seasons. And before that, he was Eastern Illinois’ head coach from 2019-21.
Previously, he worked in several roles at Northwestern. While there, he was an offensive line coach (2012-18), an offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator (2009-11), a superbacks coach and recruiting coordinator (2008), a tight ends/H-Backs coach (2005-07), and a graduate assistant who focused on the offensive line (2004).
He could end up being a coach to watch out for.
Incarnate Word Head Coach Clint Killough
Incarnate Word apparently keeps attracting FBS-level coaches. Eric Morris led Incarnate Word for four years and now is the head coach at North Texas. Then GJ Kinne took over before becoming Texas State’s head coach.
And now Killough might start to see some consideration for FBS head coaching vacancies. He’s continued the success of Incarnate Word, which is where he played from 2013-15. UIW went 9-2 overall in 2023, with one of its losses being a 28-14 game at UTEP. The team was ranked as highly as No. 4 in the FCS poll. The Cardinals ranked first in the Southland in terms of scoring offense, total offense, scoring defense, and total defense. UIW went 10-2 during the 2024 regular season and is the No. 6 seed in this season’s FCS playoffs.
Before that, he was an associate head coach and wide receivers coach. He began coaching at his alma mater in 2018 as a quality control coach with an emphasis on inside receivers. UIW had some explosive passing offenses during that time, as multiple receivers broke school records. Killough does have some FBS experience, having been a defensive backs and special teams graduate assistant as well as a WRs GA at Bowling Green.
