Only days after leading Jacksonville State to a Conference USA Championship during its second season in the FBS, Rich Rodriguez is reportedly returning to West Virginia.
Rodriguez, who is Jax State’s head coach, will once again be the head coach at West Virginia, according to several media reports. He was the head coach there from 2001-07, where he went 60-26.
If Rodriguez truly is gone, here are some names Jax State could think about for its head coaching vacancy.
SMU Offensive Coordinator Casey Woods
Woods is a successful coordinator at a current Power Four school who has coached in Alabama.
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 made it to the ACC Championship and will appear in the College Football Playoff, was fifth in the country with 39.2 points per game scored after the final week of the 2024 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, Jax State would be smart to consider him.
Duke Offensive Coordinator Jonathan Brewer
Brewer, a current Power Four coordinator, knows 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.
Alabama Tight Ends Coach Bryan Ellis
Ellis is an offensive-minded coach who is already coaching in the state of Alabama.
Last season, when Ellis was an offensive coordinator at Georgia Southern, the Eagles were in the top 50 in the country with 30.2 points and 419.5 yards per game. And that was a down year compared to the other teams he’s worked with.
In 2022, which was Ellis’ first as Georgia Southern’s OC and QBs coach, the Eagles were in the top 20 in the FBS with 466.7 yards per game and scored 32.7 points per game.
Before that, Ellis was Western Kentucky’s co-offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach. In 2021, the Hilltoppers were second in the country with 44.2 points per game and 535.3 yards per game while leading the FBS with 433.7 passing yards per game.
He was WKU’s OC and quarterbacks coach from 2019-20 and was an assistant there from 2014-16. From 2017-18, he worked with quarterbacks at USC.
Birmingham Stallions Defensive Assistant Anthony Blevins
Blevins is not only currently coaching in Birmingham right now in the UFL, he has a good resume as well.
A former XFL player, Blevins played at UAB and was a cornerbacks coach there in 2012. Since then, he was an assistant in several roles for the Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants focusing on special teams and defensive secondaries. He coached players like Pro Bowlers Justin Bethel, Budda Baker, and Michael Thomas.
In 2023, he took an offer to be the head coach of the XFL’s Vegas Vipers, but he never led the team during a season due to the UFL’s merger.
Blevins’ experience and ability to recruit in the area should make him a potential candidate.
Clemson Co-Defensive Coordinator Mickey Conn
After helping his team win the ACC and earn a berth in the CFP, Conn is another current Power Four assistant who could make sense for Jax State.
Clemson is currently in the top 35 in the FBS in scoring defense (21.85 points per game allowed). Conn has worked with several All-Americans and All-ACC honorees as well.
Conn has coached at Clemson since 2016. He’s currently the team’s safeties coach and was a senior defensive analyst early during his time there as well. Before that, he was the head coach at Grayson High School in Georgia for 16 seasons, where he went 137-48.
