SEC will feature 10 new OCs in 2023. Did Kentucky make the best hire with Liam Coen?
Kentucky football offensive coordinator Liam Coen will have plenty of company as the new leader of a Southeastern Conference offense this fall.
Of the league’s 14 teams, 10 will enter 2023 with a different offensive coordinator than a year ago. Including Louisville, seven of Kentucky’s nine Power Five conference opponents this season will feature different offensive coordinators than a year ago.
While offensive coordinator change was common in the SEC this offseason, the swaps came in a wide variety of circumstances.
Like Coen, new Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and new Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos are returning to a position they held previously. While Tennessee will enter the season with a new offensive coordinator, head coach Josh Heupel will at least open the season as the primary play-caller.
Four of the new SEC offensive coordinators have head coaching experience, including two who led a program in 2022. Two served as coordinators for Group of Five programs last season. Coen, who spent 2022 as the Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator, is the only new coordinator who came directly from the NFL, but three others have NFL experience.
So, how did Mark Stoops do with his offensive coordinator hire compared to his SEC peers? Here is a look at each new SEC offensive coordinator’s resume for you to decide.
Tommy Rees (Alabama)
After Nick Saban lost offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien to the New England Patriots, he raided Notre Dame’s staff to hire Rees to lead the Crimson Tide offense. Notre Dame ranked 41st or better in points per game in each of Rees’ three seasons as coordinator, including a high-water mark of 19th in 2021. Last season, Notre Dame ranked 41st in points per game (31.8) and 60th in yards per game (396.2). Rees’ offense was balanced with 189.1 yards per game coming on the ground and 207.1 coming through the air. Salary details for Rees’ Alabama contract have yet to be confirmed, but FootballScoop.com reported Rees was being paid “an average of nearly $2 million per year” at Notre Dame.
Dan Enos (Arkansas)
The former Central Michigan head coach will make his third stop in the SEC. Enos previously worked as Arkansas offensive coordinator (2015-17) and Alabama quarterbacks coach (2018). Enos replaces Kendall Briles, who left Arkansas for TCU. He returns to Arkansas after two years as offensive coordinator at Maryland. The Terrapins ranked outside the top 30 in points and total yards per game in each of Enos’s two seasons in charge of the offense, but Maryland ranked 13th nationally in passing yards per game (304.6) in 2021. Arkansas will pay Enos $1.1 million next season.
Philip Montgomery (Auburn)
Montgomery led Tulsa to four bowl games in eight seasons as head coach but was fired in November after a 5-7 season dropped his overall record to 43-53. At Auburn, Montgomery will look to duplicate the success he found as Baylor’s offensive coordinator from 2012 to 2014. In Montgomery’s last season as Baylor’s offensive coordinator, the Bears led the country in points (48.2) and total yards (581.5) per game. New Auburn coach Hugh Freeze has generally called plays at his previous coaching stops, but he will hand those duties over to Montgomery in 2023, working to blend their two offensive systems. Salary details for Montgomery’s Auburn contract have yet to be reported.
Mike Bobo (Georgia)
Georgia Coach Kirby Smart wasted no time in promoting Bobo to offensive coordinator after Todd Monken left Athens for the Baltimore Ravens, confirming the news on the same day Monken accepted his new job. Bobo previously ran Georgia’s offense from 2007 to 2014 before a four-year stint as Colorado State head coach. Bobo failed to duplicate his previous Georgia success in coordinator stops at South Carolina (2020) and Auburn (2021). He spent last season as an analyst on Smart’s staff. Bobo is expected to build on the system Monken ran, which ranked in the top five nationally in points (41.1) and yards (501.1) per game during the Bulldogs’ run to a second straight national championship. Bobo’s new salary after the promotion has not been reported.
Liam Coen (Kentucky)
Coen returns to Lexington after a one-year stint as the Rams’ offensive coordinator. Facing myriad injury issues, the Los Angeles offense struggled for much of the recently completed NFL season, but head coach Sean McVay called plays for the Rams, not Coen. Kentucky will hope Coen can build on his success as UK offensive coordinator in 2021 when he restored balance to the Wildcats’ offense, improving its averages by more than 100 yards and 10 points per game from the previous season. Coen recruited likely top-10 NFL Draft pick Will Levis to UK during his previous stint in Lexington and helped the Wildcats land North Carolina State transfer Devin Leary, the top-ranked quarterback in the portal at the time of his commitment, for the 2023 season. Kentucky will pay Coen $1.7 million this season.
Kevin Barbay (Mississippi State)
Among the SEC programs welcoming new offensive coordinators to campus, Mississippi State is likely to undergo the most dramatic change in system. Following the death of head coach Mike Leach, Mississippi State promoted defensive coordinator Zach Arnett to run the program. Arnett elected to move away from Leach’s “Air Raid” offense, hiring Barbay from Appalachian State, where he coordinated an offense that ranked in the top 30 in points and yards per game but found its best success on the ground, ranking 21st in rushing yards per game (204.4). The 40-year-old Barbay also worked as offensive coordinator at Central Michigan in 2021. His Mississippi State salary has yet to be reported.
Kirby Moore (Missouri)
Missouri head coach Eliah Drinkwitz elected to hand over offensive play-calling to Moore, who spent the 2022 season as Fresno State’s offensive coordinator. Fresno State ranked 49th in points (30.6) and 53rd in yards (402.6) last season but ranked second in completion percentage (71) and 27th in passing yards per game (270.6). Moore is the brother of Los Angeles Charges offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Missouri will pay Moore $850,000 this season.
Dowell Loggains (South Carolina)
Before spending the last two seasons as tight ends coach at Arkansas, Loggains had coached exclusively in the NFL, including stints as offensive coordinator for the Bears (2016-17), Dolphins (2018) and Jets (2019-20). Since Loggains did not call plays at Arkansas, there is little track record to suggest how he will adapt his pro-style offense to the college game. That uncertainty contributed to a vocal portion of the South Carolina fan base blasting the hire on social media, but in a passionate defense of his new coordinator, South Carolina Coach Shane Beamer said Loggains had been pursued by multiple SEC programs during the last two offseasons. South Carolina will pay Loggains $1 million this season.
Joey Halzle (Tennessee)
After former Tennessee offensive coordinator Alex Golesh was hired as South Florida’s head coach, Heupel elected to promote from within, elevating Halzle to the coordinator position. Halzle brings deep familiarity with Heupel’s system to the job after 12 seasons working for the Tennessee head coach. Heupel is expected to continue calling plays, but Halzle still has to be considered a rising star in the field considering Golesh landed a head coaching job without being the Volunteers’ primary play-caller. Halzle already coached the Volunteers quarterbacks and will play a major role in grooming Hendon Hooker’s replacement. Tennessee will pay him $850,000 after the promotion.
Bobby Petrino (Texas A&M)
No SEC offensive coordinator hire will be under more scrutiny than Jimbo Fisher bringing Petrino back to the SEC. Long considered one of the best offensive minds in college football, Petrino’s star has lost much of its luster since flaming out as Louisville’s head coach in 2018. He began rehabilitating his resume as head coach at FCS Missouri State in 2020. After compiling an 18-15 record in three seasons there, Petrino was hired by UNLV as its offensive coordinator in December but jumped to Fisher’s staff just three weeks later. Petrino previously coached in the SEC as head coach at Arkansas. Petrino will have plenty of talent to work with at Texas A&M, but he will need to prove he has fixed the issues that led Louisville to rank outside the top 100 nationally in points and yards per game during his last season as an FBS coach. Petrino’s Texas A&M salary has not been reported.