2024-25 Week 1 Coaches Inc. Highlights

Welcome to the first edition of the 2024 Coaches Inc. Highlights. Since college football has mostly wrapped up Week 1, this week’s Highlights will lean heavy on impressive debuts and first time accomplishments. We aren’t done yet as the final game of the weekend features Boston College at Florida State and Boston College’s DL Coach Jeff Comissiong, who spent last season as Maine’s Defensive Coordinator, is coaching for an upset in Tallahassee.

Syracuse Offensive Coordinator/RBs Coach Jeff Nixon returned to the collegiate ranks for 2024 after his most recent stint in the NFL with the Panthers and Giants, and his offense shined in the win over Ohio. Like most successful coaches, Jeff’s gameplan was effective but his relationships built throughout his career also contributed to his success.

In the offseason, Syracuse landed former Ohio State starting QB Kyle McCord in the transfer portal. McCord said he felt comfortable coming to Syracuse because he had known Jeff since playing youth football with his son in South Jersey while Jeff was coaching for the Eagles over 15 years ago. McCord shined in the opener as he threw for career-highs of 354 passing yards and 4 touchdowns. But he wasn’t the only player from that South Jersey youth team making his Syracuse debut because Jeff’s son, Will Nixon, also transferred in during the offseason (University of Washington) and had 3 rushes and 2 catches out of the backfield for the Orange. The offense finished with 480 yards on 70 plays for a 6.9 average in their 38-22 win over Ohio.

Coming off a 3-9 season in 2023, Pitt HC Pat Narduzzi decided to replace his offensive staff. One of the newcomers hired was former Howard University Offensive Coordinator/WRs Coach Lindsey Lamar who was coming off a Celebration Bowl appearance after repeating as MEAC champions in 2023 with the Bison.

Lindsey switched to coaching RBs and was reunited with Pitt’s new Offensive Coordinator Kade Bell, as the two had spent the 2019season together as Offensive Assistants at Lindsey’s alma mater, the University of South Florida. Although Pitt’s 2023 leading rusher was ruled ineligible on Friday, Lindsey had Western Carolina transfer RB Desmond Reid prepared and his performance showed he belonged at the NCAA’s highest level. Reid had 231all-purpose yards rushing for 145 yards with a TD and adding a 78 yard punt return for a TD, a performance reminiscent of Lindsey’s playing days when he earned 1st Team All-Big East and Big East Special Teams Player of the Year honors in 2010 for the Bulls. Lindsey and the new staff have revived hope in Pittsburgh for a team that has struggled offensively in recent years.

DB Coach Corey Parker was a late Spring Addition to the Illini Staff,  joining from the University of Toledo after a standout campaign mentoring 2024 1st Round NFL Draft Pick, Quinyon Mitchell. Since moving to Champaign, he’s been an instant impact both in recruiting and on the field of play. In their home opener against Eastern Illinois on Friday night, Illinois Defense forced 4 turnovers and pitched its first opening week shutout in over 5 Years and the first of the Brett Bielema era, in the 48-0 Victory.

The Illini Secondary were stellar from the start, holding the Panthers to just 147 passing, 4.6 yards per pass and catching 2Interceptions in a dominant performance. At one point in the first half, Illinois defense forced 6 straight three and out’s and two turnovers in the same span. Next week, the Illini will host the #22 Ranked Kansas Jayhawks and CI Clients, Terrence Samuel (Wide Receiver Coach) & AJ Steward (Offensive Analyst), coming off a big win in their own Home Opener.

Head Coach Lee Hull’s Delaware State football team made national headlines in Week 0 after its bus company showed up 3 hours late to pickup the team to take them to JFK for their flight to Hawaii for a matchup with the Rainbow Warriors. Despite the travel issues, the Hornets showed a marked improvement over last season and were tied with their FBS opponent midway through the 3rd quarter before ultimately falling short. In Week 1, the team proved the opener wasn’t a fluke and secured a 17-15 victory over fellow FCS member Sacred Heart on Saturday night.

Like Coach Nixon, Lee used the transfer portal to land his son, WR/2024 Coaches Inc. Summer Intern Jordan Hull, and his former Lafayette teammate RB Jaden Sutton to bolster his roster. Jordan had 2 catches and Sutton ran for 86 yards, including the game winning TD midway through the 4thquarter, against Sacred Heart. DBs Coach Devan Hill’s group also performed well as the defense had 2 INTs, held Sacred Heart to just 104 passing yards, and thwarted a two-point conversion attempt to seal the win. After a tough first season in 2023, the win marked the Hornets first win over an FCS opponent under HC Lee Hull. Things are looking up for the Hornets.

Texas Southern’s football team hasn’t had a lot of wins in the past 15 years. Although the team improved over the last few seasons, the administration made a head coaching change after 2023. One of the factors had to have been that the Tigers had not beaten their crosstown rival Prairie View A&M in 9 straight years. That streak came to an end on Saturday night as first time Defensive Coordinator Bill Parker’s defense did not give up a TD and held reigning SWAC West Champions PVAMU to just 21 yards rushing, had 8 TFLs, and 5 sacks.

Bill came to Texas Southern from his alma mater, William and Mary, where he coached Safeties/Nickels on the Tribe’s  2023 CAA-leading pass defense and scoring defense. Prior to W&M, he was on staff at VMI where he was Assistant Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator and Interim Head Coach pulling off a SoCon Championship and back-to-back winning seasons. His first game as a Defensive Coordinator was a success and the Tigers could surprise the rest of the SWAC this season.

Charleston native, Tony Coaxum, returned home for the first time in his career to help the Citadel get back on track for the 2024 season. A long time defensive coach for his alma mater, Army, Tony won a Super Bowl as the Assistant Special Teams Coach for the Denver Broncos before getting a chance to lead the resurrected D2 Bluefield State’s football program from 2020-23. He’s now 1-0 as the Special Teams Coordinator at the Citadel and his unit helped seal an exciting come from behind victory over neighboring Charleston Southern.

The Citadel took a 22-21 lead with less than 2 minutes to go after trailing 21-3. Charleston Southern didn’t give up and attempted a game-winning field goal as time winded down but Tony’s special teams partially blocked the kick and secured the first Citadel victory of 2024 aft the team went winless in 2023. It’s just one game but Tony’s debut back home in Charleston is a great start for a rebuilding Bulldog program.

Like many veteran assistant coaches, Ashley Ingram wanted his shot to lead his own program. He enjoyed great success in Annapolis over a16-year tenure as the OL Coach for Navy where he helped Navy to two AP Top 20 finishes, the only two for the Midshipmen in over 50 years and a program best 11-win season in 2019. Ashley was on the HC interview circuit the past few cycles and finally got his opportunity when Carson-Newman hired him as Head Coach after the 2023 season.

In his debut, his run heavy option rushing attack returned similar results to what he produced at Navy, amassing 497 total yards with 388coming on the ground. That kept NAIA powerhouse Reinhardt’s offense off the field and C-N’s defense held them to just 89 yards total offense. Special Teams also came up big returning a blocked punt for a TD. With a start like that, it appears Ashley has brought some excitement back to the Carson-Newman program.