Kent State needs a new head coach, after Sean Lewis agreed to become the offensive coordinator for Deion Sanders at Colorado, people with knowledge of the situation told The Athletic.
It was an eventful few days for Lewis, who was a finalist for the Cincinnati job that went to Scott Satterfield. Lewis leaves Kent State with a 24-31 record in five years.
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Don’t let the record fool you. It was the most successful run for the Golden Flashes since the 1970s. Lewis posted a .500 record or better in MAC play in each of the past four seasons. Lewis was saddled with the most difficult nonconference schedules in the country, as the program played several buy games against top Power 5 programs every year to raise money. Kent State played at Washington, Oklahoma and Georgia this year for $5.2 million.
So how good is the Kent State job? What names could get in the mix? Here are some factors to keep in mind.
This is a very difficult place to win
Lewis was the best Kent State coach in years and still had a sub-.500 record overall. Over the past 61 years since 1962, the program has just 11 winning seasons (two under Lewis). It has one conference championship (1972) and two division championships (one under Lewis). It’s made four bowl games (two under Lewis), and Lewis led the only bowl win in school history in 2019.
The only other outlier season in recent years was Darrell Hazell’s 11-1 start in 2012, which was followed by a MAC championship game loss and a bowl loss. Hazell became the Purdue head coach the next season.
The school says it plans to cut back on playing so many lopsided money games. That impacts a coach’s record, making it difficult for a coach to use Kent State success to land a Power 5 job. Many believed Lewis was destined for a Power 5 head coaching job. Now he’s becoming a P5 assistant instead.
Kent State won the MAC East under Sean Lewis in 2021. (Dale Zanine / USA Today)
Kent State wants to continue its offensive-minded success
ESPN reports the school plans to continue its wide-open style of offense, which makes sense given the relative success and the roster recruited to that offense. Kent State led the MAC in points per game in 2020 and finished second in 2021. It dropped to fifth this year.
Lewis came from the Dino Babers coaching tree with the old Baylor-style offense. That doesn’t mean airing it out. The Golden Flashes led the MAC with more than 200 rushing yards per game this season. They also led the league in 2021 and finished second in 2020. It’s about fast tempo and expanded wide receiver splits, opening up space and attacking defenses in a way that fits the skill players.
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How much will it pay?
Lewis’ salary was just $530,000 this season, among the lowest in the Football Bowl Subdivision. His buyout owed to the school will be $750,000. His new contract, signed last year, stipulated that more money would be allocated to the football budget. That included $50,000 for each of the first two $1 million guarantee money games and $100,000 for a third. The contract also included a clause to make an effort to buy a mobile video tower, at a cost of no more than $75,000.
The facilities are not great. The campus does have a field house that can be used as an indoor practice field, but it’s shared with other sports. A training center opened in 2016.
It’s ultimately not a surprise that Lewis left for an assistant job. The resources in the Power 5 continue to separate from the low Group of 5 schools. We’ve seen it happen before. Dan Enos left Central Michigan to be Arkansas’ offensive coordinator. Pete Lembo left Ball State for a Maryland assistant job. Others have left to be NFL assistants. The money to be a Power 5 coordinator is higher than a low FBS head coach, and it might also help a coach’s chances of getting a Power 5 head coaching job.
So what names could get in the mix?
Ohio State running backs coach Tony Alford has been one of the best in the country at his position, developing running backs like Ezekiel Elliott, J.K. Dobbins, TreVeyon Henderson, Miyan Williams and more. The Akron native Alford has been at Ohio State since 2015 and previously coached at Notre Dame and Louisville, among other stops.
Cincinnati defensive coordinator Mike Tressel is expected to join Luke Fickell at Wisconsin, but he could be an intriguing name here. Tressel spent 2007 to 2020 at Michigan State, between two stints at Cincinnati. He knows the Midwest, and he’s coached in the College Football Playoff at Cincinnati and the Rose Bowl at Michigan State. He also coached alongside former Kent State head coach Paul Haynes at MSU after Haynes was fired.
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Lenoir-Rhyne head coach Mike Jacobs is 61-15 over seven seasons at Notre Dame College (Ohio) and Lenoir-Rhyne, both Division II schools. Two of his former Notre Dame College players were on the 2022 Kent State roster.
An internal option could be offensive coordinator Andrew Sowder. He worked alongside Lewis at Eastern Illinois and Bowling Green before following him to Kent State in 2018. He’s been at Kent State with Lewis since the beginning, helping to engineer that offense that has been among the MAC’s best, and he’d continue what the team currently does.
Toledo defensive coordinator Vince Kehres went 95-6 as Mount Union’s head coach from 2013 to ’19, winning two Division III national titles, and he’s been in the mix for MAC head coaching jobs before. At Toledo, Kehres has produced a top-three scoring defense in the MAC in all three seasons, and the Rockets won the MAC this year.
The last time this job opened, Kent State hired a former MAC assistant who followed a coach to a Power 5 job. Kansas offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki would fit that profile. Kotelnicki was a part of two MAC East division championship teams at Buffalo and helped Kansas reach its first bowl since 2008 this season. The Wisconsin native was also Lance Leipold’s offensive coordinator at Wisconsin-Whitewater. The Jayhawks run a fun and explosive offense that ranks fifth in yards per play.
Texas wide receivers coachBrennan Marionwould bring an offensive background. He’s moved up the coaching ranks and developed a unique“GoGo” offensive scheme, used as offensive coordinator at Howard and William & Mary. With Marion as Pitt’s wide receivers coach in 2021,Jordan Addisonwon the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top receiver. Marion just finished his first year at Texas.
Minnesotarunning backs coachKenni Burns has MAC experience, as he held the same coaching role on the 2016 Western Michigan team that went to the Cotton Bowl. In that one season, Burns coached two players who surpassed 900 running yards, including Jarvion Franklin (1,353 yards). At Minnesota, Burns developed Rodney Smith, the No. 2 rusher in Gophers history, as well as Mo Ibrahim, a 2022 All-American. He’s an Illinois native who played at Indiana.
This story will be updated.
(Top photo: Loren Orr / Getty Images)
Chris Vannini covers national college football issues and the coaching carousel for The Athletic. A co-winner of the FWAA's Beat Writer of the Year Award in 2018, he previously was managing editor of CoachingSearch.com. Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisVannini
