East Carolina became the first FBS school to part ways with its head football coach in the 2024 cycle when it dismissed Mike Houston on Sunday.
While Southern Miss followed suit later in the day, releasing Will Hall, the race is on to find the next leader of the Pirates’ proud program.
Here are names of potential candidates for East Carolina making the early rounds as the coaching carousel begins to spin across the college football landscape:
Joe Sloan, LSU offensive coordinator
The 2008 ECU graduate, a former backup quarterback in the program, is in his third season at LSU. He mentored 2023 Heisman trophy winner Jayden Daniels and is calling the plays this season. Current quarterback Garrett Nussmeier has already thrown for 2,200+ yards. Would the lack of head coaching experience work against him? Would he hold out for a Power Four job?
Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky
The older brother of Clay Helton (Georgia Southern head coach) has a 45-28 record — 4-1 in bowl games — since taking over the Hilltoppers in 2019. WKU has posted three nine-win seasons and an 8-5 campaign. Helton’s bunch is 5-2 this season, 3-0 in Conference USA. Helton has no ties to North Carolina from his coaching past but is a proven head coach with only one losing campaign.
Garrett Riley, Clemson offensive coordinator
Another candidate with ties to East Carolina, Riley was a graduate assistant with the Pirates in 2013-14 and wide receivers coach in 2015. Riley was the offensive coordinator at TCU when the Horned Frogs made the College Football Playoff in 2022 with a high-flying attack. Clemson hired him away in 2023. The Tigers have a top 10 offense nationally this season, averaging 490 yards per game. Riley also does not have head coaching experience.
Kerwin Bell, Western Carolina head coach
In his fourth season, Bell has helped build an offensive juggernaut in Cullowhee. Western Carolina led the FCS in total offense a year ago and put up 52 points and 801 total yards in a win over Furman on Saturday. Quarterback Cole Gonzales threw for 620 yards and five TDs. Bell also has Division II coaching experience and a 114-61 career record (21-19 at WCU).
Tre Lamb, East Tennessee State head coach
Considered a young up-and-comer in the coaching ranks, Lamb led Gardner-Webb to a pair of FCS conference championships in 2022 and 2023 before taking over the ETSU program. He’s an air raid offensive guy. His Bucs are currently 4-3 and made news during Hurricane Helene, winning a game despite getting trapped by floodwaters during the bus trip to The Citadel.
Bill Clark, former UAB head coach
His name is floating around despite the fact he retired from coaching in 2022 citing health problems. After coaching Jacksonville State to an 11-4 record in 2013, Clark directed UAB to a 49-26 mark between 2014-21. The Blazers went to five bowl games as a member of Conference USA. Clark was at UAB when the school disbanded the program, then led them back when it restarted. He has head coaching experience and knows how to build a program, which could be attractive to Pirate Nation starved for sustained success.
Bryant Vincent, Louisiana-Monroe head coach
Vincent was named interim coach at UAB when Bill Clark retired in 2022. He posted a 7-6 record but was not retained. Trent Dilfer got the job instead (UAB fans may have buyer’s remorse over that hire). After serving as offensive coordinator at New Mexico in 2023, Vincent took over ULM last December. His team is 5-1 so far this season, 3-0 in the Sun Belt Conference. One of the wins came against James Madison earlier this month.
Tony Gibson, NC State defensive coordinator
Should the Pirates prefer to make defense their focus, there are few assistants who have been better to that end in recent years. Gibson, a Broyles Award winner, has been with the Wolfpack for six seasons and thus familiar with recruiting in our state. Gibson’s defenses usually prove stingy. He helped develop Payton Wilson into one of the fiercest linebackers in Wolfpack and ACC history before Wilson was picked by the Pittsburgh Steelers in April.
Scott Abell, Davidson head coach
Abell has made the Wildcats a consistent conference contender in the FCS Pioneer League, the only non-scholarship Division I league. Would his unique shotgun triple option offense, which is run heavy (think Paul Johnson’s Georgia Tech teams), work at a place like East Carolina, which is more used to wide-open attacks? Davidson has led FCS in rushing yards for several years running and piled up 400+ this past weekend against Stetson.
Tim Banks, Tennessee defensive coordinator
While the Vols’ offense gets a lot of the press, Banks has Tennessee’s stopping unit playing with the best of them this season. The Volunteers just beat Alabama this past weekend. Banks has been on the Tennessee staff since 2021 and has coaching experience dating back to the mid-1990s. Though he is one of the hottest coordinators these days, he has no heading coaching experience.
Jerry Mack, Jacksonville Jaguars RB coach
The former head coach at North Carolina Central would be familiar with recruiting in the Old North State and the southeast region. Mack was 31-15 with the Eagles from 2014-17, leading the program to the Celebration Bowl in 2016. From there, Mack has coached at Rice (OC/QBs/associate head coach) and Tennessee (RBs). He took an assistants job with the NFL’s Jaguars in February.
