Mountain West Coaching Carousel: New Faces, New Places
LARAMIE -- The head coaching class picture is going to look a tad different this summer at Mountain West Media Days.
Brent Brennan Tuesday signed a 5-year deal to become the next head coach at the University of Arizona after spending the previous seven seasons at San Jose State.
Brennan is the sixth coach to leave the conference this offseason, joining Craig Bohl (Wyoming), Andy Avalos (Boise State), Ken Wilson (Nevada), Danny Gonzales (New Mexico) and Brady Hoke (San Diego State).
The Spartans are still in search of their next leader, while Wyoming promoted defensive coordinator Jay Sawvel. Boise State stayed in-house, too, keeping its DC Spencer Danielson. Both are first time head coaches.
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Jeff Choate (Nevada), Bronco Mendenhall (New Mexico) and Sean Lewis (San Diego State) have all taken the reins of their new programs since the regular season came to a close.
Choate has served as an assistant at Utah State and Boise State, Mendenhall was the head coach at BYU from 2005-15 and Lewis served as the head man at Kent State from 2018-22 before joining Deion Sanders' Colorado staff last fall.
Bohl, 65, announced his retirement in early December after spending 10 seasons in Laramie. He is now the Executive Director of the American Football Coaches Association. Last November, Hoke, also 65, also decided to hang it up after four-plus decades in the profession.
Avalos, Wilson and Gonzales all received pink sheets in 2023.
After compiling a 22-14 overall record in Boise, including an 8-0 record in 2022 and a berth in the Mountain West championship game, Avalos was let go mid-season. He has since landed at TCU where he was named the defensive coordinator.
Danielson took over for Avalos with two games remaining in the regular season. He led the Broncos to convincing victories over Utah State and Air Force before knocking off UNLV in the league title game.
Boise State fell to UCLA 35-22 in the LA Bowl.
Wilson is also headed to Fort Worth where he will be an assistant under Avalos. Wilson finished with a 4-20 record in two seasons in Reno. Gonzales has yet to find his next stop after four-years at the helm of the Lobos football program.
Current Mountain West Head Coaches:
Troy Calhoun - Air Force - 17 years
Blake Anderson - Utah State - 3 years
Jay Norvell - Colorado State - 2 years
Jeff Tedford - Fresno State - 2 years (Second stint at school)
Timmy Chang - Hawaii - 2 years
Barry Odom - UNLV - 1 year
Jay Sawvel - Wyoming
Jeff Choate - Nevada
Sean Lewis - San Diego State
Spencer Danielson - Boise State
Bronco Mendenhall - New Mexico
San Jose State - No head coach
Just The Facts: Size Doesn't Matter For Wyoming's War Memorial Stadium
Gallery Credit: 7220Sports.com
- Just The Facts: Size Doesn't Matter For Wyoming's War Memorial Stadium
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