Six Hot Names in the Offensive Coordinator World

There are few positions more heralded in college football than a team’s playcaller, and for the first time since 2020, the Cowboys have an opening on the offensive side.

Oklahoma State parted ways with offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn and defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo on Wednesday. Kyle on Wednesday took a look at the different DC archetypes the Cowboys could pursue. Now, let’s look at the offense.

Things are moving quickly. This list initially had seven names on it, but as I was writing about Texas State OC Mack Leftwich, Texas Tech hired him away. So, here are six hot names in the offensive coordinator space.

1. Brennan Marion, UNLV

Brennan Marion’s UNLV Rebels rank seventh nationally in scoring, putting up 38.7 points a game, and 29th in total offense at 434 yards a game. And Marion has managed that even after losing his starting quarterback four games into the season.

And his offense is a ton of fun. It’s called the Go-Go. It implements some triple option concepts but looks like nothing I’ve ever seen before. There are formations where he has two backs in the backfield next to each other to one side of a quarterback in the shotgun. Throughout OSU’s run struggles this season, Gundy has pointed to it being a numbers game. Well, this offense seemingly helps manipulate those numbers.

Marion also has ties to Oklahoma, as he is a Tulsa grad. He was a receiver for two seasons with the Golden Hurricane, putting up 2,356 yards and 19 touchdowns. He was also the Oklahoma Baptist running backs coach in 2016. His other coaching stops include Arizona State (quality control), Howard (OC/QB), Williams & Mary (OC/QB), Texas (passing game coordinator/ wide receivers coach).

Some potential questions about Marion and the Go-Go involve whether this is an offense that can be figured out or if it’s just super innovative. Those are questions that I’m not smart enough to answer.

Here is a look at offense’s Marion has coordinated over the years:

2017 (Howard) — 29.9 points per game, 446 yards per game, 6.3 yards per play
2018 (Howard) — 33.6 points per game, 470.8 yards per game, 6.2 yards per play
2019 (William & Mary) — 25.2 points per game, 340.9 yards per game, 5.1 yards per play
2023 (UNLV) — 34.4 points per game, 412.7 yards per game, 6.1 yards per play
2024 (UNLV) — 38.7 points per game, 434 yards per game, 6.4 yards per play

2. Joe Craddock, Tulane

Joe Craddock’s first FBS offensive coordinator gig was in 2015 at SMU. He has since also had stints at Arkansas, Troy and Tulane.

His Green Wave ranks sixth nationally in scoring, putting up 39.1 points a game, and 34th in yards with 429.3 yards a game. This is coming in his first season at Tulane, a year after the Green Wave had the 71st offense in the country in 2023, averaging 26.4 points and 370.1 yards a game.

Originally from Alabama, Craddock was a quarterback at Middle Tennessee State from 2005 to 2008, playing in 30 games and recording 4,011 yards and 27 touchdowns in that time.

A potential question mark about Craddock is that his time at the Power Four level (two years at Arkansas) didn’t necessarily go well, but Arkansas has been in a rebuild for seemingly the past dozen or so years. So, it’s hard to put that on a two-year stint from an OC.

Here are his OC stats throughout the years:

2015 (SMU) — 27.8 points per game, 383.8 yards per game, 5.3 yards per play
2016 (SMU) — 27.7 points per game, 427.3 yards per game, 5.5 yards per play
2017 (SMU) — 37.9 points per game, 478.5 yards per game, 6.4 yards per play
2018 (Arkansas) — 21.7 points per game, 335.7 yards per game, 5 yards per play
2019 (Arkansas) — 21.4 points per game, 340.1 yards per game, 5.2 yards per play
2022 (Troy) — 25.6 points per game, 359.1 yards per game, 5.6 yards per play
2023 (Troy) — 29.6 points per game, 419.4 yards per game, 6.2 yards per play
2024 (Tulane) — 39.1 points per game, 429.3 points per game, 6.6 yards per play

3. Jordan Davis, North Texas

A former SWOSU Bulldog, Jordan Davis is only 32 years old but has quickly ascended up the coaching ranks.

In his second season at North Texas, Davis has guided the Mean Green to the 26th-best scoring offense in the country, averaging 34 points a game. UNT ranks third (third!) in yards per game with 488.7. The 2023 season was his first as an offensive coordinator, and all he did was provide North Texas with the 21st-best scoring offense (34.5 points a game) and the sixth-best total offense (495.8 yards a game).

His college coaching career started as a GA at Texas Tech, Davis’ alma mater, in 2016. He coached receivers at Incarnate Word from 2018 to 2021, earning an assistant head coach title in his final two seasons with the program before taking an analyst role with Washington State in 2022.

Davis played receiver a year at Southwestern Oklahoma State before finishing his college career with three seasons in Lubbock.

A potential knock on Davis would be his experience in that he is only in Year 2 of calling plays, but man, both of those two years have gone quite well.

2023 (North Texas) — 34.5 points per game, 495.8 yards per game, 6.5 yards per play
2024 (North Texas) — 34 points per game, 488.7 yards per game, 6.7 yards per play

4. Tim Cramsey, Memphis

If experience is what you’re after, perhaps look no further than Tim Cramsey at Memphis.

His first college offensive coordinator gig came at New Hampshire in 2009. Since then, he’s called plays at FIU, Montana State, Nevada, Sam Houston State, Marshall and now Memphis. In his third season with the Tigers, Cramsey has Memphis averaging 442.1 yards (20th nationally) and 35.2 points (20th nationally) a game.

Now 49, Cramsey played at New Hampshire from 1994 to 1997. He started his coaching career as a high school offensive coordinator in Pennsylvania in 2001. In 2003, he returned to his alma mater as a tight ends and fullbacks coach before working up the rungs to New Hampshire’s running backs coach (2006-07), quarterbacks coach (2008) and then OC (2009-11).

A potential knock, in all this time calling plays, Cramsey hasn’t had a shot at coaching at the Power Five level. What’s up with that?

Here are his yearly OC stats:

2009 (New Hampshire) — 31.9 points per game, 340.4 yards per game, 5.1 yards per play
2010 (New Hampshire) — 24.8 points per game, 347.9 yards per game, 4.9 yards per play
2011 (New Hampshire) — 32.8 points a game, 427.8 yards per game, 6.2 yards per play
2012 (FIU) — 25 points per game, 383.8 yards per game, 5.4 yards per play
2013 (Montana State) — 32.9 points per game, 418.6 yards per game, 5.9 yards per play
2014 (Montana State) — 38.2 points per game, 488.6 yards per game, 6.6 yards per play
2015 (Montana State) — 41.9 points per game, 520.5 yards per game, 6.8 yards per play
2016 (Nevada) — 25.4 points per game, 382.2 yards per game, 5.5 yards per play
2017 (Sam Houston State) — 43.3 points per game, 538.1 yards per game, 7 yards per play
2018 (Marshall) — 28.9 points per game, 388.8 yards per game, 5.6 yards per play
2019 (Marshall) — 25.8 points per game, 393.8 yards per game, 5.8 yards per play
2020 (Marshall) — 28.5 points per game, 391.3 yards per game, 5.9 yards per play
2021 (Marshall) — 33 points per game, 456.8 yards per game, 6.3 yards per play
2022 (Memphis) — 35.31 points per game, 422.5 yards per game, 5.8 yards per play
2023 (Memphis) — 39.4 points per game, 458.2 yards per game, 6.6 yards per play
2024 (Memphis) — 35.2 points per game, 442.1 yards per game, 6.1 yards per play

5. Marcus Arroyo, Arizona State

This would take some doing, but there are ties between Marcus Arroyo and OSU.

Arroyo spent two seasons in Stillwater as the Cowboys’ running backs coach (2015-16) before Oregon hired him away to the the Ducks’ Co-OC. It gets tricky because Arroyo is seemingly in a good spot right now, running Arizona State’s offense all the way from being picked last in the league to making the Big 12 title game.

Arroyo’s first OC job came all the way back in 2004 at Prairie View A&M. He’s also been an OC at San Jose State (his alma mater), Wyoming, Southern Miss and Oregon. After three seasons with Oregon, Arroyo got the UNLV head job, spending three seasons there.

The downside to making this hire seems minimal, but it would more so be a matter of whether OSU could wrangle him away from a conference foe that seems to be on an upward trend under Kenny Dillingham.

Here are the OC stats:

2004 (Prairie View A&M) — 14.8 points per game, 254.1 yards per game
2007 (Co-OC, San Jose State) — 23.3 points per game, 348.1 yards per game
2008 (Co-OC, San Jose State) — 18.2 points per game, 282.8 yards per game
2009 (Wyoming) — 23.2 points per game, 309.4 yards per game
2010 (Wyoming) — 20.9 points per game, 285.5 yards per game
2013 (Southern Miss) — 16.8 points per game, 315.5 yards per game
2017 (Co-OC, Oregon) — 36 points per game, 440.9 yards per game, 6.1 yards per play
2018 (Oregon) — 34.9 points per game, 427.3 yards per game, 5.9 yards per play
2019 (Oregon) — 35.4 points per game, 433.1 yards per game, 6.3 yards per play
2024 (Arizona State) — 32.1 points per game, 419.8 yards per game, 6.2 yards per play

6. Zac Robinson, Atlanta Falcons

There might not be a hotter name to Oklahoma State fans than former OSU quarterback Zac Robinson.

Robinson has been on the fast track up the NFL coaching ranks, with the Falcons hiring him for his first offensive coordinator gig ahead of this season. He is part of the Sean McVay coaching tree that is churning out NFL head coaches. McVay, who coached under Mike Shanahan and Jon Gruden, is only 38 years old and already has a tree that includes Matt LaFluer (Green Bay Packers head coach), Zac Taylor (Cincinnati Bengals head coach) and Kevin O’Connell (Minnesota Vikings head coach).

The Falcons rank 11th in the NFL in yards per play, averaging 5.7. The NFL is, obviously, a different animal than college ball. Atlanta ranks 19th in points a game at 21.4 and ninth in total yards, putting up 4,327 to this point in the season.

If you’ve found your way to this site, you probably know who Robinson was as a player. He was a quarterback at OSU from 2006 to 2009, finishing with 8,317 yards and 66 touchdowns. A dual threat, Robinson also ran for another 1,858 yards and 22 scores.

Questions around Robinson’s candidacy for OSU’s opening center on college vs. the NFL. There is a realistic world where Robinson is an NFL head coach before too long, and all of his coaching gigs have come in the NFL. Would a shot at calling plays at his alma mater make him want to divert from that path? There’s also the recruiting factor. Does he want to recruit? He’d probably be pretty good at it, but it’s still something you have to want to do.