Charlie Strong officially has a hole to fill on his South Florida coaching staff.
Reports first started surfacing in earnest Wednesday that Sterlin Gilbert was expected to be named as the coach at McNeese State. Late last night, the FCS program confirmed the hiring of Gilbert as the school’s 16th head football coach.
Gilbert replaces Lance Guidry, who was fired last month after three seasons at the school.
“Through this process, it became very clear that McNeese is very highly-rated throughout the country and positions in our athletics department are extremely attractive,” a statement from Bruce Hemphill said in a statement. “We are looking forward to the culture that Coach Gilbert will build and to the competitive team that he will lead on the field.”
Gilbert spent the past two seasons as the offensive coordinator at USF. The 40-year-old coach has also been the coordinator at three other FBS programs: Texas (2016), Tulsa (2015) and Bowling Green (2014).