Once again, a Power Five school filling a hole on its coaching staff has come at the expense of a Group of Five program.
While there’s nothing official yet from either school, 247Sports.com was the first to report that Jeff Koonz is leaving North Texas to take a job at Ole Miss. Brett Vito of the Denton Record-Chronicle subsequently confirmed the initial report.
Koonz has spent the past two seasons as the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the Mean Green. He is expected to serve as inside linebackers with the Rebels.
Look for Jeff Koonz to be named inside linebacker coach at Ole Miss soon. He is currently the Co-DC at North Texas State.
— Chuck Rounsaville (@SpiritChuck) March 6, 2019
DRC: A source close to the situation has confirmed to the @DentonRC that UNT linebackers coach Jeff Koonz is headed to Ole Miss. The move will be announced by Ole Miss later today. Stay tuned for more shortly. pic.twitter.com/rA62hesj4R
— Brett Vito (@brettvito) March 6, 2019
Koonz would replace Jon Sumrall, who left last month for an on-field job at Kentucky. In addition to his two-year stint at UNT, Koonz has also spent time on coaching staffs at Cincinnati (2014-16), Louisiana Tech (2010-13), Texas (2009, 2005-06) and Iowa State (2007-08). He began his coaching career at his alma mater Auburn as a graduate assistant.
As Vito noted in this post, Koonz is the fifth Mean Green assistant to leave the program since the end of the 2018 season, including four who left for jobs at Power Five programs.