The coaching carousel rarely spins during the summer unless there’s NCAA violations or a surprise off-the-field issue but the thing was spinning quite a bit on Friday evening in the Lone Star State and beyond.
As first reported by OwlScoop.com, longtime Temple assistant and the program’s current special teams coordinator Ed Foley made a surprising decision on the weekend before conference media days starting up to depart for a position at Baylor. He previously worked with Matt Rhule when the two were together in Philadelphia and spent 12 seasons with the Owls, most recently serving as the interim head coach for their bowl game after Geoff Collins left for Georgia Tech.
The move must have been in the works for a while because Foley’s replacement surfaced nearly as soon as his departure leaked. 247Sports reported that SMU defensive line coach Brett Diersen was headed out of Texas to take the vacated position at Temple. The move reunites Diersen with Owls head coach Rod Carey after the two spent the past five seasons together at Northern Illinois.
There was no word who SMU might find or elevate to take Diersen’s spot on staff with fall camp less than a month away but Sonny Dykes likely has a list of names in a drawer somewhere.
Either way, it’s rare for coaches to move around this close to the season but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Such was certainly the case lately involving a pair of AAC programs and the Big 12’s Bears.