It is always a big story when a former quarterback returns to his alma mater to be the head coach.
Among active coaches, Timmy Chang became the 10th former quarterback to return to the university where he once played.
Hawaii turned to Chang after June Jones, who was previously in charge of the Rainbow Warriors (1999-2007) and who also quarterbacked UH, albeit for part of his collegiate career, turned down the job.
The 40-year-old Chang, who signed a four-year deal with an incentive that would trigger a fifth year, started 50 games for Jones’ at Hawaii. By the time his career ended in 2004, Chang’s 17,072 career passing yards were the most in Football Bowl Subdivision history and his 117 touchdown passes were second.
Chang, who played in NFL Europe and the CFL, spent the past five years at Nevada coaching receivers (2017) and tight ends (2018-21) under Jay Norvell. Prior to landing in Reno, Chang worked as a grad assistant under Jones at SMU for two seasons (2012-13) and then spent three seasons as an offensive coordinator, two at Jackson State (2014-15) and one at Division-II Emory & Henry (2016).
Here is an alphabetic look at the other nine former quarterbacks coaching at their alma mater at the FBS level.
Troy Calhoun, Air Force
The sixth longest-tenured coach in the FBS, Calhoun completed his 15th season at the helm of the Falcons in 2021. A 1989 graduate of the academy, Calhoun is 111-75, including 6-5 in bowl games. As a player in Colorado Springs, he opened the 1986 season as the starter and totaled 258 yards and one touchdown in three games under the man he succeeded as head coach, Fisher DeBerry. DeBerry made a switch at the position for the Falcons’ fourth game and Calhoun did not add to his stats in his remaining time as a player.
Calhoun, who was a grad assistant (1989-90) and recruiting coordinator (1993-94) under DeBerry, served as Gary Kubiak’s offensive coordinator with the Houston Texas in 2006 before returning to the academy. Calhoun was also the offensive coordinator at Wake Forest under Jim Grobe in 2001-02.
Paul Chryst, Wisconsin
The 56-year-old Chryst was born in Madison, played for the Badgers, served as tight ends coach and is 65-23 in seven years as the head coach. He succeeded Gary Andersen in becoming Wisconsin’s 30th head coach, a responsibility he assumed after three seasons at Pitt (19-20) in what was Chryst’s first head-coaching gig.
Chryst, whose father played for UW and served as a Badgers’ assistant in the 1970s, was a quarterback and tight end for the Badgers under Don Morton. He completed 6-of-9 passes for 113 yards and caught 18 passes for 173 and a touchdown.
Michael Desormeaux, Louisiana
The successor to Billy Napier, Desormeaux agreed to a five-year, $3.8-million deal and made his head-coaching debut in the Ragin’ Cajuns’ win over Marshall in the New Orleans Bowl. He spent the past six seasons in Lafayette as an assistant, including as co-offensive coordinator (with Tim Leger, who was retained) in 2021. After Mark Hudspeth was fired following the 2017 season, Desormeaux was put in charge of the program for a couple of weeks prior to Napier coming on board.
Desormeaux, who coached in the high school ranks prior to joining Hudspeth’s staff in 2016, threw for 3,893 yards, ran for 2,843 yards and totaled 39 touchdowns with the Ragin’ Cajuns from 2005 to 2008. According to the school, he became the eighth quarterback in NCAA history to have consecutive 1,000-yard seasons on the ground.
Scott Frost, Nebraska
Frost inherited a UCF team that went 0-12 in 2015 and led the Knights to a storybook 13-0 season in 2017. He then headed home to Lincoln, and in his first four seasons as coach of his alma mater, Frost is 17-27 without a bowl appearance, extending the program’s bowl-less streak to five seasons. Much speculation about Frost’s security came to an end when it was announced in November that he would return in 2022 at a reduced sum of $4 million and buyout terms that were cut in half.
Frost capped his collegiate career in 1997 by helping lead the Cornhuskers to a share of the national championship. A Johnny Unitas Award finalist after helping lead Tom Osborne’s squad to a 13-0 mark, he threw for 1,237 and five touchdowns and ran for 1,095 yards and 19 TDs.
Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
Gundy was named the Cowboys’ starter midway through his freshman season of 1986 and became the school’s all-time leader in passing yards with 8,473, a total that is now third. Gundy immediately joined the staff and spent six years as an offensive assistant before leaving to be an assistant at Baylor (1996) and Maryland (1997-2000).
Gundy returned to Stillwater in 2001 to be the offensive coordinator under Les Miles. After Miles departed for LSU following the 2004 season, Gundy took over and his first team went 4-7. The 54-year-old coach has since had his Cowboys reel off 16 consecutive winning seasons, including seven with at least 10 wins. Gundy, who is 11-5 in bowl games, has a record 149-69 in his 17 seasons at the helm.
Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
It is hard to believe Harbaugh has coached seven seasons in Ann Arbor. A 12-2 mark this past season that included his first win as a coach over Ohio State, improved his record at Michigan to 61-24. Harbaugh, who was the first UM quarterback to throw for 300 yards in a game when he had 310 in a win over Wisconsin in 1986, which happened to be Bo Schembechler’s 200th win, threw for 5,449 yards and 31 touchdowns (plus 12 rushing) with the Wolverines. He then spent 14 seasons in the NFL and threw for 26,288 yards and 129 touchdowns.
Prior to returning to his alma mater, Harbaugh spent 11 seasons as a head coach with stops at the University of San Diego (2004-06), Stanford (2007-10) and the San Francisco 49ers (2011-14). He is the only coach to lead a team to the Super Bowl and the CFP.
Tim Lester, Western Michigan
When he completed his career at WMU in 1999, Lester’s 11,299 passing yards were the fourth-most in FBS history and his 87 touchdown passes were sixth. Lester, who had a two-year stint (2005-06) as the quarterbacks coach at his alma mater, was the head coach at Division-II St. Joseph’s (Ind.) in 2004 and at Division-III Elmhurst (Ill.) from 2008-12.
Lester spent the next three years (2013-15) at Syracuse, including the last two as offensive coordinator under Scott Shafer. Following a season as the quarterbacks coach at Purdue, Lester returned to Kalamazoo to take over the Broncos. In five seasons, he is 32-25 and won his first bowl game last month, defeating Nevada in the Quick Lane Bowl to cap an eight-win season.
Mike Neu, Ball State
Neu won two MAC titles and was the conference’s offensive player of the year in 1993. He finished his career with the Cardinals throwing for 6,271 yards and 43 touchdowns. After playing a couple of seasons in the CFL and the Arena Football League, Neu spent nine seasons as an assistant in the AFL before spending three seasons as a scout with the New Orleans Saints.
Neu remained in New Orleans to become Tulane’s quarterbacks coach (2014-15) and returned to the Saints to serve (2015-16) in the same capacity. He became Ball State’s head coach in 2017 and in six seasons is 28-41 with bowl berths in each of the last two years.
Jonathan Smith, Oregon State
Under Dennis Erickson, Smith became the Beavers’ third all-time leading passer (9,680 yards) and led the program to consecutive bowl appearances in 1999 and 2000, something that had not previously been achieved in Corvallis. As head coach, Smith led last season’s team to its first bowl game (LA Bowl loss to Utah State) since 2013. He is 16-28 in four seasons and, at the end of November, received an extension through 2027 at a reported annual salary of more than $4.
Smith started his coaching career as a grad assistant with the Beavers in 2002. He was the offensive coordinator at Montana (2010-11) and, after two seasons as QBs coach under Chris Peterson at Boise State, he was Peterson’s OC at Washington for four seasons. Smith then returned to Corvallis.
