James Madison coach Bob Chesney speaks with media at Sun Belt Conference Media Days in New Orleans. Chesney is one of five new head coaches in the league.
James Madison coach Bob Chesney speaks with media at Sun Belt Conference Media Days in New Orleans. Chesney is one of five new head coaches in the league.
NEW ORLEANS — The Sun Belt Conference is no stranger to coaching turnover. In fact, as a non-autonomy league, it’s almost to be expected that success will inevitably bring change.
The 2024 season brings five new coaches to the Sun Belt.
Dell McGee took over at Georgia State after Sean Elliott vacated the role to become an assistant at South Carolina. Kane Wommack, who spent the past three seasons at South Alabama, is now the offensive coordinator at Alabama; the Jaguars replaced him with his former offensive coordinator, Major Applewhite.
Bob Chesney took over the reins at James Madison after Curt Cignetti left to become the coach at Indiana. Troy tabbed Gerad Parker to replace Jon Sumrall, who moved to Tulane after leading the Trojans to back-to-back titles, and Louisiana-Monroe parted ways with Terry Bowden to hire Bryant Vincent.
In the past two years, that’s half of the league’s members that have replaced their coach. Coastal Carolina and Texas State did so in 2023.
And only twice have those coaches been fired, meaning that five of them left for other opportunities.
Sun Belt Conference commissioner Keith Gill said he isn’t alarmed at the turnover. Rather, he expects it and knows the Sun Belt has a good enough reputation to attract high-quality coaches to fill in holes.
“We want people to want our coaches because that means we’re doing good things,†Gill said at Sun Belt Conference media days. “Because we’ve created such a well-respected league, we are able to attract good coaches. We certainly want to limit the turnover and keep as many of those good coaches as we can, but it’s impossible. If you’re doing good things, you can’t build a moat around them.
“I like the coaches that we’ve attracted, they are good and accomplished, and I think they are going to hit the ground running.â€
Two of those new coaches are in the East Division, while the other three are in the West. Arkansas State’s Butch Jones will coach against four of those newcomers this season as the Red Wolves face Louisiana-Monroe, Troy, South Alabama and Georgia State. He said that each new leader brings much to the table.
“They bring excitement, and they are taking over programs that have been successful in the past, some more than others,†Jones said. “I think they add just another dynamic and more personality. I think sometimes change is uncomfortable, but change can be healthy as well. I have a tremendous amount of respect for them and know they are going to do a great job at their schools.â€
Continuing the Fight
Troy will play the 2024 season without junior All-Sun Belt wide receiver Chris Lewis, who led the nation in yards per reception last season (22.97) and ranked in the top 20 in touchdown catches.
Lewis was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in December and had a tumor surgically removed from his left leg in the spring.
“The first thing is to help Chris in the fight that he is in,†Trojans coach Gerad Parker said of Lewis, who will serve as a student assistant coach this year. “That fight is for him to come out of this cancer-free. Our focus is to make sure he has our support and love, and we’ve done that from afar.
“We can’t wait to get him back with us so we can have him around. He’ll give us as much value as we can give him in continuing that fight.â€
It’s in the Game
One unifying thing for the Sun Belt coaches and players on Tuesday was their love of College Football 25, the EA Sports video game that returns this season after an 11-year hiatus since its last NCAA Football 14 version.
Not surprisingly, Old Dominion senior linebacker Jason Henderson—the 2024 Sun Belt Preseason Defensive Player of the Year—has the highest player rating among all Sun Belt athletes.
“It’s really cool,†Henderson said. “You’re playing that game with your teammates or your buddies, and then you get to wake up the next morning and actually play the game. The reason you’re in the video game is that you get to pursue the game for real the next day. I think it’s really good for the sport.â€
James Madison wide receiver Taji Hudson did find a drawback, of sorts.
“I started doing pretty good on the game,†Hudson said, “but then I started playing against someone who was playing with James Madison, and my player on the game was doing really well. That was good, but that meant I was losing, so I had to tighten up, and with my own competitiveness, I had to stop myself from being good.â€
Luke Creasy is a reporter for The Herald-Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @LukeCreasy or reach him by phone at 304-526-2800.
