The closest thing the Sun Belt has ever had to a “forever coach” was Larry Blakeney who led Troy for 21 years. Larry was the Sun Belt, and he watched a lot of football coaches come and go. These days, you’re lucky to keep a head coach in the Sun Belt for a handful of years – even fewer should he find success. It’s the Law of the Belt: Thy Shalt Not Stick Around.

In 2024, we’ll see five new Sun Belt head coaches assuming the captain’s chair. Who are they? What do they want? Where do they come from? For starters, they’re largely young(ish) men, with none but one bearing significant head coaching experience. But none are unqualified and all are with accolades.

Come! Let us meet these new gridiron admirals of the Sun Belt.

In February, effective head football coach Shawn Elliot delivered a sudden head butt to the Panthers faithful by taking an assistants job with South Carolina to be closer to his family in Columbia. Rather than freak about the incredibly poor timing of the announcement (smack in the middle of signing season), Georgia State calmly hired Georgia’s Dell McGee, who won back-to-back national titles as the run game coordinator and running backs coach for the Bulldogs.

Dell is no stranger to the Sun Belt; he was running backs coach at Georgia Southern in 2015 and 2016, and he even served as interim head coach for the Eagles’ 2016 Go Daddy Bowl victory. As a bonafide Georgian, McGee has a deep connection with state and Atlanta talent. Expect to see a faster Georgia State team in the years to come.

A successful run at Troy resulted in head coach Jon Sumrall making a familiar SBC move – to Tulane to head the Green Wave. Trojans stare stoically in the face of adversity, shrugging off Sumrall’s defection and hiring Notre Dame Offensive Coordinator Gerad Parker to assume command.

Parker didn’t waste anytime. He submitted a Top 5 Sun Belt recruiting class for 2024 and enticed 4-star wide receiver Marquez Dortch to trade Cal for Troy. Like McGee, this isn’t Parker’s first time in the Sun Belt (sort of) – he served as wide receivers coach for Marshall in 2011 and 2012. Troy lost a pile of talent to transfer attrition and graduation, but Coach Parker appears to have Hector pointed in the right direction.

The Terry Bowden Era at ULM was amusing, but now Monroe is ready for some business. The Warhawks grabbed Bryan Vincent from New Mexico, where he served as the Offensive Coordinator and delivered a Top 20 rushing offense for the Lobos. ULM would love to see some quality run production in Monroe, which ranked 80th in 2023.

Building on the theme of prodigal sons, Vincent is a Sun Belt veteran who spent six years in two separate stints with South Alabama. He served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2015-17 and was an assistant coach from 2011-13 for the Jaguars’ football program. The schedule does no favors for Vincent in 2024, so look for his first year to be tough in the win/loss column, but relatively stress free in regards to job security. Fans need to be in this with Coach Vincent for the long haul.

After several seasons of promise – but ultimately falling short of a Sun Belt title – Kane Wommack bailed out of Mobile for a DC role at Alabama. Normally, such an event would be a matter of some chagrin. However, the Jaguars had Wommack’s replacement waiting in the wings in OC Major Applewhite, who’s helmed the South Alabama offense since 2021.

Applewhite will be dealing with a depleted roster that includes portal defections from Yam Banks, Caullin Lacy and Khalil Jacobs – plus very, very good QB Carter Bradley is currently attempting to further his career with the Las Vegas Raiders. Still, if anybody can cobble together a solid offense from a scrap box of parts, it’s Applewhite. But does he have enough defense to make another SBC West run?

No college football conference is punished for success more than the Sun Belt. After leading James Madison to two dominating seasons in the Sun Belt East, head coach Curt Cignetti left Harrisonburg to coach Indiana – and he took more than a dozen Dukes with him. With no dismay or delay, James Madison brought aboard Bob Chesney, formerly head coach of Holy Cross where he spent six seasons as head coach, guiding the Crusaders to a program-record five consecutive Patriot League Championships and an overall record of 44-21.

James Madison has proven that an FCS program with a winning culture can excel in the FBS – and Chesney fits that mould well. Is it fair to expect championship dividends from a program decimated by the departing head coach? No, but Chesney doesn’t appear to be particularly phased, delivering a Top 5 transfer class that includes former Washington quarterback Dylan Morris.

PHOTO CREDIT: AI monstrosity