After 18 seasons at the helm of the Middle Tennessee State football team, veteran head coach Rick Stockstill was dismissed by the Blue Raiders, following a 4-8 season and a 113-111 record in Murfreesboro.
The 65-year-old Stockstill arrived at Middle Tennessee in 2006 and led a program then in its sixth year at the FBS level to their first bowl appearance. Over the next 17 seasons, Stockstill would guide the Blue Raiders to nine bowl appearances and a share of a league title in the aforementioned 2006 season – however, the program had three losing seasons in his last five.
“We need to do better administratively. We need to do better to provide resources so we're not sitting here again in the near future,” said MTSU Athletic Director Chris Massaro.
Additionally, Massaro stated that the entire coaching staff wasn’t dismissed – just Stockstill – leaving the door open for the future head coach to retain assistants as they see fit.
Here’s a look at four candidates who to keep an eye on for the MTSU opening.
Willie Simmons
Florida A&M head coach Willie Simmons has been primed for an opportunity at the FBS level for several years now. He was a finalist for both the Florida International and South Florida jobs in back-to-back seasons and has done an outstanding job at FAMU, guiding the HBCU program to a rare appearance in the FCS playoffs and has a 64-24 record in eight seasons as a head coach. The 43-year-old served under Stockstill from 2007-2011 as running backs coach and later offensive coordinator in his final season.
Scotty Walden
One of the more notable names among the FCS ranks, Austin Peay head coach Scotty Walden has been a fast-riser in the coaching profession since beginning his coaching career in 2012. Walden was a 26-year-old head coach at Division III East Texas Baptist before taking the receivers job at Southern Miss – later being the interim head coach for three games in the team’s 2020 year before leaving to take the Austin Peay job, where he’s led the Governors to a 26-14 record including a 9-3 record this year.
Buster Faulkner
Another offensive mind with Middle Tennessee connections under Stockstill is Georgia Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner. The 42-year-old has been an offensive coordinator at six stops, including MTSU where he guided the offense from 2011-2015. Faulkner has never been a head coach but has served at high-profile programs like Georgia and has deep ties in MTSU’s recruiting base.
Bryant Vincent
Vincent was most recently the offensive coordinator at New Mexico, where he turned around the Lobos' offensive production in his first season. The Lobos went from the nation’s second-worst scoring offense at 13.1 points per game to #69 at 27.3 points per game. Vincent is originally from Glasgow, Kentucky-just a two-hour drive from Murfreesboro. Vincent was also the interim head coach for UAB in 2022 after the sudden retirement of Bill Clark that summer. Vincent was particularly loved by his players at UAB, who petitioned for Vincent to get the permanent head coach job before Trent Dilfer was hired. All that to say, he know the territory and the competition well.
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