Middle Tennessee fired football coach Rick Stockstill, the school announced Monday. Here’s what you need to know:
- Stockstill coached the Blue Raiders for 18 seasons. He was the fourth-longest-tenured active FBS coach behind Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy and Utah’s Kyle Whittingham.
- The 65-year-old Stockstill had a 113-111 record overall, with a 4-6 mark in bowl games. MTSU finished 4-8 this season (3-5 in Conference USA) and hasn’t lost fewer than five games in a season since 2012.
- MTSU hasn’t won a conference championship since sharing the Sun Belt crown in 2006, Stockstill’s first season.
Blue Raider Athletics announces a change in leadership in the @MT_FB program.https://t.co/eMkAVxNNzh
— Middle Tennessee Athletics (@MTAthletics) November 27, 2023
Why is MTSU making a change?
Stockstill built a consistent, solid program amid tough conditions, with pro sports taking up more attention in Nashville and most of the state’s college football fans — including, for example, MTSU students — preoccupied by what a team in orange does each Saturday. Stockstill’s program dipped, though, after the 2018 season, which completed the era of son Brent Stockstill as its star quarterback. The Blue Raiders gave up a late lead and lost 27-25 to UAB in the Conference USA title game that year — losing out on the program’s first shot at an outright conference title since it won the Ohio Valley in 1992 — and from that day Middle Tennessee has gone 26-34.
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There has been some thought that the younger Stockstill, the team’s QB coach, might succeed his father some day. This signals a new direction altogether. — Joe Rexrode, Nashville columnist
What they’re saying
“This is one of the most difficult days in my tenure, but one I feel is necessary in our aspiration to compete and win championships,” athletic director Chris Massaro said in a news release. “I appreciate everything Rick, his wife Sara and their family have done the last 18 years for MTSU Athletics, our football program and, more importantly, our student-athletes. Because of his leadership, our student-athletes have performed at a high level in the classroom, have dedicated time and energy to supporting our community and have given us countless hours of dedication to being successful on the football field. I want to thank Coach Stockstill for his professionalism, character and dedication, and wish him well in his future endeavors.”
Required reading
(Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
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