Former American coaches hired to rescue Power Four programs struggle in Week 1: 'I'm utterly embarrassed'

Eric Morris spent halftime of his Oklahoma State debut describing his own team on the radio as "piss poor."

Ryan Silverfield called his offense's Arkansas debut "probably one of the worst I've ever been associated with."

Alex Golesh won and still said his offense was "a bit off," and that a repeat would get "their brain beat in" in the SEC.

All three were hired off American Conference sidelines by Power Four athletic directors running the same play: get an offensive head coach, then let him bring his roster and his staff with him.

Call it the Indiana Blueprint. Curt Cignetti rebuilt the Hoosiers around a wave of his James Madison players and won a national title in Year 2. Every administrator and search committee in the country noticed.

The results in Week 1 were, at best, mixed, and, at worst, a continuation of a disturbing trend traced back to their old jobs in the American Conference.

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Golesh's offense was electric in the American and ordinary everywhere else. In four games against power-conference opponents over the last two seasons, South Florida averaged 15.3 points and 349.3 yards. It never reached 400 yards in any of them, including the 18-16 upset at Florida last season. On Saturday, with six former Bulls in Auburn's starting lineup, the Tigers finished with 17 points and 389 yards, and their quarterback was sacked five times and threw a career-high three interceptions.

Morris had an embarrassment of riches at North Texas: the nation's most explosive offense (45.1 points per game), the nation's leading passer, the third-leading receiver, and a freshman running back who scored 29 touchdowns. Nine offensive players followed him to Oklahoma State. 

The Cowboys were so confident in the hire that their quarterback, Drew Mestemaker, was lured by NIL deals reportedly worth $3.5 million. On Saturday, the Cowboys scored 10 points, gained 368 yards, turned the ball over four times, and gave it up on downs three more times. Mestemaker threw two picks and also lost a fumble on a sack. 

More concerning, they did it against Tulsa, an American Conference team, and lost 24-10.

"I'm utterly embarrassed," Morris said after the game. "Embarrassed for our fans, for our players, for everybody involved in this, this university and in the sport that we play with so much history. I mean, we got beat on every level today. I mean, for an offense that's supposed to be explosive … we played awful. I mean, there's no other way to put it."

Arkansas wasn't much better. Arkansas needed most of the afternoon to put away North Alabama, a program that finished last in its FCS league and allowed 464 yards a game. The Razorbacks led 14-0 at halftime and won 31-14, barely clearing 400 yards.

"What an awful, awful first half offensively," Silverfield said. "Probably one of the worst I've ever been associated with. Not clean at all. Self-inflicted wounds. Absolutely terrible. That's on me, I'll get it fixed."

Silverfield's offensive staff is almost entirely former Memphis assistants. They started two former Memphis players and five Group of Six transfers in total. Memphis backup tight end Matt Adcock caught a touchdown. Across the field, North Alabama had eight former Memphis players on its roster.

Auburn started six former USF players and eight total transfers from Group of Six schools.

Oklahoma State started five former North Texas players and six total from the G6. Morris faced only one Power Five opponent in his previous two seasons at North Texas, losing 66-21 to Texas Tech in 2024. The Mean Green had 353 total yards.

Silverfield's offenses at Memphis fared better, winning all three games against power opponents over the last two seasons while averaging 31.3 points and 434.7 yards.

A fourth American Conference coach got a power-conference job this winter, but he is the only one who did not bring his offense with him.

Jon Sumrall left Tulane for Florida and imported two Green Wave players, a punter and a kicker. Not one Tulane player started on offense in the Gators' opener against FAU. 

Sumrall bought continuity anyway. He just bought somebody else's production from a higher tier than his former American colleagues. He hired coordinator Buster Faulkner off Georgia Tech's staff, then signed Faulkner's quarterback, Aaron Philo, who went 16 of 21 for 275 yards and accounted for four touchdowns Saturday night. Of the eight new transfers who started for Florida, every one arrived from a power program or a College Football Playoff team: Georgia Tech, Auburn, James Madison, Penn State, Stanford, UCLA and Baylor.

Florida scored 66 points and gained 624 yards, the most points by a Gators team in a season opener since Steve Spurrier's 1994 team hung 70 on New Mexico State.

Sumrall played linebacker and has coached defense his entire career. 

And he outscored the three offensive minds, 66-58.

"A lot to clean up," Sumrall told reporters Saturday. "By no means a perfect performance. Long list of things we have to get a lot better at if we have high goals here."

Continuity buys a coach a head start on terminology. It doesn't make him a better player than the one lining up across from him. Three athletic directors spent the winter betting it did, but it didn't quite work out in their debuts.

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