Former Texas A&M football assistant who left for rival now changing teams again

Departed Texas A&M football assistant makes his second team change of the 2024 offseason

With a new head coach coming into to run the show for Texas A&M football, most Aggie fans expected little if any staff continuity. For the most part, this was fine with A&M fans; the Maroon and White faithful all felt that there needed to be a cleaning of the house in order for the needed culture change to take place.

One staffer who most Aggie fans would have been fine with keeping, however, was James Coley. The veteran of Miami and many SEC coaching staffs had been hired initially by Fisher as a TE coach. He served in that capacity for a while before switching to receivers for the ill-fated 2022 season. He really didn’t do a bad job, but that was overshadowed by the overall malaise of that year. He also acquitted himself well as the interim play caller in the bowl game, showcasing some creativity in the offensive design.

In any case, he was not fated to stick around in College Station, accepting a job on Shane Beamer’s Gamecock staff not long after the shift was made to Elko. This was a big get for the Gamecocks, given Coley’s stature in the conference and recruiting connections, especially in the talent-rich South Florida area.

He was not long for Columbia, however. With some staff swapping going on in the SEC East—Georgia State head coach Shawn Elliott joining the Gamecocks, and UGA coach Dell McGee taking his place—an opening came up in Athens, and Kirby came calling.

Coley, who has worked for UGA in the past, apparently thought this too good an opportunity to pass up. The report now is that he will be spending next season in Athens, which kind of makes this video from Gamecock Football on Twitter a little strange.

All the late shifts and coaches occupying positions with two separate programs in the same offseason over the last few months is a bit odd. I’m not sure I could think of another example before this past season, but now it seems somewhat regular. The sport is changing before our very eyes, and this is just another evidence of that reality.