The former SMU staffer didn’t even coach a practice in Fort Worth.
One of the rising stars in college football coaching is headed east after just a few weeks in Fort Worth.
It is being widely reported that former SMU and Kansas defensive coach Chidera Uzo-Diribe is headed to defending National Champion Georgia, replacing newly-minted Oregon Head Coach Dan Lanning on Kirby Smart’s staff.
Georgia is expected to hire TCU’s Chidera Uzo-Diribe as its outside linebackers coach, sources tell @on3sports. One of the nation’s top young front seven coaches. A former Colorado defensive lineman who had 20 career sacks. https://t.co/oY1nWCa5tG
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) February 3, 2022
Uzo-Diribe, a native of Southern California, played defensive line for Colorado and had a cup of coffee with the New Orleans Saints of the NFL. After his playing career ended in 2015, he spent three years as a defensive graduate assistant working with the outside linebackers and defensive line at his alma mater, before joining Les Miles staff at Kansas. After a season working in Quality Control, Uzo-Diribe moved up to Outside Linebackers Coach in Lawrence, before joining Sonny Dykes’ staff at SMU ahead of the 2021 season.
After one season on the hilltop, he followed Dykes to Fort Worth in November, only to leave for Georgia just a few short months later. An exceptional recruiter, he was instrumental in TCU signing edge rusher Micheal Ibukun-Okeyode of Rowlett, Damonic Williams of Mission Hills California, and Paul Oyewale of Houston, all three star prospects. He is widely considered to be one of the up-and-coming names in the industry, and the fact that the defending national champions targeted him despite having a relatively light resume says a lot about his future as a college football coach.
This is certainly a big loss for TCU and Sonny Dykes, who has built/retained a staff of young, on the rise coaches that kill it on the recruiting trail. Other programs will certainly be looking to poach for the Horned Frogs’ coaching ranks in the future, with guys like Ra’Shaad Samples and Bryan Carrington often making appearances on other program’s message boards. For now, you hope Dykes and TCU can keep the staff together through spring ball and (at least) the 2022 football season.