Kent State to hire Syracuse assistant Sean Lewis as head coach
Nearly two months after letting Paul Haynes go, Kent State has found his replacement.
After multiple outlets reported the news earlier Monday, a source confirmed to Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel that the school and Syracuse co-offensive coordinator Sean Lewis have agreed to a five-year deal to make Lewis Kent State’s next head coach.
Source: Syracuse OC Sean Lewis has agreed to terms to become the next coach at Kent State. It is a 5-year deal for nearly $2.3 million.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 19, 2017
The hire of Lewis means all 20 FBS openings have finally been filled. Lewis inherits a tough situation. The Golden Flashes went 14-45 in Haynes’ five seasons as head coach and never won more than four games in a season during his tenure.
The Kent State job will be the first head-coaching gig for Lewis, who just finished his second season at Syracuse as co-OC and quarterbacks coach. In 2016, Syracuse was No. 42 nationally (440.8 ypg) in total offense before improving to No. 22 this year (456.3 ypg).
Lewis has been an assistant under Cuse head coach Dino Babers at three stops: Syracuse, Bowling Green and Eastern Illinois. At Eastern Illinois, Lewis served as inside receivers and tight ends coach. He held the same role in his first season at Bowling Green before being promoted to co-offensive coordinator. His first FBS position was as a graduate assistant at Akron 2011.
At Bowling Green, Lewis helped Falcons quarterback Matt Johnson set the MAC single-season record for touchdown passes and passing yards in 2015. That year, Bowling Green’s offense ranked in the top 10 nationally in total offense, first downs, passing offense, third-down conversion percentage and scoring.
Lewis played quarterback and tight end at Wisconsin from 2004-2007.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
