A week after losing Jeff Brohm to Purdue, Western Kentucky has landed its next head coach.
WKU announced Wednesday that is has hired Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Sanford to replace Brohm. Sanford, 34, becomes the youngest head coach in the FBS. He spent the 2010 season as Western Kentucky’s quarterbacks coach under Willie Taggart. He then spent three seasons as an offensive assistant at Stanford and a year as Boise State’s offensive coordinator before landing at Notre Dame in 2015.
Sanford inherits one of the better Group of Five programs in the country. Behind an explosive offense, Western Kentucky has won back-to-back Conference USA titles. This will be the first head-coaching gig for Sanford, who played quarterback at Boise State from 2000-2004.
The Hilltoppers, 10-3 on the season, will face Memphis in the Boca Raton Bowl on Dec. 20.
At Notre Dame, Sanford helped develop quarterback DeShone Kizer into one of the top NFL prospects. Kizer, a junior, declared for the NFL Draft on Monday. Sanford’s reported departure means Irish head coach Brian Kelly will replace both of his coordinators. Kelly fired defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder during the season.
According to Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman, Notre Dame will interview Wake Forest defensive coordinator Mike Elko for the DC opening.
The Irish finished 4-8 this season.
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