A 3–17 overall record and a 1–11 mark in Conference USA have led Sam Houston to fire head football coach Phil Longo, effective immediately. The move, announced Wednesday, comes after a decline for a program that had previously established itself as a Conference USA contender under former coach K.C. Keeler.
Longo, who was brought in December 2024 to lead the Bearkats, saw his tenure collapse under the weight of two losing seasons. The program plummeted to a 2–10 finish in 2025 and continued the slide in 2026, entering the current stretch with a 1–7 record.
A failure to maintain momentum
The stakes for Sam Houston were high when Longo took over. Longo had a history in Huntsville, serving as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2014 to 2016. During that stint, he helped the Bearkats secure a 34–10 record, two Southland Conference titles, and a No. 1 ranking, earning him the 2016 FootballScoop FCS Coordinator of the Year award.
Sam Houston has fired head football coach Phil Longo after just 20 games, ending a difficult tenure that saw the Bearkats go 3-17 over two seasons.• Longo finished 2-10 in 2025 and started 1-7 this season, including an 0-4 record in Conference USA. His overall conference…
But the transition from a coordinator to a head coach proved grueling. Longo had spent the intervening years implementing “Air Raid” concepts at Ole Miss, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, where he developed quarterbacks such as Drake Maye and Sam Howell. That pedigree didn’t translate to wins in Huntsville.
The contrast in performance is stark when looking at the numbers:
| Season | Overall Record | Conference USA Record |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2–10 | (Not specified) |
| 2026 (to date) | 1–7 | (Not specified) |
| Total | 3–17 | 1–11 |
Athletic director Bobby Williams didn’t mince words about the necessity of the move, though he maintained a professional tone regarding Longo’s contributions to the student-athletes. Williams stated that after a careful review, a change in leadership was necessary to position the program to compete consistently and meet the expectations of the university and its supporters.
Sam Houston has fired coach Phil Longo. Sam Houston finished 2–10 in 2025 and are 1–7 in 2026, bringing the program's record under Longo to 3–17 overall and 1–11 in Conference USA. pic.twitter.com/GPogo9BrKF
Raisbeck and Aughtry-Lindsay become interim co-head coaches
The firing leaves the Bearkats in a precarious position mid-season. To stabilize the locker room, the university has appointed associate head coach and special teams coordinator Eric Raisbeck and defensive coordinator Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay as interim co-head coaches for the remainder of the year.
Both Raisbeck and Aughtry-Lindsay were Longo hires. Raisbeck arrived in 2025 with a resume that included stops at Penn State and Wisconsin. Aughtry-Lindsay came from NC State, where he had served as interim defensive coordinator during the 2024 Military Bowl, and had previously worked under Longo at Ole Miss and Slippery Rock.
The timing is particularly brutal. The Bearkats are coming off a stretch of losses to New Mexico State, Missouri State, and Western Kentucky.
The risk of the ‘Coordinator Trap’
While his Air Raid concepts were implemented during his time as offensive coordinator at Wisconsin and UNC, his tenure as head coach at Sam Houston proved to be a different experience.
However, a 1–11 conference record over two years led the university to determine that a change in leadership was necessary.
“Our responsibility is to evaluate the program’s performance and direction… I believe a change in leadership is necessary to position Bearkat Football to compete consistently.”
— Bobby Williams, Athletic Director
The university has stated it will share more information as plans for the program are finalized.
The ghost of the 2014–2016 era—the titles, the No. 1 ranking, the dominance—shows how far the program has fallen in just two seasons.
