The Citadel will be looking for a new football coach this winter.
The military school announced on Nov. 21 that the contract of head football coach Brent Thompson will not be renewed for another season.
“I want to thank Brent for all of his hard work in leading this program since 2016,” said Citadel athletic director Mike Capaccio. “However, at this time, the program is not moving in a positive direction which made it necessary to make the change. We wish Coach Thompson the best of luck in his future endeavors.”
The Citadel has retained the services of College Sports Solutions to conduct a national search for the next football coach.
Among candidates for the job could be a couple of of former Citadel players, Maurice Drayton and Everette Sands.
Drayton, a 1998 graduate of The Citadel, was the defensive coordinator for the Bulldogs team that won the 2015 Southern Conference title under Mike Houston, and is currently an assistant coach with the Las Vegas Raiders of the NFL.
Sands, a 1993 graduate, was an All-America fullback at The Citadel and is now the interim head coach at Catawba College.
"I'm definitely interested in the job," Sands said. "The Citadel is home for me. I believe that I can bring something to the table that will help bring Citadel football back to where it was in the early 90s. The Citadel will always have a place very dear to my heart. I believe in what The Citadel stands for and I believe that The Citadel can be successful on the athletic fields."
Southern Conference schools Wofford and VMI also are looking for head coaches after Wofford parted ways with Josh Conklin, and Scott Wachenheim stepped down Sunday at VMI.
Thompson compiled a 36-44 overall record, including a 4-7 mark this season, and was 27-31 in the Southern Conference during his tenure.
Thompson’s career at The Citadel has been a roller-coaster ride for Bulldog fans.
The Citadel has won four SoCon football championships in its history, and Thompson has been an integral part of half of them.
He came to The Citadel in 2014 from Lenoir-Rhyne along with head coach Mike Houston, serving as offensive coordinator for the 2015 team that won the SoCon title.
When Houston left for James Madison, Thompson was promoted to head coach and led the Bulldogs to a 10-2 record and another SoCon championship in 2016.
But he hasn’t posted a winning record since then, his teams going 5-6, 5-6 and 6-6 before the COVID seasons of 2020-21.
In the fall of 2021, the Bulldogs played three FBS teams, including then No. 1 Clemson and went 0-4 before going 2-6 during an 8-game SoCon slate in the spring of 2021.
Some of The Citadel’s best moments under Thompson came as underdogs against Power 5 squads.
In 2018 against No. 1 Alabama, the Bulldogs forged a 10-10 tie at halftime and missed a field goal that would have given them a third-quarter lead. Alabama went on to a 50-17 victory.
The next season, The Citadel went to Georgia Tech and pulled off a 27-24 upset of the Yellow Jackets.
