As Matt Stepp of Dave Campbell's Texas Football first reported, East Texas Baptist head coach Calvin Ruzicka began searching for a new offensive coordinator last week when Ryan Smith was named the head coach at Grapevine High School.

Ruzicka is embarking on his third offensive coordinator search in his third season at the helm of the Tigers. However, not all coaching searches at the Non-FBS level are the same. Often, coaches move based on their success at their current position, which is the case for Smith and ETBU.

Smith’s success with the Tigers led to him being a candidate for multiple jobs across Texas, from FCS to high school. ETBU’s offense averaged 17 more points per game last season than the 2023 squad. The Tigers averaged 456 yards per game in Smith’s first season running the spread option/RPO offense. Smith often uses #ControlledChaos to describe his offense on social media.

Considering last year's success and Ruzicka’s preference to keep the rest of the offensive coaching staff in place, sources have indicated that the next offensive coordinator must operate the same system. Sources have also said that Coach Ru views previous offensive coordinator experience as “beneficial but not a deal breaker.” With those parameters in mind, here’s a look at some candidates for ETBU’s offensive coordinator position broken down into two categories.

Owns previous offensive coordinator experience

Stoney Patton, Whitesboro High School offensive coordinator and quarterback coach

Whitesboro’s offense averaged 31.6 points per game behind a balanced attack that produced 1,771 yards passing and 1,776 rushing yards in Patton’s first season calling plays. He has experience as an offensive coordinator at the collegiate level, having served under Jason Bachtel at Howard Payne. He spent one season as wide receivers coach and video coordinator under Braxton Harris at Houston Christian in 2023. Patton has an extensive history in Texas high school football, with previous stops at Athens, Fairfield, Mildred, North Forney, Scurry-Rosser, and Quinlan.

Andy Padron, former Mary Hardin-Baylor offensive coordinator

Padron’s time at UMHB wasn’t completely smooth, but there’s no mistake the program experienced success while he was leading the offense. The Crusaders advanced to the NCAA Division III national semifinals in 2022, his first season calling plays for UMHB. The Cru advanced to the quarterfinals this year behind an offense that averaged 28.5 points and 336.4 yards per game against a challenging schedule. Before joining his alma mater, Padron helped guide DeSoto to two state quarterfinals appearances in three seasons. His first experience as an offensive coordinator resulted in three conference titles for Texas Lutheran and the program’s first NCAA DIII playoff appearance.

Matt Lott, former Hinds offensive line coach and run game coordinator

Lott, one of the more experienced offensive coordinators on this list, spent the last four seasons as offensive line coach and run game coordinator at Hinds. He also spent four seasons as offensive coordinator, quarterback coach, academic coordinator, and sophomore recruiting coordinator at Coahoma. From 2009 to 2015, Lott was the assistant head coach, offensive coordinator, offensive line coach, and quarterback coach at Independence. He was the offensive line coach at Navarro before joining Hinds.

Leo Hunt, Trinity Valley running back and tight end coach

Hunt has also served as the Cardinals' recruiting, special teams, and pass-game coordinator, in addition to his running back and tight end duties for the last five seasons. He was running back coach and recruiting coordinator at Navarro for three seasons before joining TVCC. Hunt’s offensive coordinator experience was at the semi-professional level, where the Texas Express squad averaged 41.5 points and 440 yards per game.

Terell Sims, Albany State wide receiver coach

Sims joined the Albany State staff before the 2024 season after spending the 2023 campaign in the same position at Howard Payne. He was the offensive coordinator at King High School in Tampa, Fla., from 2017 through 2019 before moving to the collegiate ranks. Sims has worked extensively with wide receivers during collegiate stops at Florida International, Florida A&M, Virginia State, Eastern Illinois, Valdosta State, and Sul Ross State.

No previous offensive coordinator experience

Chris Bolden, East Central wide receiver coach and pass game coordinator

Bolden spent the 2024 season as wide receivers coach at East Central after serving as an offensive analyst under Jeff Traylor at UTSA in 2023. He has experience coaching multiple position groups, including serving one season as wide receiver coach at Valparaiso, two years as tight end coach and assistant special teams coordinator at Central Oklahoma, and spent time as running back coach at Texas A&M-Kingsville and Butler. He also interned with the Memphis Express of the Alliance of American Football in 2019. After completing his playing career at Texas State, he spent two years as an assistant running back coach for the Bobcats.

Matt Newby, McMurry offensive line coach

After starting 23 games for McMurry, Newby transitioned into coaching and spent his first two seasons as an assistant offensive line coach for the War Hawks. He then spent seven years as a high school coach, stopping at West Brook, Brentwood Christian, St. Michael’s Catholic, and Bolton and Oakdale High Schools in Louisiana. Newby returned to McMurry in 2023 as offensive line coach and helped lead the War Hawks to a 7-3 record in 2024 and a share of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference title.

Jack Walker, Southern Mississippi quarterback coach

After transferring from Northwest Mississippi, Walker played quarterback for USM in seven games. He then remained with the Golden Eagles and served two seasons as a graduate assistant before being elevated to quarterback coach in 2024.

Parker McNeil, Marshall High School assistant coach

The Austin native played quarterback collegiately at Navarro, Texas Tech, and Louisiana Tech before entering the coaching profession. Viewed by many as a rising star in the coaching ranks, McNeil has spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Marshall.