What’s next for Kent State football as successful coach departs?

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Kent State University is looking for a new head football coach. Sean Lewis has announced that he will be leaving after five seasons at Kent to become a coordinator at the University of Colorado.

Reports surfaced late Tuesday that Kent State has signed Minnesota’s associate head coach, Kenny Barnes, to a five-year contract. Burns has experience coaching Mid-American in his conference as running back coach under West Michigan in 2016.

Still, commentator Terry Pluto says it won’t be easy to succeed Sean Lewis. He said he was the first football coach at Kent State University to complete a winning streak in the Mid-American Conference since Glenn Mason in 1986-87. Lewis started his first season with a 2-10 record, and his next four seasons saw him go 22-21, including two bowls with his game appearances.

“This is a testament to what Sean Lewis did at Kent State University, where they were called, ‘I don’t want to go there because I can’t do it and I might get fired.’ Besides, “you probably won’t get a very good job out of it,” Pluto said.

Lewis was also the youngest Division I coach when he was hired in 2017 at age 31.

“He’s from Syracuse. He didn’t even apply for the job. He got a call out of nowhere from Joel Neilson, athletic director at Kent State University. , I wanted to play fast and score a lot of points,” said Pluto. Syracuse. So he hired Sean Lewis. “

Then came Deion Sanders, known as “Prime Time” during his Pro Football Hall of Fame career. Saunders took his new head coaching position at Colorado after coaching at Jackson State University (Jackson, Michigan) for three of his seasons. Jackson State University is a historically black college and plays in the second tier of the NCAA’s Division I. First undefeated season in school history.

“[Sanders] Wanting to play a fast style of offense because it’s good for recruits. And he was told Kent State University had this guy. So they got in touch and hired Sean Lewis,” said Pluto.

Pluto said a job in Colorado would be a big raise for Lewis, who was paid about $530,000 a year at Kent State University.

“Today, coordinators in these big schools start with 1 million and go on and on. Toledo head coach Jason Candle is making $1.1 million. Toledo has more than any other MAC school. We pay football coaches a lot more,” Pluto said.

Pluto said the departure of Sean Lewis is an example of a changing landscape of college sports.

“The gap between these Power 5 schools and the line between Kent and Akron — what they call midmajors — continues to grow financially,” said Pluto. These children can be paid through various for-profit organizations. And what else is going on? Transfer portal. And I know Kent has a lot of players on the transfer portal and coaches will try to catch them and take them away. There is pressure to do it fast. “



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