NC State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson has been close to a few head coaching jobs in the past, including Charlotte this year. He has been at NC State since 2019 and had almost 15 years of experience at West Virginia. Gibson has been a Broyles Award nominee multiple times in recent years, though the Wolfpack just went through a bumpy 6-6 season.

Clark was 40-24 in five seasons with the Mountaineers, but his team dropped to 5-6 this year following a 29-20 loss to Georgia Southern.

Appalachian State has fired head football coach Shawn Clark after five seasons. The Mountaineers went 5–6 this year (3–5 in the Sun Belt), the program's first losing campaign since its final season at the FCS level in 2013.