A former Penn State football defensive coordinator has been fired.
Per a report by Pete Nakos of On3Sports, the coordinator for one of the most popular teams in Penn State history, Ted Roof, has been fired by UCF.
UCF is firing defensive coordinator Ted Roof, a source tells @On3sports.
The Knights have lost five straight games and are allowing 30.6 points per game, which ranks 107th in the nation. Roof was hired in January.
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— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos_) October 28, 2024
It’s been a rough season in Orlando.
UCF has lost five games in a row and allowed an average of more than 30 points for the season.
To put this in perspective, of the 134 FBS schools, only 27 have allowed a higher points per game average defensively than UCF. Roof didn’t even make it a full season at UCF. He was fired by Oklahoma at the end of last season.
ROOF AND THE IRON LIONS
17 November 2012: Penn State LB Michael Mauti (42) hits Indiana WR Duwyce Wilson (81).. The Penn State Nittany Lions vs. the Indiana Hoosiers at Beaver Stadium in State College, PA.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Roof’s shortcomings at other schools shouldn’t change the way he’s remembered by Penn State football fans. He was the defensive coordinator for one of the most beloved teams in school history. In 2012, with the program rocked by scandal and sanction, Roof led the defense for a team than overcame an 0-2 start to finish a solid 8-4. That defense allowed just over 19 points per game, tied for second in the Big Ten in scoring average. Roof’s name doesn’t resonate with Penn State fans the way guys like Bill O’Brien and Michael Mauti do but he still played a big part.
WHERE HE’S BEEN SINCE
After that 2012 season, Roof left Penn State to become the defensive coordinator at Georgia Tech, where he had been from 1998-2001. He was there from 2013–17 as the defensive coordinator, and since then, hasn’t stayed anywhere longer than two seasons.
Here’s how his resume reads.
- NC State AHC/co-DC (2018)
- Appalachian State DC (2019)
- Vanderbilt DC (2020)
- Clemson Defensive Assistant (2021)
- Oklahoma DC/LB coach (2022-23)
- UCF DC/LB coach (2024)
Roof’s boss at Penn State, Bill O’Brien, is in his first season as Boston College’s head coach. The Eagles are 4-4 overall and 1-3 in the ACC.
Interestingly enough, Roof was O’Brien’s boss at Duke from 2005-06, when Roof was the head coach and O’Brien the offensive coordinator.
