Buffalo hired veteran assistant Maurice Linguist to succeed Lance Leipold as its football coach.
Leipold, who led the Bulls to three straight bowl berths, accepted the top coaching job at Kansas on April 30.
Buffalo announced Linguist’s addition Friday night on social media.
It’s the first head coaching job for Linguist, 37, and also a homecoming. He coached defensive backs and was the defensive passing game coordinator for the Bulls in 2012-13, working with a group that included future NFL All-Pro Khalil Mack.
A native of Dallas, Linguist played strong safety at Baylor from 2003-06. He entered coaching in 2007 and has put together a resume that includes stops at Valdosta State, James Madison, Iowa State, Mississippi State, Minnesota and Texas A&M.
He spent the 2020 season as cornerbacks coach of the Dallas Cowboys before accepting the job as defensive backs coach and co-defensive coordinator at Michigan – a position he’s leaving after four months.
Linguist is known as a strong recruiter who had a big hand in Texas A&M landing top-six recruiting classes in 2019 and ’20, as ranked by the 247Sports composite.
The Bulls, who play in the Mid-American Conference, were 6-1 in the shortened season in 2020, which ended with a 17-10 win over Marshall in the Camellia Bowl on Christmas Day.
–Field Level Media