Nick Franey, who helped Tre Lamb guide Gardner-Webb to the 2023 FCS Playoffs, has joined the Houston Christian University staff, FootballScoop has learned.
Franey, who had FBS experience from a stint at Tulsa and who had been poised to serve this season as Missouri Southern's offensive line coach, instead will coach tight ends for the Wolves.
He joins the first-year HCU staff of Jason Bachtel, hired earlier this year as replacement for Braxton Harris after Harris returned to Campbell as head coach following one year atop the Houston Christian program.
For Franey, a former Central Methodist player, it's another role at the FCS level in a coaching career still just a few years old.
He started his coaching career at NCAA Division II program Delta State after his playing days and then earned multiple roles at Tulsa, first as a graduate assistant and then climbing into a quality control/analyst role.
HCU, which had its most successful season in program history in 2023, when Bachtel was the offensive coordinator, begins its season Aug. 31 at SMU -- a game that marks SMU's first contest as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).