DeLane Fitzgerald will be the next head coach at Southern Utah, sources told FootballScoop on Tuesday.
Fitzgerald is currently the head coach at Frostburg State, a Division II school in Frostburg, Md. He led the Bobcats to a 10-1 season and a Mountain East Conference co-championship this fall.
For Fitzgerald, the move continues a climb from non-scholarship NAIA football to Division I.
A James Madison graduate, Fitzgerald began coaching at a prep school in Maine, then returned to his alma mater in 2002. His first Division I full-time job came as UT-Martin's special teams coordinator and running backs coach.
From there, Fitzgerald became the offensive coordinator at Bethel University, then the head coach at Southern Virginia. He set the Knights' single-season wins record twice, and earned a No. 1 ranking in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association coaches' poll in 2013.
Fitzgerald landed at Frostburg State in 2014, where a 4-6 debut season represented the program's high-water mark in a 4-season period. His 62 wins are the most of any Frostburg State coach, which also occurred during a period where the school re-classified from Division III to Division II.
At Southern Utah, Fitzgerald inherits a Thunderbirds program that went 1-10 in 2021. Head coach Demario Warren was let go on Nov. 15.
SUU will leave the Big Sky Conference for the WAC this summer.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.