With Marty Biagi a strong candidate to take the special teams coordinator job at Notre Dame, sources say Lane Kiffin is deep into his due diligence phase of finding the next special teams coordinator at Ole Miss.
Kiffin is targeting Arkansas State's Jake Schoonover for the job, sources told FootballScoop on Tuesday.
The 2022 season was Schoonover's first on Butch Jones's staff. He has previously coached special teams at Illinois Wesleyan, Illinois State, Bowling Green, and Kansas.
His Jayhawk unit ranked second nationally in kick return defense and was top 40 in both punt and kickoff returns. His 2020 team at Bowling Green was second in the MAC in kick returns and fourth in punt returns, and at Illinois State Schoonover mentored the school's all-time leading scorer in kicker Nick Assuieker.
Arkansas State fielded top 40 units in kickoff returns, opponent kickoff returns and opponent punting in 2022. The Red Wolves placed 10th in opponent kickoffs, limiting foes to an average of 58.6 yards on 73 kickoffs.
Jones has consistently emphasized special teams across a 14-year head coaching career at four universities, so Schoonover's expected departure should create a desirable opening among special teams coaches.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.