Gary Goff was announced as McNeese’s 18th football head coach in school history on December 19, 2021 and formally introduced on Dec. 20 in front a packed Endzone Club Room full of McNeese faithful.
Goff is entering his third season at the helm, which expects to bring the Cowboys back to their rightful place at the top of the Southland Conference with one of the strongest recruiting classes in the last 20 years.
Despite the 2023 season not going as planned, the Cowboys got a breakout season from sophomore linebacker Micah Davey, who was named an All-American by six different organizations, including first team honors by Walter Camp and the AFCA.
Davey also placed seventh in the voting for the Buck Buchanan Award which goes to the top defensive player in the FCS.
In his first season with the Cowboys, Goff’s team produced the Southland Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year in running back Deonta McMahon, who led the league and ranked No. 5 in the nation in rushing with 128.0 yards per game. As a team, McNeese led the league and ranked 19th in the nation with 200.5 yards rushing per contest.
Following a rough start to the season, McNeese ended the year with three straight wins and lost the previous two games by a combined six points.
Goff came to McNeese after he led Valdosta State to the program’s sixth NCAA National Championship appearance on Dec. 18, 2021 and back-to-back Gulf South Conference titles in his two playing seasons as head coach in Titletown (three overall seasons).
He finished his VSU career with a 22-3 record. He also coached eight seasons at Tiffin University in Tiffin, Ohio, and is 60-53 in 10 playing seasons of coaching.
The Blazers finished the 2021 season with a 12-2 record overall, falling in the NCAA Division II National Title to Ferris State. VSU went 6-1 in the Gulf South Conference, sharing the league title with West Florida. Goff was named GSC Coach of the Year for the second time in 2021, as he was Co-GSC Coach of the Year in 2019.
In 2021, the Blazers placed 17 players on the All-GSC team including nine on the first unit. Valdosta led the NCAA in total offense for the season, averaging 527.2 yards per game, was second in rushing (267.0, 5th in NCAA) and third in passing (260.2, 30th in NCAA).
Defensively, the Blazers led the league in passing defense (159.9), sixth in rushing defense (188.3) and third in total defense (348.2). Additionally, VSU averaged 43.2 points per game (2nd in the GSC, 5th NCAA) while allowing just 22.7 points to rank third in the conference.
His team included three Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association (D2CCCA) All-Americans - offensive lineman Ralph Singleton (1st team), linebacker Nick Moss (1st team), and defensive lineman Brian Williams (2nd team). Singleton also garnered first team AP All-America honors while Moss earned AP second team honors.
VSU also ranked No. 3 in the NCAA with 320 first downs made, seventh with four defensive TDs scored, seventh in 3rd-down conversion percentage (.500), fourth in red-zone offense percentage (.929), first in sacks allowed per game (0.15), and ninth in tackles for loss allowed per game (3.31).
In 2019 he led the Blazers to a season of 10-1 and 8-0 in Gulf South Conference play, earning Gulf South Conference Co-Coach of the Year honors. Goff continued the outstanding tradition of VSU football as the Blazers won their first ten games of the season, ranked No. 1 nationally throughout the regular season and a berth in the second round of the NCAA Division II Football playoffs.
Goff coached a league-best 13 All-GSC selections in 2019 and GSC Offensive Player of the Year Rogan Wells. Wells earned American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) All-America honors, was a finalist for the prestigious Harlon Hill Trophy and recently named the GSC Offensive Player of the Decade. Along with Wells, senior offensive linemen Adonis Sealey and Brandon Kemp earned All-America honors. Junior long snapper Pippin Davis was named Second Team Academic All-America ®by CoSIDA. Kemp signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Tennessee Titans of the NFL in April.
Under Goff’s guidance, the Blazers continued their outstanding offensive play as the team finished second nationally in third down conversion percentage at a .528 clip. The Blazers were fourth nationally in completion percentage (.701), while finishing 14th nationally in first downs gained (276). VSU was 11th nationally in rushing offense at 260.2 yards on the ground per game, while it was 12th nationally in passing efficiency at 162.12. VSU finished third nationally in total offense at 522.1 yards per game, while finishing 20th nationally in scoring offense at 38.9 points per game.
The Blazers also were outstanding on defense as the team was 32nd nationally in total defense, allowing 311.5 yards per game and held teams to a 111.71 passing efficiency for 33rd nationally out of 166 NCAA Division II programs. The Blazer defense held teams to 124.4 yards per game on the ground for 44th nationally. The opposition scored just 18.5 points per game on the Blazers for 23rd nationally and tops in the conference.
Goff arrived at VSU from NCAA Division II Tiffin University in Tiffin, Ohio, where he was the head coach of the Dragons from 2011-18. In 2018, Goff had his best season at Tiffin as he guided the Dragons to a 9-2 campaign and a 6-2 record in the Great Midwest Conference as the team began the season 9-0. Tiffin was ranked as high as No. 15 in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25 in 2018. Goff had 16 Dragons named to G-MAC All-Conference teams in 2018.
In 2016, Goff guided the Dragons to their first winning season since the 2006 season as the team went 8-3 with Goff earning Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Coach of the Year honors, the first in program history. He had one of the top offenses in country in 2016 averaging 434.5 yards per game, while his quarterback Antonio Pipkin was a Harlon Hill nominee and was named GLIAC Player of the Year. Pipkin tallied seven Tiffin career records and four GLIAC records, ranking 13th all-time in career total offense, 19th in total offense per game, 27thin career passing yards, and is only the third quarterback at the Division II level to ever accumulate at least 2,000 rushing yards and throw for 10,000 passing yards in a career. That season, Goff also had the program’s first Academic All-American as 74 players finished the 2016 fall semester with a 3.0 grade point average or higher.
Prior to Goff’s arrival in 2011, Tiffin University was a combined 2-31 from 2008-2010.
Goff joined Tiffin after a highly successful 2010 season at West Virginia Wesleyan where he was the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. There, he helped guide the team to a massive turnaround as it was 2-8 in 2009 and went 9-2 in 2010, tying for the most wins in school history. The team was ranked nationally for the first time and broke 12 offensive school records.
Before West Virginia Wesleyan, Goff coached at Division I Princeton University where he was the pass game coordinator and receivers coach. He also served as co-offensive coordinator and receivers coach at New Mexico State for four seasons as he helped lead the team to second nationally in passing offense and total offense.
The Aggies broke 21 offensive school records, while ranking 15th nationally in scoring offense. Goff coached the nation’s top receiver, two-time All-America selection Chris Williams, who signed with the Cleveland Browns.
Goff, who has served as offensive coordinator for three teams, also was offensive coordinator at Iowa Wesleyan University (2002-03) and coached at Southeastern Louisiana, helping it to lead the nation in total offense. He also had coaching stints at Woodstock (Ga.) High School and Cherokee (Ga.) High School.
He played for former Blazer head coach Hal Mumme and former offensive coordinator Mike Leach at Valdosta State and graduated in 1996. During his time in Titletown, Goff helped lead the Blazers to their first Gulf South Conference title in 1996 and the first two NCAA playoff seasons in program history in 1994 and 1996. Goff began as a walk-on for the Blazers in the spring of 1993 after transferring to VSU from the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D. He then earned a scholarship culminating in being named a team captain in 1996. Goff and the Blazers went 35-13 during his career at VSU under Mumme earning letters in 1995 and 1996. While at VSU, Goff and his teammates helped lay the foundation for where the VSU football program is today.
Goff earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from VSU and holds a master’s degree from Tiffin. Goff is a native of Picayune, Miss., and he and his wife Tiffanie have two children, Tyler and Audrey. Tyler is a redshirt freshman wide receiver for the Cowboys.
THE GARY GOFF FILE
Age: 51
Birthdate: July 19, 1973
Family: Wife, Tiffanie; son, Tyler; daughter, Audrey
COACHING CAREER
2022- McNeese, Head Coach (4-17)
2019-21 Valdosta State, Head Coach (22-3)
2011-18 Tiffin University, Head Coach (38-50)
2010 West Virginia Wesleyan, Offensive Coordinator
2009 Princeton University, Passing Game Coordinator
2005-08 New Mexico State, Co-Offensive Coordinator
2003-04 Southeastern Louisiana, Wide Receivers Coach
EDUCATION
Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration (Valdosta State, 1996)
Master’s of Education (Tiffin University, 2014)
COACHING NOTABLES
• 12-year Head Coach Veteran
• 2011-2018 (Tiffin University)
• 2019-2021 (Valdosta State University)
• 2022- (McNeese State University)
• 2019, 2021 GSC Coach of the Year
• 22-3 (.880) Record at Valdosta State
• 38-50 Record at Tiffin University
• 23-10 Final 3 Seasons at Tiffin
• 45-13 (.776) Record in last 5 Seasons
• 2016 GLIAC Coach of the Year
• 14-1 in home games at VSU including 9-0 in 2021
• 30 All-GSC selections with 18 earning 1st team
• 16 All-GLIAC selections
