JMU Co-OC Drew Mehringer Reportedly Leaving for Houston

Nothing is official just yet, but according to reports by the DNR’s Matt Jones JMU’s Drew Mehringer is set to join the coaching staff at the University of Houston. The 27 year old Mehringer served as the Dukes’ co-offensive coordinator along with Brad Davis this past season. If the move to Houston is made official, he’d be joining the staff of new head coach Tom Herman. Drew has a history with Herman, previously serving as one of his graduate assistants at both Iowa State and Ohio State. The move would also allow him to return to his native Texas, where he played QB at Rice. There are no details about what position he’ll have on Herman’s new coaching staff.

JMU’s offense was prolific and shattered several school records under Mehringer and Davis this past season. Davis coached the offensive line and running backs, while Mehringer coached the QBs and receivers. He also called the plays. He’s credited with helping QB Vad Lee adapt to the new offensive system and develop as a passer throughout the season. By all accounts he was well liked by players and is a good recruiter.

If this comes to fruition and Mehringer does leave, it will be disappointing, but not the end of the world. When Withers assembled such a young staff the hope was that at least a few stars would emerge and guys would get poached. We’d be lying if we said we thought it would happen after just one season, but it did. And it’s not the worst thing in the world for a program to develop a reputation as a place where guys can come in and get noticed. Mehringer will leave big shoes to fill, but Brad Davis will provide some consistency on the offensive side. Ideally, Withers will bring in another bright offensive mind ready to build on the success Mehringer, Davis, Vad Lee and the offense had this year and either run the same system or some variation of it. There’s really no need to push the panic button.

Finally, if worse comes to worst, I think Withers should just figure out some way to let the fans call plays on gameday. It’s clearly not that difficult. At least it must not be the way that so many fans (including yours truly) are so ready to question every play call on blogs, Twitter, or from the stands week in and week out. OK, so it might be slightly harder than some of us think, but I’m confident Withers, Davis, and the rest of the staff can welcome someone new and build on this year’s success.