Western Kentucky football coach Tyson Helton has a key vacancy to fill on his staff, with another opening potentially to follow.

Bryan Ellis, who worked at WKU the previous three seasons and helped guide a record-breaking Hilltopper offense in 2021, has been named offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Georgia Southern. The Eagles’ head coach is Clay Helton – Tyson Helton’s brother.

Multiple news outlets have reported WKU offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Zach Kittley has agreed to become offensive coordinator at Texas Tech after serving for one season on Helton’s staff. No official announcement on Kittley’s potential hiring, first reported by Don Williams of the Lubbock-Avalanche Journal and RedRaiderSports.com, has been made by Texas Tech.

Both coaches had a hand in helping WKU go from one of the worst offenses in the nation in 2020 to one of the best in 2021. Ellis served this season as co-offensive coordinator/inside receivers coach for the Hilltoppers.

WKU ranks second in FBS with 43.1 points per game, averaging 5.2 offensive touchdowns per game. In 2021, WKU leads the nation with 436.5 passing yards per game, 43.9 yards above the next-best passing attack (Virginia, 392.6) and has had 85 passing plays of 20-plus yards with 22 of those going for touchdowns.

“We are very excited to introduce Bryan Ellis as our new offensive coordinator,” Clay Helton said in a news release. “Having worked with Bryan at USC, I had the opportunity to witness first-hand his ability to recruit and develop quarterbacks at an elite level. His leadership as a coordinator at Western Kentucky has taken the Hilltoppers to three straight bowl games and this year a conference championship game. This year’s offense ranks second in the nation in both scoring offense and total offense as well as holding the title as the top passing offense in the nation. As a Georgia native, he has extremely strong recruiting ties within our state. We look forward to his innovative style taking our offense to new heights.”

“I’ve been a fan of Georgia Southern my entire life,” Ellis said in a news release. “It’s an honor to be a part of a program with such a winning tradition and I look forward to doing my part in getting this place back to where it belongs.”

Prior to his new role at Georgia Southern, Ellis returned to WKU for his second stint with the Hilltoppers and served as the co-offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach for a Hilltopper team that put up record numbers in 2021 en route to a Conference USA championship game appearance. Heading into its bowl game, Ellis was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach during the 2020 and 2019 seasons.

Under Ellis’ tutelage, 11 different Hilltoppers had a touchdown reception and 14 different players caught at least four passes. Ellis tutored wide receiver Jerreth Sterns who was named a semifinalist for the 2021 Biletnikoff Award and has 137 receptions for 1,718 yards and 14 touchdowns. Sterns’ 111 catches lead the next-closest FBS receiver by 39 two receivers have 98), his 1,718 receiving yards rank first in the FBS and his 14 touchdowns are second in the country.

Ellis previously coached wide receivers (2016) and running backs (2015) during his first tour of duty with the Hilltoppers. Ellis came to WKU as an offensive quality control assistant in 2014 where he assisted in developing the quarterbacks.

After serving the previous three seasons as offensive coordinator at FCS-level Houston Baptist, Kittley garnered recognition as a Broyles Award nominee in his first season at WKU as one of the top assistant coaches in FBS. The 30-year-old native of Lubbock, Texas, helped orchestrate an explosive Hilltopper offense highlighted by a record-setting season from Houston Baptist graduate transfer quarterback Bailey Zappe.

For the year, Zappe is 442-of 639 passing (69.2%) for 5,545 yards, with 56 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. The all-time single-season FBS yardage record is 5,833 by Texas Tech’s B.J. Symons during his 14-game 2003 season, while the single-season FBS touchdown record is 60 by LSU’s Joe Burrow during his 15-game 2019 campaign. A performance by Zappe of 289 passing yards and five touchdowns in the Hilltoppers’ bowl game would eclipse both marks.

With a Conference USA championship game-record and career-high 577 yards at UTSA, Zappe became only the sixth quarterback in FBS history to achieve a 5,000-yard, 50-touchdown campaign. Zappe was named one of 10 Manning Award finalists, which honors the top quarterback in FBS, on Friday.

WKU is set to close out the 2021 season against Appalachian State in the Roofclaim.com Boca Raton Bowl on Dec. 18 in Boca Raton, Fla.{&end}