Western Kentucky will have a new coach leading its offense next season.

The Hilltoppers announced Monday the addition of Zach Kittley as the team’s next offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Kittley had served in the same role at Houston Baptist since 2018.

“Really excited to have the opportunity to hire Zach. I think he is a dynamic coach that’s going to bring a lot of energy, brings a new flavor to the table,” WKU head coach Tyson Helton said Monday. “Obviously his body of work speaks for itself, to be honest with you. He’s done a fantastic job in the three years that he was the offensive coordinator at HBU. I think he’s going to be able to bring another dimension to our offense that I’m looking for.”

The announcement came less than 24 hours after WKU accepted an invitation to the LendingTree Bowl at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala., where it will face Georgia State on Dec. 26 at 2:30 p.m. CT.

Helton said Bryan Ellis will maintain offensive coordinator responsibilities for the game – a position he’s held in Helton’s two seasons as head coach – and that he hopes Ellis will remain with the program after the game.

Helton was the quarterbacks coach at UAB from 2007-11 while Ellis played the position there, and Helton served as the running backs coach the next year when Ellis was a graduate assistant. The two also worked as assistants together at WKU, and both worked under Helton’s brother, Clay Helton, at USC, before eventually returning to WKU.

“I think coach Ellis is a tremendous football coach, I think he brings great value to our program, and so I’m looking forward to him being a part of what we’re going to do offensively,” Helton said. “He’ll be working in an offensive role position – we’re going to get through the season and then sit down and talk about some other things. He’s going to be with us coaching the bowl – he’ll still be the offensive coordinator in the bowl and be running the show – and we’re looking forward to that next step hopefully with us when we get back in the new year and get going with the offense.”

Helton declined to comment on the rest of the staff, instead saying he would wait to see what happens when the offseason coaching carousel begins. Ryan Aplin joined the staff this season as co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach. Other offensive coaches on WKU’s staff this season – all of whom are still listed on the team’s roster – include Chris Chestnut (wide receivers), Mike Goff (offensive line) and Zach Lankford (tight ends). Stephen Hamby and Vince Lewis are listed in offensive quality control positions.

The second-year WKU head coach is excited about the timing of getting Kittley, who helped HBU have one of the top offenses in the FCS.

“I’m excited we were able to get Zach Kittley when we did, to be honest with you,” Helton said. “I wanted to get that going and secure that, and I think that was the first big piece in the puzzle, and then all of those other pieces will come in play once we get back in the new year.”

Houston Baptist played four games this fall and went 1-3. The losses were to North Texas, Texas Tech and Louisiana Tech. The Huskies beat Eastern Kentucky 33-30 on Oct. 3. Houston Baptist averaged 33.75 points per game this season and averaged 547.5 yards per game – 459.5 passing and 88 rushing.

Bailey Zappe accounted for nearly all of the play at quarterback, throwing for 1,833 yards and 15 touchdowns on 141 of 215 passing with one interception and a quarterback rating of 159.29 in the team’s four games. Zappe’s 567 yards passing against Texas Tech were the most ever for an FCS player against an FBS defense.

The Huskies had the best scoring offense and the best total offense of FCS teams to play multiple games last fall. Houston Baptist ranked second in the Southland Conference and 12th nationally in total offense at 426.6 yards per game, and the third-best passing offense nationally with 334.3 per game.

Zappe reportedly entered the transfer portal Monday, as well as HBU receivers Jerreth and Josh Sterns.

“It’s instant credibility. … You look at who he’s coached, you look at production he’s put up, you look at the people he’s learned from, you look at his tree he’s come from – it all speaks for itself,” Helton said. “Then you add on top of that that he is an excellent recruiter, he is a great communicator, he can sell a vision of what he’s trying to do. I think it’s going to help us tremendously from a recruiting standpoint, and we’re already seeing the signs of that, to be honest with you.”

Before his stint at Houston Baptist, Kittley spent three seasons as a graduate assistant and assistant quarterbacks coach at Texas Tech under Kliff Kingsbury, where he worked with current NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes, as well as Davis Webb, who finished his college career at Cal and was selected with the 87th overall pick by the New York Giants in the 2017 NFL Draft.

“I’m really excited for Zach and this opportunity at Western Kentucky,” Kingsbury, now the coach of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, said in a news release. “He is incredibly sharp and is definitely one of the brightest young minds in the game. That was obvious early at Texas Tech and he did a tremendous job for us; I know he had a big impact on Patrick Mahomes and was critical to his development.”

“I’m excited for Zach and his family to get this opportunity at Western Kentucky,” Mahomes said in a news release. “He’s a talented young coach who certainly made an impact on my career while we were together at Texas Tech. I appreciate the time he invested in me on and off the field, and I know he will do the same for the student-athletes at WKU. I’m looking forward to watching him continue his coaching career and wish him the best of luck.”

The Hilltoppers went 5-6 in the regular season and struggled offensively most of the year.

WKU has the worst scoring offense in Conference USA at 18.8 points per game. WKU’s total offense ranks only ahead of FIU in C-USA. The Hilltoppers averaged 290.9 yards per game – 126.9 per game rushing and 164 per game passing. The Hilltoppers currently rank 114th in scoring offense of the 127 FBS teams to play this fall and 120th in total offense.

Helton is hopeful those numbers can improve with Kittley now on the staff.

“I think you can check every box there, as far as to say, ‘OK, what does he bring to the table?’ “ Helton said. “I don’t think there’s a box unchecked in that scenario.”{&end}