Buffalo has quickly found its next football coach on the heels of Lance Leipold's sudden departure, announcing the hire of Michigan co-defensive coordinator Maurice Linguist on Friday. Linguist had just joined the Wolverines staff in January amid a defensive overhaul by coach Jim Harbaugh, but will now move on to his new venture without having served in one game as an assistant in Ann Arbor.
Linguist, 37, is set to begin his first stint as a head coach at the FBS level with Buffalo after making multiple stops throughout a coaching career that began in 2007. In addition to serving as an assistant with the Buffalo program from 2012-13, Lunguist has also made stops at Iowa State, Minnesota, Mississippi State and Texas A&M. He's even dipped his toes into the NFL as recently as last season, serving as defensive backs coach with the Dallas Cowboys prior to joining the Michigan staff for his brief stint.
In recent days, it was reported Buffalo had narrowed its search down to two candidates: Linguist and current Minnesota co-defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak.
Linguist will be taking over for Leipold, who last month accepted the head coaching position at Kansas following the Jayhawks program suddenly parting ways with Les Miles.
