Back in 2017, Mike Nesbitt was tabbed with building the Ottawa University Arizona program from scratch.
Proving to be the perfect man for that task, Nesbitt - who previously went 25-17 in four seasons as the head coach at West Texas A&M - had OUAZ competing immediately, leading them to a 7-4 mark in their debut season. A year later, in just their second season as a member of the Sooner Athletic Conference under Nesbitt, they won the league and punched their ticket to the NAIA playoffs, where they lost in the first round.
After stepping away from the program in 2024 with a 51-14 mark, in what has to mark one of the most impressive NAIA debuts of a startup program in the past several decades, Nesbitt took an opportunity at the FCS level, where he became the offensvie coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Houston Christian (FCS - TX).
After just over a year in that role, Nesbitt is heading to the major college football ranks.
Sources tell FootballScoop the decorated former NAIA leader is set to join the staff of Brent Brennan at Arizona.
In Tuscon, Nesbitt is set to serve as a special teams analyst where he will work with the specialists. Nesbitt is a former punter at New Mexico who also spent time in the NFL.
Before leading OUAZ to conference titles in 2019, 2021 and 2023, Nesbitt's other coaching stops as an assistant include three seasons as the offensive coordinator at West Texas A&M. He started his coaching career with the Buffaloes as the quarterbacks/receivers coach. Other stops in Nesbitt’s coaching career include important ties to the region at Blinn College (JC - TX), Stephen F. Austin (FCS - TX), Houston, and Howard Payne (D-III - TX).
The hire brings an accomplished small college head coach to Arizona to work with special teams where he will work alongside special teams coordinator Craig Naivar, the former defensive coordinator at Coastal Carolina in 2023 and 2024.
At Arizona, he joins Brent Brennan as the veteran FBS head coach heads into his third season in the desert. Brennan went 4-8 in his debut season in 2024 before a breakout 9-4 campaign this past fall. Before taking the Arizona job, Brennan turned around San Jose State, winning a combined 14 games in his last two seasons leading the Spartans.
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