Bluffton makes coaching change on eve of Week 2 game

Bluffton has moved on from Chris Hedden. 

The Division III program in northwest Ohio announced it has fired Hedden and named defensive coordinator Cody Crawford as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

Hedden was only in his second year on the job after taking over in March of 2025, and the change comes with the schedule already underway. The Beavers dropped their season opener to Ohio Wesleyan 68-9.

His first full season saw a finish of 5-5 overall for the HCAC program before they dropped the first game of the 2026 season to bring his record to 5-6 overall.

Hedden was not a short-résumé hire when Bluffton brought him in. He arrived with better than 30 years in the profession, most recently as offensive coordinator at Trine, where an earlier stint on that staff helped fuel back-to-back undefeated regular seasons and a 21-2 run. He also spent 2023 as the offensive coordinator at Ohio Northern and four seasons as the offensive run game coordinator at Bowling Green.

His MAC roots run even deeper than BGSU. Hedden also put in eight years at Toledo, working with the tight ends, offensive line, receivers and coordinator duties, and was part of two MAC championship staffs there. Stops at Akron, Northern Iowa and the high school level around Toledo round out a career built almost entirely on the offensive side.

Now the program turns to a defensive voice. Crawford steps up from coordinator to run the whole operation with the roster already in pads and games on the board, which is about the hardest version of an interim assignment there is. He inherits a team mid-stride and has to hold it together while the administration sorts out its next move.

Crawford is being asked to lead, evaluate and keep recruiting while everyone in the building knows a search is coming. Handle everything well and the "interim" can come off.

Bluffton has not laid out a reason for the split beyond the announcement itself, and the school has not said whether Crawford will be in the mix for the permanent job.

We will keep tabs on how the Beavers respond and where the search goes once the season wraps. They are set to take on Madonna (NAIA - MI) tomorrow at home and have Trine next weekend.

Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.