Scottie Hazelton is a veteran and well-respected mind in the college football coaching world. He joined Chris Klieman at Kansas State as his defensive coordinator and did a great job in 2019. Unfortunately, Hazelton was only in Manhattan for one season before going to join Mel Tucker at Michigan State in 2020.
When Tucker’s tenure came to an ugly end in Lansing, Hazelton joined the Texas Longhorns for the 2024 season as a special assistant to head coach Steve Sarkisian.
Well now, Hazelton is reportedly being considered by new Wake Forest head coach Jake Dickert for his opening at defensive coordinator, according to 247Sports.
Hazelton was hired by Kansas State to be the defensive coordinator before the 2019 season. In his one season at Kansas State, his defense ranked 2nd in the Big 12 Conference in scoring defense and 4th in the Big 12 Conference.
Prior to K-State, Hazelton was the defensive coordinator with Wyoming for the 2017 and 2018 season. In 2017, the Wyoming defense was 1st in the nation in takeaways, 9th in the nation in scoring defense, and 1st in the Mountain West Conference in sacks.
At Texas, Hazelton has been part of a veteran staff that is just beat Clemson 38-24 on Saturday in the first round of the College Football Playoff. Between Hazelton, co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Johnny Nansen, and defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, Texas has 35 years of defensive coordinator experience on Sarkisian’s staff.
Arizona State vs. Texas will be played on Wednesday January 1st, 2025 at 12:00 p.m. CT and air on ESPN.
We’ll see if Hazelton is part of the staff by the time the Peach Bowl rolls around.
