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TCU found its successor to Kendal Briles in Connecticut, hiring a coach described as methodical and detail-driven whose offenses are built from the inside out.
Gordon Sammis’ offenses have also been prolific. Oh, and Gordon Sammis looks like a football coach who would fit perfectly in a pair of those old coaching shorts from the 1980s.
The Horned Frogs on Thursday hired Sammis as the program’s new offensive coordinator to follow Briles, who left TCU for the same position at South Carolina.
Sammis will join the team upon the conclusion of UConn’s season in the Fenway Bowl against Army on Dec. 27. He is serving as interim head coach.
“I am excited to add Gordon to our staff and see the evolution of our offense under his watch,” TCU head coach Sonny Dykes said in a statement. “Gordon’s experiences and backgrounds will bring new wrinkles and looks to what we do on that side of the football, and those new ideas are going to elevate our entire offensive staff room. Gordon has impacted the offenses he’s worked with or run in significant ways, and his offenses win.”
A 2007 University of Virginia graduate, Sammis spent four years playing guard for the Cavaliers (2003-07).
"I would like to thank Sonny Dykes for the opportunity to lead the offense at TCU,” Sammis said. “This is a program with a history of explosive, dominant offenses, and I cannot wait to take the challenge of meeting those expectations head on.”
Over the past two seasons, Sammis directed UConn’s offense as the Huskies produced consecutive nine-win campaigns for the first time in program history. This fall, quarterback Joe Fagano threw for 3,448 yards — seventh nationally — with 28 touchdowns against a single interception, becoming the only quarterback since 1956, according to Sports-Reference.com, to eclipse 25 touchdown passes with one or fewer interceptions.
That efficiency was paired with protection and balance. UConn allowed just 1.25 sacks per game, the 18th-best rate nationally, while wide receiver Skyler Bell and running back Cam Edwards emerged as national standouts. Bell, a 2025 Biletnikoff Award finalist, averaged 106.5 receiving yards per game, ranking second nationally with 1,278 yards and 101 receptions. Edwards added 1,132 rushing yards, placing him 17th nationally.
With a bowl game still to play, Fagano sits 38 yards shy of the school’s single-season passing record, while Bell has already set a program mark for receptions and needs 77 more receiving yards to claim another. As a team, the Huskies are 210 yards of total offense and 18 points away from additional school records.
UConn’s 2025 season also included victories over ACC champion Duke and Boston College and marked the first time in program history the Huskies produced a 3,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard receiver, and a 1,000-yard rusher in the same season.
Sammis set the record-breaking tone in his first season (2024) directing the offense as UConn’s 5,169 yards of total offense ranked third while the 2,590 yards rushing ranked second all-time. The Huskies finished the year scoring 415 points, the second highest total in school history.
An offensive line coach by trade and tradition, Sammis served as the Huskies offensive line coach for three seasons as well. During that time, he coached offensive guard Christian Haynes who earned Associated Press and Sporting News All-American team honors in back-to-back seasons. Haynes became just the third Husky in the FBS era to garner All-American honors and the first to do it in consecutive seasons.
Haynes was a third-round pick by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2024 NFL Draft and tackle Chase Lundt was a sixth-round pick by the Buffalo Bills in the 2025 draft. UConn also saw their other tackle, Valentin Senn, sign a free agent deal with the Arizona Cardinals after the draft and interior lineman Christopher Fortin was a first-round pick of Calgary Stampeders in the 2025 CFL Draft.
Prior to UConn, Sammis spent three seasons (2019-21) as the offensive line coach at William & Mary and spent the final two seasons as the run game coordinator. During the 2021 season, William & Mary led the CAA in rushing yards with 203.7 yards per game.
In 2019, his first season on staff, W&M nearly doubled their scoring output year-over-year and averaged nearly 100 more total yards per game than it did in the season prior to his arrival. The offensive line's play boosted the Tribe's rushing attack, which increased its production on the ground by more than 130 yards per game and scored 21 more rushing touchdowns than the squad's 2018 figures. Additionally, the Tribe's 26 rushing touchdowns was just one shy of breaking into the program's single-season top-10 list.
Experiences prior to W&M included a two-year stint at Lafayette College (2017-18) as well as Virginia Military Institute (2015-16). He also coached at Columbia for three seasons (2012-14) working with the tight ends and offensive line.
Following his graduation from Virginia, Sammis returned to the school to work as a graduate assistant (2010-12) working with the offensive line and tight ends.
“I am looking forward to getting to Fort Worth, meeting with our players, learning from our staff, and attacking our 2026 plan right away,” Sammis said. “I would also like to thank coach Jim Mora for his trust in me, allowing me to lead our offense at UConn as well as our great players, coaches, staff, and fans. My time at UConn was unbelievable, and the relationships and memories I made there will last a lifetime."
Gordon Sammis' Coaching Stops
2010-12 Virginia, Graduate Assistant
2013-14 Columbia, Offensive Line/Tight Ends
2015-16 VMI, Offensive Line
2017-18 Lafayette, Offensive Line
2019-21 William and Mary, Offensive Line
2021-23 UConn, Offensive Line
2024-25 UConn, Offensive Coordinator (Interim HC – Bowl Game)
