Southern Miss football coach Jay Hopson has found his new offensive coordinator
Louisiana-Monroe offensive coordinator Matt Kubik has been hired to take on the same role for the Southern Miss football program, the Sun Herald has confirmed through a source.
He replaces Buster Faulkner, who stepped down after one season to become an offensive analyst at Georgia.
If recent stats are any indication, Kubik should bring an increased focus on the ground game for the USM offense, which has struggled to run the ball the last two seasons.
Kubik, who is a former Louisiana Tech quarterback, served on the ULM staff for four seasons and helped turn the Warhawks into a balanced attack on offense. They averaged 253.4 yards passing and and 207.4 yards rushing during a 5-7 season in 2019.
ULM was one of just five programs that averaged at least 250 yards passing and 200 yards rushing this past season, joining Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma and UCF.
Kubik likely made a strong impression on USM head coach Jay Hopson when the Golden Eagles and Warhawks played in 2017 and 2018 with the two teams splitting games.
The Warhawks won 21-20 over USM in Hattiesburg on Sept. 15, 2018, behind an balanced offensive showing that had ULM quarterback Caleb Evans throwing for 195 yards and a pair of touchdowns. On the ground, the Warhawks ran 30 times for 159 yards.
In the 28-17 USM win over ULM in Monroe in 2017, the Warhawks ran 37 times for 218 yards and two touchdowns while accounting for 112 yards through the air.
Matt Kubik’s background
Prior to joining ULM in 2016, Kubik served two seasons as the offensive coordinator at Stephen F. Austin. The Lumberjacks averaged 427.9 yards and 28.7 yards a game in 2015 after putting up 460.8 and 32.7 the year prior.
In other coaching stops, Kubik was the receivers coach at Central Arkansas from 2011-13 and worked on the offensive staff at Northwestern (La.) State from 2007-10.
Kubik was a two-year starter at quarterback from Louisiana Tech, throwing for 4,020 yards and 28 career touchdowns. In his senior year, he threw for 2,202 yards and 18 scores.
This story was originally published February 14, 2020 at 6:18 PM.
