North Carolina offensive coordinator Blake Anderson will become coach of the Arkansas State Red Wolves, athletic director Terry Mohajir said Thursday.
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn left Arkansas State after one season last year, just as Mississippi coach Hugh Freeze had done a year earlier.
Defensive coordinator John Thompson will serve as the interim coach when Arkansas State faces Ball State in the GoDaddy Bowl on Jan. 5.
Anderson served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at North Carolina, which was 6-6 this season and will face Cincinnati in the Belk Bowl on Dec. 28.
His offensive approach will fit in well at Arkansas State, which has gone through a flurry of offensive-minded head coaches since the firing of former coach Steve Roberts following the 2010 season.
The one-and-done approach has worked well for the Red Wolves. They are 27-11 over the last three seasons under Freeze, Malzahn and Harsin.
Prior to a 10-3 record under Freeze in 2011, Arkansas State had finished above .500 only once during that span, and the school’s back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2011-12 was the first time it had won in double digits since it was a member of the I-AA Southland Conference in 1986.
