It’s not often that you see a team make a coaching change in the middle of a game, but that’s exactly what happened with one college football program.
During Saturday’s game against the Oregon State Beavers, Colorado State Rams defensive coordinator Tyson Summers was relieved of his duties and ultimately dismissed from the team in the middle of the game.
Summers Fired
While Summers spent the past two seasons as the team’s defensive coordinator, CSU’s defense struggled in its two most recent games, giving up 100 points and 1,101 total yards of offense between its matchups against BYU and UTSA.
Things were not going well against Oregon State, either, as the Beavers scored 35 points in the first half alone before eventually finishing with 56 points.
That seemed to prompt a change.
Late in the first half, Summers could no longer be seen on the sideline with the rest of the team, leading to some questions about his status.
Eventually, the USA Sports TV broadcast confirmed that Kenny McClendon took over as the team’s defensive play-caller.
‘That is permanent’
After the game, Colorado State head coach Jim Mora was asked about the situation involving Summers and he confirmed that Summers was indeed relieved of his duties and is no longer with the team.
“Tyson was relieved of his playcalling duties. He left the field and is no longer with this football program. That is a permanent [move],” Mora said postgame. “Kenny [McClendon] will be the primary play caller. He was put in a very difficult situation tonight, and he responded well. The players responded well. Very first play he called as a defensive coordinator in his life was a sack that caused a fumble. We’re gonna get better. A lot better. He’s a good football coach.”
In addition to serving as the team’s defensive coordinator the past two seasons, Summers served as Colorado State‘s interim head coach for its final five games following the firing of former head coach Jay Norvell.
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