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Doege felt it in his bones: he was going to become the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Wildcats’ next offensive coordinator.

When ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ football chief of staff Ben Thienes picked up Doege at ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ International Airport, “it was an immediate vibe,â€� Doege said.

“From the moment I stepped off the plane, to the moment I got home, it just felt right. ... It was immediate for me,� Doege said during his introductory press conference on Friday. “I think that’s why it went so smooth in the interview process because the vibe with the coaching staff, the vibe with Coach (Brent) Brennan, the vibe with the support guys, it was immediate. It just felt right.�

Although this is the fifth job in as many years for Doege, the first-year offensive coordinator considers ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ a destination job.

“There was something about this place that I’ve always said I wanted to be here,� he said. “It’s really exciting for me. This is not a job for me that’s, ‘Hey, let me see if I can go score some points and find the next one.’

“This one to me is, ‘Let’s go win a championship here. Let’s do something special and stay here for the long haul.’ To me, this is a special place.�

Brennan, who interviewed “a handful� of coaches for the offensive coordinator vacancy, said the hiring process “was really interesting.�

“We talked to a lot of great football coaches. At the end of the day, our conversation and time with Seth was really compelling,� Brennan said. “He was in the facility, around our coaching staff. We talked football, we talked philosophy, we talked big picture and fine details. We were incredibly impressed with how he thinks (and) his philosophy on football.�

The inception of Doege’s coaching career started when he was a youngster growing up in west Texas, where his father, Randy, was the head coach of Iraan High School and Crane High School, which is less than an hour away from the home of “Friday Night Lights� in Odessa, Texas. In nine years as a coach, the older Doege had a 95-18 record.

“I’m biased ... but he’s the best coach I’ve ever been around,� Seth Doege said. “I’ve been around some major names. He was a little, small high school football coach but the reason why he was elite at what he did was because he cared about kids. ... Indirectly, he taught me how to be a better coach because I watched him exemplify what it means to actually be a coach.�

Doege’s ties to Texas, a state ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ is targeting for recruits now that the Wildcats are in the Big 12, and California, where he was an assistant at USC for three years, “was something that was really impactful in our decision,â€� Brennan said.

Doege signed with Texas Tech in 2008 to play for Air Raid offense pioneer Mike Leach, who died exactly two years before Doege accepted the offensive coordinator job at ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥. Tommy Tuberville was Doege’s coach at TTU from 2010-12 after Leach was fired. In four seasons at TTU, Doege passed for 8,636 yards, 69 touchdowns and 26 interceptions with a 69% completion rate.

Doege finished his senior season third in college football in passing yards (4,205), second in touchdown passes (39) and was a Davey O’Brien Award finalist. Doege has the fourth-most career passing yards in TTU history behind Graham Harrell, Kliff Kingsbury and Patrick Mahomes.

“I do like the idea of having the play-caller play the quarterback position,� Brennan said. “Playing that position gives you a unique insight.�

Leach instilled an unshakeable confidence and mentality in his players where “it didn’t matter the circumstances, it didn’t matter where the ball was placed down, all 11 guys on the field believed in what we were doing and they all believed that they could be the best at doing their job, and that’s how we scored points,� Doege said.

“We expected to score every time we touched the football,� Doege said. “I’ll take that with me wherever I go. The first thing I’ll talk about with the unit is there needs to be a mentality changed. ... If the ball is placed down, we’re going to score points. Period. That’s what he created and I think that’s why he was so successful.�

Doege added, “If you can average 30 points per game in the Big 12, you’re going to give yourself a chance to win.â€� ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ scored under 30 points in 11 games this season; it went 3-8 in those games.

The 35-year-old Doege officially started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Bowling Green in 2016, before moving on to become an assistant at USC, Ole Miss and Purdue.

In that span, Doege worked with Harrell, who was USC’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, along with Trojans head coach Clay Helton and Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin.

“That was compelling, who raised him in this profession,� Brennan said. “That’s one thing that I always think about when I’m hiring coaches, is who did he come up under? He learned from some of the best offensive minds in football and I think that’s really special.�

Doege became a first-time play-caller this year at Marshall, which averaged the 40th-most points in college football with an average of 31.8 points per game. ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ is second-to-last in the Big 12 with 21.8 points per game this season.

Doege took the lessons learned from Leach and other mentors and “put my own flavor on it at Marshall,â€� said the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ offensive coordinator.

Marshall quarterback Braylon Braxton finished the season 39th nationally with 19 touchdown passes. After passing for 1,431 yards and 17 touchdowns and rushing for 610 yards and four touchdowns, Braxton was named Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year.

Despite the Air Raid foundation, Marshall has more rushing yards (2,622) than passing yards (2,354) this season, a tactic that was “efficient� and “flexible to personnel.�

“If you have a quarterback like (ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ quarterback Noah Fifita), you can grip it and rip it,â€� Doege said. “If you don’t, you can still win games and score points, which is the name of the game.â€�

Doege’s system is “simple to learn, so the kids can play free in their minds and play fast and not have to worry about different roles or a million different plays in the game; they can just go play free,� he said.

“I think we’ve curated a flexible offense that you can do it through the air or through the ground and be very efficient — and score a lot of points,� Doege said.

Whether it’s a run-heavy or pass-heavy scheme, depending on the available personnel, Doege’s offense has a “tempo aspect to it that allows you to equalize any deficiencies for any matchup problem you have during the game because you’re playing fast and you can get people tired.�

Doege’s pace is a stark contrast to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s offense last season, which had slow-developing plays and struggled to find a rhythm under former offensive coordinator Dino Babers, who handed off play-calling duties to tight ends coach Matt Adkins at the start of Big 12 play.

Marshall’s flexible offense helped the Thundering Herd go 10-3 and win the Sun Belt Conference championship.

“Those are things we want to do here,â€� Brennan said. “We want to be in competition for the Big 12 and we think bringing him here and getting the opportunity to work with our players and being in this community is going to be impactful for what we want to do at the University of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.â€�

Doege was also impactful in landing players in the transfer portal at Marshall. In the last recruiting cycle, Marshall signed 17 offensive players in the transfer portal.

“The sell there was, ‘Hey, I’m coming to bet on myself here. Come do it with me and we’ll do something special,’ which we did,� Doege said. “Through the recruiting process, I felt like I got really, really close with those kids and they trusted me.�

Doege will have to replicate the same recruiting efforts in the transfer portal with an ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ offense that currently has six starters returning, including Fifita, and is losing two potential first-round draft picks in wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan and offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea.

Doege is also recruiting UA players entering the transfer portal, including tight end Keyan Burnett, who Doege tried recruiting to USC. Doege’s pitch: “’Hey, man, just give me a chance and I think you’ll really enjoy the brand and environment that you’ll be in offensively and it’ll be a change from what you’ve been a part of.’�

Keeping Fifita, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s two-year starter, “is priority No. 1 for me because obviously this offense is a lot better if Noah is behind center.â€�

“Noah is a real dude. I’m excited about being able to have the opportunity to coach him,� Doege said. “I’ve already sent him a couple of text messages and we’ve been texting back-and-forth. ... I’m really excited about the quarterback. He makes this thing go.�

Essential traits Doege looks for in a quarterback: “Is he a winner? Is he competitive? Can he control a locker room?� he said. Additionally, accuracy and athleticism are important qualities for a quarterback.

Fifita, despite a drop-off in production this season, checks all of the boxes.

“We all know how much we love Noah and how important he is to the program. When you combine his talent with who he is as a man, he’s just such an impactful player in our program, at the university and in the city of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥,â€� Brennan said. “I think it’s going to be fun to watch them collaborate and work together.â€�

Fifita isn’t one of the nearly 30 UA players in the transfer portal, but “whatever decision Noah makes, if he chooses to stay, he’ll be in an incredible place with Seth and him working together,� Brennan said.

Whoever is playing quarterback for the Wildcats, whether it’s Fifita or someone else, “I feel like I’m at a place that can go compete,� Doege said.

“If I didn’t feel that way, I don’t know if I’d be here,� said Doege.

“That’s something that’s important to me. ... Here, there’s a tradition of winning and an expectation to win, so everyone is pulling the rope in the same direction to do that. ... It’s time to go make this thing right.�