Friar Coaching Candidates: Bryan Hodgson

Could the USF head man be next at Providence?

Providence’s head coaching search has produced a familiar name at the top of the list — and it isn’t a surprise to anyone who has paid close attention to the mid-major landscape over the last three years.

Bryan Hodgson has won big at the NJCAA level, assisted in the re-development of an SEC powerhouse, stabilized a Sun Belt program in two seasons, and, most recently, turned South Florida into an American Athletic Conference champion in his first year at the helm.

The Friars are widely considered the premier head coaching vacancy in the country right now, and by many reports, Hodgson is the man they want.

What makes him such a compelling fit isn’t just the winning; it’s the arc. He has never inherited a finished product, and he has never needed one. From Olean, New York, to the doorstep of the Big East, here is a closer look at the coach Providence might bet on.

From Olean to the Sideline: Early Beginnings

Hodgson’s story resonates with many, especially the proverbial rough-and-tough PC crowd. Born to a teenage mother in Olean, New York, he was orphaned at the age of one, and found basketball to be an outlet.

A 2007 graduate (and two-time men’s basketball captain) at Jamestown Community College in his hometown, Hodgson moved to the coaching ranks after earning an Associate’s Degree in Social Sciences. He served as an assistant at Fredonia State from 2007-10 (Fredonia, New York), and earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Sports Management in 2011 before returning to Jamestown from 2010-13, where he’d continue to serve as an assistant, before jumping to another NJCAA team, Midland College, from 2013-15.

Mid-Major Magic: The Rise Through the Ranks

After a number of years at the NJCAA ranks, Hodgson finally got his chance at the Division I level, joining the staff of Nate Oats at Buffalo in 2015.

The Bulls would become a mid-major darling at this time, posting a 96-43 (.691) overall record, making the NCAA Tournament three times in four years by way of a trio of MAC Postseason Conference Titles (2015-16, 2017-18, and 2018-19). Most notably, Buffalo stunned Arizona in a 13-4 upset during the 2018 NCAA Tournament (89-68), and the Bulls finished 15th in the final AP Poll during the 2018-19 campaign thanks to a 32-4 record.

That latter year, the team would earn a 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament and topple their first-round foe, Arizona State (91-74), giving the program their first (and only) back-to-back seasons with an NCAA Tournament win.

When Oats took the head job at Alabama in March 2019, Hodgson followed — and promptly cemented himself as one of the premier recruiters in the country. His 2022 class finished fifth nationally and fourth overall in 247Sports’ composite rankings, featuring a pair of first round 2023 NBA Draft picks in Brandon Miller (3rd overall) and Noah Clowney (21st overall), four-star sharpshooter Rylan Griffin (now at Texas A&M), and Jaden Bradley, who would transfer to Arizona but went on to win Big 12 Player of the Year, earn USBWA Third Team All-American recognition, and land on the Naismith Player of the Year Watch List this year.

Alabama made the NCAA Tournament four times during Hodgson’s five years on staff, including a first-place finish in the Final AP Poll in 2022-23 and a Final Four appearance the following year.

His first head coaching opportunity came at Arkansas State in 2023-24, where he inherited a 20-loss program and immediately flipped the script — back-to-back 20-win seasons (20-17 in 2023-24, 25-11 in 2024-25) with postseason appearances in each (CBI and NIT, respectively). That turnaround earned him the keys to South Florida, where he was named the successor to interim HC Ben Fletcher following the tragic and sudden passing of Bulls’ head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim in October 2024.

Immediate success followed — as it so often has for Hodgson. South Florida’s 25-8 record this past season has tied him with Abdur-Rahim for the most single-season wins in program history, while their 15-3 mark in American Athletic Conference play stands as the second-most single-season conference wins in program history (Abdur-Rahim guided the group to a 16-2 AAC record in 2023-24). The Bulls also swept the AAC regular/postseason titles for the first time in school history, and have made the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time, earning an 11-seed in the East Region versus Louisville. They fell to the Cardinals in the Round of 64, 83-79, (yet had a valiant comeback after trailing by 20+ in the second half).

The Coaching Style: Run, Rebound, Repeat

Hodgson deployed one of the fastest units in the country at South Florida this past season* — the Bulls ranked 15th in possessions per game (71.6), 17th in average offensive possession length (15.7 seconds), and 79th in defensive possession length (17.1 seconds). His teams have also been relentless on the glass: South Florida ranked 3rd nationally in offensive rebounds per game (15.5), while his Arkansas State groups hauled in 13.2 and 13.4 offensive boards per game in 2023-24 and 2024-25, respectively.

Naturally, that volume of second-chance opportunities fuels additional shot attempts — which helps explain the scoring numbers, even when efficiency lags behind.

In 2023-24, the Red Wolves ranked 53rd in points per game (78.8), but were 216th in team field goal percentage (44.1%). A year later, Hodgson’s group finished 50th in average scoring (79.4), but shot 42.6%, 296th overall. This year’s South Florida group was eighth with 87.7 points per game, yet was 261st (43.9%) from the field.

It’s an offensive philosophy featuring a steady dose of three-point shooting, but there haven’t been any promising results from the perimeter to date. This past year at South Florida, the Bulls attempted the 24th-most three-pointers per game (29), yet were just 32.5% from deep as a team, ranking 255th nationally.

His Arkansas State team attempted 26.8 per game (25th) in 2023-24, shooting 34.4% from behind the arc (154th), and were 17th in the nation with 29 attempts per game in 2024-25, but with a 32.2% clip ranking 259th countrywide.

Hodgson’s group with the Bulls this year featured a steady blend of scoring, with five players averaging ten or more: junior guard and 1st-Team All American Conference honoree Wes Enis (16.8 PPG, 40% FG, 36.5% 3PT), senior forward/ American Conference Player of the Year Izaiyah Nelson (15.7 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 56.2% FG), senior guards Joseph Pinion (14.2 PPG, 37.9% 3PT) and Josh Omajofo (11.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 46.1% FG), and sophomore guard C. J. Brown (11.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 4.8 APG).

Defensively, Hodgson has consistently fielded connected, communicative groups capable of holding their own. South Florida surrendered 75.5 points per game this season (232nd nationally), but — much like on the offensive end — that figure is more a byproduct of pace than defensive breakdowns. Opponents weren’t lighting it up from the field; they were simply getting more possessions.

*Editor’s Note: Stats for the 2025-26 season do not include NCAA Tournament play.

Show Me the Money: Financial Ramifications

Now for the financials. Hodgson signed a six-year, $8.25 million deal with the Bulls in April 2025, per public data, with an initial buyout of $2 million that decelerates annually thereafter. Early reports have indicated that he has a competitive offer to remain in Tampa on the table, while other sources have indicated that Hodgson bowed out of a potential reunion with his upstate New York roots and the opening at Syracuse earlier this week, seemingly deciding between a return to South Florida or a trip to Providence.

For context on the two programs in play: Syracuse invested a reported $8 million in its roster this past season, finishing 15-17 (6-12 in the ACC) before firing of fourth-year head coach Adrian “Red” Autry. Meanwhile, an estimated $10 million outlay for PC in 2025-26 yielded similarly disappointing returns — a 15-18 record and 7-13 showing in Big East play (9th in the standings, despite a preseason fourth-place projection), leading to the dismissal of third-year coach Kim English.

Still, the Friars are uniquely positioned to escalate: with no football program eating into the athletic budget and the benefit of the Big East’s revenue-sharing model, Providence is projected to continue to push its investment in basketball going forward — even while absorbing a prorated $8 million buyout owed to English over the next few years.

The Bottom Line

Hodgson is a young, no-nonsense head coach with elite recruiting instincts and a track record of building programs from the ground up — the exact profile Providence has been searching for. The Friars are the best available job in the country right now, and it could be his for the taking. A league that prides itself on the hard-nosed approaches of Dan Hurley, Rick Pitino, Shaheen Holloway, and Kevin Willard would be a natural home for a coach cut from the same cloth.

From Olean, to the NJCAA ranks, to Tuscaloosa and now Tampa, Hodgson has earned every step of this moment. He stabilized Arkansas State in two years, won at South Florida in year one, and has quietly built the kind of resume that demands a Big East platform. Time will tell whether or not a deal to relocate Hodgson gets done.