Sam Houston is down to six candidates for its head coach opening, sources tell Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. The Bearkats plan to announce the decision prior to their appearance in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl against Georgia Southern on Dec. 19 with it most likely becoming public on Monday or Tuesday of next week. 

The six finalists for the job are Shawn Bell, Matt Powledge, Phil Longo, Tim Daoust, Ra’Shaad Samples, and Curtis Luper. Sam Houston athletic director Bobby Williams and the decision makers at Sam are expected to host in-person interviews with a few of those candidates this week ahead of the ultimate decision. 

Bell is currently the quarterback coach at the University of Houston. His brother, Brian, played quarterback at Sam. Shawn was a quarterback at Baylor before beginning his coaching career in the high school ranks before returning to Waco as an offensive analyst in 2017. He’s worked with the offensive line, tight ends, and quarterbacks during his time as a college coach. 

Powledge was born and raised in Huntsville. He was a captain as a fullback for the Bearkats from 2005-09. He returned to Huntsville in 2014 to work as the special teams and running back coach. He’s currently the defensive coordinator at Baylor and has experience at Oregon and Kentucky. 

Longo was the offensive coordinator at Sam Houston from 2014-16, leading an explosive offense that averaged 547 yards in his final season in Huntsville. He’s since called plays at Ole Miss, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. He was a head coach at La Salle from 2004-05 with a 7-14 overall record. 

Samples is a future star in the coaching industry. At only 30 years old, he’s worked his way into the assistant head coach gig at No. 1-ranked Oregon. He’s also worked at SMU, Texas, Houston, and with the Los Angeles Rams. His father, Reginald, is a Texas coaching legend who has won multiple Class 6A titles at Duncanville south of Dallas. 

Daoust is another name familiar to Sam Houston fans after a stint as the assistant head coach and defensive line assistant from 2019-20. His defensive front helped the Bearkats lead the FCS in rush defense, third-down defense, and tackles for loss per game in 2019. He’s currently the defensive line coach at Pitt. 

Luper is a Texas native who played at Sherman High School in the 1980s before playing running back at Oklahoma State with Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders. He completed his eligibility at SFA while earning second-team All-Southland Conference in 1993 after serving as an air traffic controller for the U.S. Army. He was at TCU from 2013-2019 in various roles and is currently the running backs coach at Mizzou. 

Sam Houston went 9-3 and reached a bowl game in Year 2 as an FBS program. Former head coach K.C. Keeler took the job at Temple following the regular season. The Bearkats have only had four coaches since Ron Randleman took the job in 1982.