Longtime UAB staffer Bryant Vincent is headed back to the southeast as head football coach at Louisiana-Monroe, it was announced Tuesday.

Vincent — who spent the 2023 season as offensive coordinator at New Mexico — will take over the Warhawks, who fired Terry Bowden last month after three seasons. ULM went 2-10 in 2023, including 0-8 in the Sun Belt Conference.

Vincent helped improve the Lobos’ offense from dead last in total offense in 2022 (228.1 ypg) to the 47th-ranked offense this past season (410.6 ypg). New Mexico finished the 2023 season ranked 74th in passing offense (217.9 ypg) and 19th in rushing offense (192.7 ypg), and running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt, a former Sidney Lanier standout and Alabama State transfer, finished as the 17th-leading rusher in the nation with 1,190 yards and 17 touchdowns.

“We are fired up to welcome Coach Bryant Vincent to our Warhawk family and lead ULM football,” ULM athletics director John Hartwell said. “Coach Vincent is bringing passion, positivity and a proven plan to guide our football program to levels of success we have not seen since becoming an FBS program. He is a relationship guy, and that will resonate with our student-athletes, prospective recruits, his coaching staff, the University, Northeast Louisiana and all of Warhawk Nation.”

The 48-year-old Vincent spent the bulk of his career in the state of Alabama, first working as a high school coach for more than a decade before joining the South Alabama staff as tight ends coach under Joey Jones in 2011. He worked his way up to assistant head coach and offensive coordinator before resigning midway through the 2017 season.

Vincent then joined close friend Bill Clark as offensive coordinator at UAB, where he helped the Blazers to 35 victories and a pair of Conference USA championships from 2018-21. When Clark retired for health reasons during the summer of 2022, Vincent stepped in as interim coach.

The Blazers went 7-6 with Vincent at the helm, but he was passed over for the permanent job in favor of Trent Dilfer. Vincent landed at New Mexico, which went 4-8 and fired head coach Danny Gonzales after the season.

“I am beyond excited and honored to be the head football coach at ULM,” Vincent said. “I am confident with the leadership and vision of President Dr. Ron Berry and Athletic Director John Hartwell that we will build a championship program. Now is the time for the Warhawk family to all come together as one.”

A Kentucky native who attended college at West Alabama, Vincent was 49-16 as a high school head coach in stints at Greenville and Spanish Fort. He led the Toros to the 2010 Class 5A state championship before moving into the college game.