Travis Trickett joined head coach Tim Beck’s staff in December 2022 as the Chanticleers’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
In his first season at Coastal, the Chanticleers ranked 19th in the nation in completion percentage, 23rd in team passing efficiency, and 24th in sacks allowed. Coastal completed 273 passes on 410 attempts, the second-most ever for the Chants in a single season in both categories, while wide receiver Sam Pinckney set the school's single-season record with 72 pass receptions and became the Sun Belt's all-time leader in receiving yards while also setting an NCAA record with 58 consecutive games with a reception.
Coastal reeled off five consecutive wins, including the program's first win ever at Appalachian State, while starting three different quarterbacks due to injury. Pinckney, offensive lineman Will McDonald, offensive lineman Nick Del Grande, and wide receiver Jared Brown were all named all-Sun Belt performers
Trickett, who has worked on staffs with notable coaches such as Bobby Bowden, Jimbo Fisher, Nick Saban, and Rich Rodriquez, has served nine seasons as an offensive coordinator with additional stints at South Florida (2022), Georgia State (2017-18), Florida Atlantic (2016), and Samford (2012-15).
Trickett came to Coastal after serving one season at South Florida as the Bulls’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2022.
In his lone season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at USF in 2022, Trickett oversaw a major improvement in the Bulls’ offensive production despite guiding an offense that had a first-year primary ball carrier, three different starting quarterbacks, and saw 14 projected starters or members of the two deep miss all or parts of the season.
Trickett orchestrated major improvements in total offense (350.9 to 390.8 ypg), rushing offense (158.5 to 197.9 ypg), scoring offense (23.2 to 28.0 ppg), third down conversions (34.3 to 39.1 percent), red zone conversions (76.7 to 85.1 percent), pass efficiency (107.56 to 130.22), passing touchdowns (6 to 18), 100-yard rushers (3 to 10), and explosive plays (83 to 96) from 2021.
The Bulls posted seven 200-yard rushing games on the year and 25 rushing touchdowns for the second-straight season. The South Florida rushing offense ranked 28th nationally with an average of 197.9 ypg, posted 5.4 yards per carry, and averaged 6.1 yards per play, which all rank in the top five of the Bulls’ single-season record book.
Sophomore running back Brian Battie became just the sixth 1,000-yard rusher in program history and first since 2018, as he ran for a career-best 1,186 yards and eight touchdowns to finish second in rushing in the AAC and log the sixth-best rushing season in USF history. Battie tied a USF record with five-straight 100-yard rushing games to end the 2022 campaign and his seven 100-yard games on the year rank third all-time in a season at USF. His 98.8 yards per game average ranked fifth in program history and his 6.7 yards per carry ranked fourth. Battie also set a program record with 1,936 all-purpose yards on the year, adding 659 kick return yards and 14 catches for 91 receiving yards to his rushing total.
Meanwhile, wide receiver Xavier Weaver posted career-bests of 53 catches for 718 yards and six touchdowns, posting the fifth-best season in program history in receptions and yardage. Wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. caught eight passes for 180 yards vs. ECU for the fourth-best receiving yardage game in program history and walk-on Sean Atkins posted nine catches for 115 yards and a touchdown at Tulsa for the ninth-best reception total in program history.
USF posted four of its top five offensive yardage games of the season in its final five games, despite starting a sophomore, backup quarterback for three games and a true-freshman, backup quarterback for two after losing junior starter Gerry Bohanon to a shoulder injury in Game 7. The Bulls averaged 444.38 yards and 31.8 ppg over that stretch with numerous starters missing beyond the quarterback, including the team’s leading receiver for the last two games. The Bulls' three quarterbacks combined to complete 57 percent of their passes for 2,301 yards, 18 touchdowns, and nine interceptions on the year.
He ventured to South Florida after serving three seasons on Neal Brown’s staff at his alma mater West Virginia as the inside receivers and tight ends coach from 2019-21.
In 2021, inside wide receiver Winston Wright Jr. earned Big 12 All-Conference honors for the second straight year, adding honorable-mention honors to his 2020 second-team selection, as he led the Mountaineers in receiving for the second straight year posting 63 catches for 688 yards and five touchdowns.
In 2020, West Virginia had one of the most improved offenses in the nation in terms of total yards, showing gains of more than 60 yards rushing per game, almost 30 yards passing, more than 90 yards of total offense, and almost seven more points a game. Wright Jr. was a second-team all-conference selection after leading the Mountaineers with 47 catches for 553 yards and two touchdowns, while tight end Mike O’Laughlin finished with 15 catches for 137 yards and a touchdown.
Trickett previously served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Georgia State for two seasons from 2017-18.
In 2018, his quarterback, Dan Ellington, threw only five interceptions in 292 pass attempts to rank No. 2 in the Sun Belt Conference and No. 14 in the nation. Wide receiver Penny Hart, a three-time All-Sun Belt selection, finished his career as the fourth-leading receiver in conference history and was selected to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl. Offensive lineman Hunter Atkinson also was named to the all-league team.
In 2017, the Panthers finished with a school-record seven wins, marking their first winning season at the FBS level. Trickett’s offense established school records for the highest completion percentage and fewest interceptions in a season (9) as well as the most total yards in a game (670) and the most points against an FBS opponent (47). Quarterback Conner Manning earned All-Sun Belt honors and was the most valuable player in the Panthers’ bowl win over Western Kentucky, the first bowl game victory in school history. Hart led the league with a school-record 74 receptions for 1,121 yards and eight touchdowns.
In 2016, Trickett served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Florida Atlantic. His offensive unit set FAU season records for rushing yards (2,519), yards per carry (4.8), and rushing touchdowns (31), as well as most yards in a game (647), while the Owls receiving corps produced seven 100-yard efforts.
Prior to FAU, Trickett served five seasons at Samford, including the last four as the Bulldogs’ offensive coordinator. He helped Samford record five straight winning seasons, highlighted by a Southern Conference championship and NCAA FCS playoff berth in 2013. He coached 23 all-conference selections in four years as the play-caller.
In 2015, Trickett employed a pair of quarterbacks, and the duo led the nation in completion percentage (69.7 percent) while combining for 3,662 yards and 22 touchdowns passing. The Bulldogs posted a season-high 752 yards against Florida A&M and set school season records for completions (324) and first downs (324).
Samford’s 2014 offense averaged more than 30 points per game while posting the program’s largest margin of victory in a Southern Conference game (45-0 at Furman) and the program’s largest output in a SoCon game (63 points vs. VMI).
In 2013, he mentored record-setting quarterback Andy Summerlin, the Southern Conference Player of the Year, who passed for a school-record 3,640 yards.
Trickett coached the slot receivers and tight ends in his first season at Samford in 2011.
Trickett’s coaching experience also includes graduate assistantships at Florida State and Alabama. He spent three seasons (2008-10) with the Seminoles, working under Bobby Bowden and Jimbo Fisher, and before that, was an offensive graduate assistant on Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide staff in 2007.
During these two stints, he worked with quarterbacks Christian Ponder and E.J. Manuel at FSU and John Parker Wilson and Greg McElroy at Alabama.
Trickett began his coaching career as a student assistant at West Virginia from 2003-07, where he served under coach Rich Rodriguez and worked with record-setting quarterback Pat White.
A native of Hattiesburg, Miss., Trickett earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing from West Virginia in 2007 and his master’s degree from Florida State in sports administration in 2009.
Trickett, and his wife, Tiffany, also a WVU graduate with a bachelor’s degree in nursing, have three children, Maverick, Camilla, and Holden.
His father, Rick Trickett, is currently the offensive line coach at Jacksonville State. A long-time, well-respected collegiate coach, he had notable stints at West Virginia, Mississippi State, Auburn, LSU, and Florida State under Jimbo Fisher, helping win the 2013 BCS National Championship.
His younger brother, Clint, is currently the pass game coordinator at Georgia Southern, where he also coaches tight ends and inside receivers. He's previously worked at Florida Atlantic and Marshall.
His younger brother, Chance, is a scout for the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams.
Travis Trickett’s Coaching History
2003-06: West Virginia (Student Assistant)
2007: Alabama (Graduate Assistant)
2008-10: Florida State (Graduate Assistant)
2011: Samford (Slot/Tight Ends)
2012-15: Samford (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks)
2016: Florida Atlantic (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks)
2017-18: Georgia State (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks)
2019-21: West Virginia (Inside Receivers/Tight Ends)
2022: South Florida (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks)
2023-present: Coastal Carolina (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks)
