NMSU football introduces David Yost as next offensive coordinator
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico - NM State will enter the 2025 season with a new play caller on the headset as Head Coach Tony Sanchez announced Wednesday that David Yost will serve as the next Offensive Coordinator for the Aggie football program.
“Joining the Aggie program is a great opportunity, and I couldn’t be more fired up to get to work,” Yost said. “I’m excited to have the chance to do something special here in Las Cruces and to create something that will make Aggie Nation and this community proud.”
Yost brings with him 37 years of experience and has coached on some of the biggest stages in well-respected conferences including the Mid-American, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12.
He boasts a reputation of being one of the top quarterback developers in college football and has helped the growth of former passers including Justin Herbert, Jordan Love, Blaine Gabbert and Chase Daniel.
Most recently, Yost (pronounced YOHST) spent three seasons as the offensive coordinator for Conference USA foe FIU.
Prior to his stint with the Panthers, Yost was the offensive coordinator at Texas Tech from 2019-20.
Yost was also calling the plays at Missouri from 2009-12 under Head Coach Gary Pinkel who he coached with for several seasons at Toledo before his time at Mizzou.
With the Tigers, Yost helped instrument eight bowl game appearances, including a season in which Mizzou finished 10-3 and climbed as high as No. 7 in the AP Poll with Yost as the offensive coordinator.
Yost’s tenure with the Tigers also included the 2007 season in which Mizzou was crowned Big 12 North Champions and ended the regular season as the No. 1 ranked team in the nation.
Yost began his coaching career in 1988 when he served as the wide receivers coach at Tiffin University in Tiffin, Ohio, and has since had stops at Toledo, Missouri, Washington State, Oregon, Utah State, Texas Tech and FIU.
During his career, Yost served as the quarterbacks coach at Oregon, where he mentored 2020 NFL Draft first round selection Justin Herbert.
This would be just one of two quarterbacks selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft that he coached as he also supported the growth of Jordan Love during his tenure at Utah State.
Following his final year at Utah State, Yost was also a semifinalist for the Broyles Award, which is presented to the top assistant coach annually in college football.
The Carrollton, Ohio, native makes his way to Las Cruces from Miami where called the offense from 2022-24 and closed out his career with the Panthers by helping FIU finish the year with the third-highest scoring offense (26.3 points per game) in the conference.
Under Yost’s guidance in 2024, the Panthers finished with one of the most prolific passing offenses in Conference USA as wide receiver Eric Rivers completed the year ranked first in the conference in both receiving yards (1,172) and receiving touchdowns (12).
With a dozen receiving touchdowns, Rivers’ ranked fifth in the nation. Meanwhile, Yost helped develop Keyone Jenkins who rounded out the year ranked second in the conference in passing touchdowns (22) and third in both passing yards (2,557) and completion percentage (61.8%).
Yost displayed his expertise in developing quarterbacks during his first season with FIU as he mentored first-year starter Grayson James and fellow quarterback Haden Carlson. While FIU was boasting one of the nation's fastest offenses in terms of plays per minute, James threw for 1,962 yards and 11 touchdowns. Additionally, Carlson matched the program's record for most touchdown passes in a game with four against Middle Tennessee on Nov. 26.
Ahead of his time in Miami, Yost served as the offensive coordinator at Texas Tech where he directed one of the nation’s top offenses in 2019 in his initial season as the Red Raiders ranked seventh nationally in passing offense (324.7 yards per game) despite utilizing three different starting quarterbacks.
Tech also ended the year 11th in total offense (474.3 yards per game), 24th in completion percentage (64.4) and 27th in first down offense (298).
From 2017-18, Yost was the offensive play caller at Utah State where he implemented a quick-tempo, balanced offense as the Aggies were one of only four teams nationally to boast a top-20 passing attack and a top-35 rushing offense each of those two years. The Aggies averaged 294.2 yards per game through the air and added 203.2 more yards on the ground in 2018 en route to finishing the year 11th in the FBS for total offense.
For his efforts, Yost was named one of 15 semifinalists for the Broyles Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s top assistant coach. He was one of five offensive coordinators recognized as a semifinalist and one of only four coaches representing group of five conferences.
Under Yost’s leadership, Utah State scored at least 40 points in 13 of the 26 games during his time in Logan, including 10 times with 50 or more points. The Aggies reached the 50-point mark a school-record seven times in 2018 alone, which was capped by a 52-13 rout of North Texas in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl, the second postseason appearance for Utah State with Yost on staff.
Utah State snapped two school records during Yost’s debut season in 2017 after scoring 50-plus points in three games and producing at least 500 yards of total offense in four contests. The Aggies ended that season in the Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl, their sixth bowl appearance over a seven-year stretch.
With Yost’s leadership, Love blossomed into a future NFL first-rounder as he threw for 3,567 yards and 32 touchdowns with only six interceptions as a sophomore in 2018. Love snapped five single-season school records that season, breaking the marks for touchdown passes, passing yards, points responsible for (234) as well as games with 300 passing yards (7) and 400 passing yards (2).
Love declared for the NFL Draft following his junior season in 2019, ending his career as the school’s all-time leader with 9,003 yards of total offense. Love, who also ranked second with 8,600 career passing yards and tied for second with 60 touchdown passes, was selected 26th overall by the Green Bay Packers in the 2020 NFL Draft, becoming the first Aggie to hear his name called in the first round since 1970. He was the first Utah State quarterback to be chosen in any round since 1988 and only the second signal caller in the history of the program to be selected in the first round.
Prior to his arrival in Logan, Yost spent the 2016 season as the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Oregon where the Ducks ranked 16th nationally in total offense after averaging 491.7 yards per game. The Ducks also ranked 10th in the FBS with only six thrown interceptions despite utilizing a pair of first-time starters in Dakota Prukop and Justin Herbert.
Herbert, the eventual No. 6 overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Chargers, became the first Oregon true freshman to start at quarterback since 1983 after throwing for 1,936 passing yards and 19 touchdowns over only seven starts. Herbert set the Oregon school record for total offense (512 yards) and tied the single-game mark for passing yards (489) in only his third career start against Arizona State that season.
Yost moved to Oregon after spending three seasons as the inside receivers coach at Washington State where the Cougars set the top three marks for passes caught in Pac-12 single-season history. Washington State twice led the nation in passing offense during Yost’s tenure as the Cougars averaged an impressive 477.7 yards per game through the air in 2014 and 389.2 yards a year later.
Yost joined the Washington State staff following 12 years at Big 12 member Missouri (2001-12) under head coach Gary Pinkel. He began his stay in Columbia as the quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator before adding offensive coordinator responsibilities in 2009. He was elevated to assistant head coach for his final two seasons at Missouri.
Over his tenure, Yost built a reputation as one of the top quarterback developers in college football thanks in part to his work with Brad Smith, Chase Daniel and Blaine Gabbert, all eventual NFL standouts. Gabbert highlighted that group as he was picked 10th overall in the 2011 NFL Draft and most recently served as a backup for the Kansas City Chiefs during the 2023 season.
Smith, meanwhile, became the first Division I player to pass for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in the same season under Yost, a feat he accomplished during both the 2003 and 2005 campaigns. Smith completed his Missouri tenure in 2005 as the first-ever collegiate player to throw for 8,000 yards and run for another 4,000 yards over a career.
Daniel followed Smith a few years later, emerging on the national stage in 2007 as a Heisman Trophy finalist. He enjoyed an impressive three-year run as Missouri’s starter before wrapping his career in 2008 as the school’s record holder for virtually every major passing and total offense category. With Daniel at quarterback, Missouri broke numerous offensive school records in 2008, snapping the previous marks for points (591), points per game (42.2) and passing yards (4,625).
In 2008, the Tigers ended the regular season at 10-3 overall, marking only the third 10-win season in Missouri history. In total, Missouri won 22 games over the 2007-08 seasons, which ranked third nationally behind only Oklahoma, and claimed three Big 12 North Division title over a four-year span (2007, 2008 and 2010) with Yost on staff.
Yost assumed the offensive coordinator role at Mizzou in 2009 and immediately pushed the Tigers to No. 14 in the country in passing offense (285.4 yards per game). The program followed that season with another 10-win campaign in 2010, finishing 35th nationally in yards per game in the process.
Yost held similar responsibilities under head coach Gary Pinkel at Toledo from 1997-2000 where he served as the recruiting coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He spent four of those seasons coaching two of the most productive quarterbacks in Toledo history in Tavares Bolden and Chris Wallace. Yost came to Toledo after eight years at Tiffin University (1988-95) where he spent the final five seasons as offensive coordinator.
A native of Carrollton, Ohio, Yost coached at his alma mater Carrollton High School shortly after graduating from Kent State with his bachelor’s degree in early childhood education in 1992.
Yost and his wife, Carrie, are parents to one daughter, Kennedy, and two sons, Keaton and Kamden.
YOST COACHING FILE
| 2025-present | NM State | Offensive Coordinator (Quarterbacks) |
| 2022-2024 | FIU | Offensive Coordinator (Quarterbacks) |
| 2019-21 | Texas Tech | Offensive Coordinator (Quarterbacks) |
| 2017-18 | Utah State | Offensive Coordinator (Quarterbacks) |
| 2016 | Oregon | Passing Game Coordinator (Quarterbacks) |
| 2013-15 | Washington State | Assistant Coach (Inside Receivers) |
| 2011-12 | Missouri | Asst. Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator/Recruiting Coordinator (Quarterbacks) |
| 2009-10 | Missouri | Offensive Coordinator/Recruiting Coordinator (Quarterbacks) |
| 2001-08 | Missouri | Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator (Quarterbacks) |
| 1996-2000 | Toledo | Asst. Coach/Recruiting Coordinator (Quarterbacks) |
| 1990-95 | Tiffin University | Offensive Coordinator (Quarterbacks/Wide Receivers) |
| 1988-89 | Tiffin University | Assistant Coach (Wide Receivers) |
