Tulsa fires coach Philip Montgomery after 8 seasons, 4 bowls

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Tulsa fired coach Philip Montgomery, who spent eight seasons at the school and reached four bowl games, on Sunday.

The Golden Hurricane finished their season 5-7 after beating Houston on the road Saturday. It was not enough to keep the school from making a change.

Montgomery finished 43-53 in his first head coaching job.

“I’m certainly disappointed that I won’t have the opportunity to continue leading this program," Montgomery said in a statement. “For the past eight years, I’ve given the University of Tulsa, our players, and staff everything I have. I’m proud of the way we locked arms and battled through adversity at every turn.”

Montgomery was offensive coordinator at Baylor before taking over at Tulsa in 2015, but the Golden Hurricane's offense was up and down throughout Montgomery's tenure.

Montgomery's best season came in Year 2, when Tulsa went 10-3. The Golden Hurricane also played in the American Athletic Conference championship game in 2020, losing to Cincinnati.

___

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/mrxhe6f2