Florida State Staffer Hired Away By Tulsa As New Special Teams Coordinator

The Seminoles have seen another member of their staff depart this offseason.

Carter Barfield/Twitter

The coaching carousel is still raging on early in the new year as colleges around the country look to fortify their programs this offseason. Florida State's coaching staff has undergone a lot of changes over the last few months and that continued on Monday.

Tulsa has announced its hiring of FSU special teams analyst Carter Barfield as the program's next special teams coordinator. This is a well-deserved promotion for Barfield, who has spent the last four seasons in Tallahassee.

Leading the Special Teams, @Coach_Barfield 🫡

Welcome to the 918 🌀#ReignCane pic.twitter.com/1nDARAoW5D

— Tulsa Football (@TulsaFootball) January 6, 2025

The Golden Hurricanes are filling out a staff under new head coach Tre Lamb, who was formerly the head coach at East Tennessee State. Lamb and Barfield worked together at Mercer from 2014-17.

READ MORE: Standout Utah State Running Back Transfer Lists Florida State In Top-Six

Barfield assisted special teams coordinator John Papuchis in multiple facets during his tenure with the Seminoles. He was an important figure in the development of former punter Alex Mastromanno and former kicker Ryan Fitzgerald, who were both named AP All-Americans in 2024.

Mastromanno led the country and set an ACC record with 49.3 yards per punt. He also led the FBS with 30 punts of at least 50 yards, becoming a Ray Guy Award finalist for the second straight year. Fitzgerald went 13/13 on field goals, including 5/5 from 50+ yards. His 59-yard field goal in the season opener against Georgia Tech is the second longest in program history. Fitzgerald was a finalist for the Lou Groza Award.

Barfield had over a decade of experience before he arrived at Florida State. He began his coaching career at the University of Tennessee-Martin as a defensive analyst in 2007. Barfield moved to the offensive side of the ball the following year before being promoted to quarterbacks coach in 2009. He spent two seasons at Kentucky as an offensive quality control coach and graduate assistant, working primarily with the quarterbacks and running backs.

Following his time with the Wildcats, Barfield spent eight years as the running backs coach at Mercer. He also served as a special teams analyst at Georgia Southern for one season in 2020. Barfield briefly was the interim tight ends coach for the Eagles before being hired by Florida State.

Barfield played collegiately at Furman, helping the Paladins win the SoCon championship in 2004 and finish four seasons ranked in the top-12 nationally. He earned his bachelor's degree from the university in 2006.

Florida State fired offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Alex Atkins, defensive coordinator Adam Fuller, wide receivers coach Ron Dugans, and linebackers coach/co-defensive coordinator Randy Shannon. The Seminoles saw senior offensive analyst Gabe Fertitta depart for the offensive coordinator position at Nicholls State in December.

---

READ MORE: Florida State Lands Promising North Carolina Linebacker Transfer Caleb LaVallee

Stick with NoleGameday for more FREE coverage of Florida State Football throughout the offseason

Follow NoleGameday on and Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok

More Florida State News

• Six Former FSU Basketball Players File Lawsuit Against Leonard Hamilton Over NIL Payments

• Linebacker Transfer From ACC Program To Visit Florida State

• Florida State True Freshman Defender Entering NCAA Transfer Portal

• Former FSU DT Leads NFL Rookies In Sacks, Climbs LA Rams History Books