Missouri State

Sam Hullender joined the Missouri State coaching staff as an offensive assistant coach in January 2026.

He spent the previous four seasons at SMU, working the past three as assistant quarterbacks coach and head coach analyst alongside Woods and Mustangs sideline boss Rhett Lashlee. Hullender also worked with Lashley at the University of Miami for a season (2021) as an offensive assistant.

The 2025 Mustangs finished 9-4 after defeating Arizona in the Trust & Will Holiday Bowl, including a 7-2 surge since September with just a pair of one-score road losses blemishing the team's ledger the last three months of the season.
 
In 2024, Hullender played a key role in the development of QB Kevin Jennings who guided SMU to an 11-3 season its first berth to the College Football Playoff. The Mustangs posted 511 total points and averaged 36.5 points per game with the All-ACC third-teamer and Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award finalist at the helm. Jennings also led the ACC in pass efficiency (171.53) while his 309.25 yards of total offense in league games ranked third.

In his first season in the quarterback room in 2023, Hullender worked with QB Preston Stone who garnered third-team all-conference honors for the American Conference champions. He threw for 3,197 yards and 28 touchdowns while earning ACC Player of the Week honors three times. Stone ranked 10th nationally in passing TDs and 15th in passing efficiency (161.3). SMU's offense ranked in the top-25 in 11 major categories, including No. 5 in first downs (312), No. 6 in scoring (40.6), No. 6 in passing yards per completion (14.82) and No, 9 in red zone offense (.929).
 
During the 2022 season, tight ends Ben Redding and RJ Maryland combined for over 400 yards and 10 touchdowns combined. Maryland went on to earn Freshman All-American honors, he registered 28 receptions for 296 yards and 6 touchdowns, the touchdown total was the second most in a single season for a Mustang tight end in program history.
 
Working under offensive coordinator Lashlee at Miami in 2021, Hullender was a quarterback offensive assistant for a 7-5 team. The Hurricanes ranked 10th nationally in fourth down conversion percentage (.714), 10th in passing offense (321.2) and 14th in first downs with freshman quarterback Tyler Van Dyke earning ACC Rookie of the Year honors.
 
Hullender originally joined the SMU coaching staff in December 2021 as an offensive graduate assistant working with the tight ends and spent the first part of 2021 as the quality control quarterbacks coach at New Mexico.

He began his coaching career with a two-year stint at Texas. In 2019 as a student coach working with special teams, the Longhorns ranked 12th in FBS in punt coverage (3.3) with All-Big 12 kicker and punter Cameron Dicker under his direction. During the 2020 season, he worked with wide receivers and offensive line for the Longhorns who ranked No. 8 in FBS in scoring offense (42.7 ppg), 16th in passing efficiency (156.2) and 19th in total offense (475.4 ypg). Texas won the Alamo Bowl in both 2019 and 2020 with Hullender on staff.

Hullender graduated from the University of Texas in 2021 with a degree in Applied Learning and Development. He later received his masters in Liberal Studies from SMU in 2023.