In a move that came as a surprise to many players, long-time Crimson football coach Jay Mills announced late last week that he was stepping down as the team’s offensive coordinator to accept a Division I-AA head coaching position.

Mills, 41, will take over the young and struggling Charleston Southern University squad, the South Carolina school announced last Friday.

Mills has been with Harvard for the past seven seasons and was the primary play-caller for the 2002 campaign.

Although players and coaches were aware that Mills was pursuing outside coaching opportunities, his abrupt departure came as a surprise to some.

Mills did not personally inform players of his decision—most of them found out through head coach Tim Murphy.

“Coach Murphy met with me the next morning,” said sophomore quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. “At first I was a little upset, but once I understood the whole situation, I really don’t think [Mills] had the opportunity to tell us.”

Murphy and Mills had extensively discussed Mills’ desire to ascend the coaching ladder and Murphy supported Mills’ ambitions.

“My philosophy is that when you have a good coach, you have to help them out,” Murphy said. “I was helping him to try and get either a head coaching position or a Division I job.”

At Charleston Southern, Mills will replace David Dowd, who recently resigned as the Buccaneers’ coach after starting their football program 12 seasons ago.

The Buccaneers finished the 2002 season at 4-8 in the Big South Conference. The school has yet to post a winning season, but did have two 5-6 campaigns in 2000 and 2001.

Despite these recent dismal showings, Mills remains optimistic about the future.

“I am excited about the opportunities that exist here at Charlseton Southern, not only for me, but also for my family,” Mills said during Friday’s press conference.

Mills began his career at Harvard when he was hired as the Crimson’s offensive coordinator in 1996. Over the past seven years, Mills grew into his eventual role as primary play-caller, quarterbacks coach and West Coast recruiter for the program.

Before coming to Harvard, Mills was the head coach at the University of Minnesota, Morris, where he guided the team in its move from the NAIA to the NCAA Division II level.

Prior to that, he served in various assistant coaching capacities at Boise State University, Western Washington University and Notre Dame.