This offseason, the Kent State Golden Flashes went through one of the toughest things a team can go through as they had to replace their Head Coach before the season. Head Coach Kenni Burns was set to enter his 3rd season at the helm, despite a 1-23 record, but the Golden Flashes had to place him on Administrative Leave before firing him for multiple violations of his contract.
The Golden Flashes turned to a rising star on their staff making Mark Carney the Head Coach after he moved from Tight Ends coach in 2023 to Offensive Coordinator. This season has seen the Golden Flashes start 3-5, but losses came against Texas Tech, Florida State, and Oklahoma.
Kent State removes the Interim tag on Mark Carney
On Thursday Morning, the Kent State Golden Flashes rewarded Mark Carney by officially naming him the Head Coach moving forward.
Sources: Kent State football has removed the interim tag from coach Mark Carney.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) October 30, 2025
The move is great by Kent State as they now remove any confusion on the future of this program giving the team a chance to really start pushing their MAC counterparts for recruits. After winning just 1 game over the past two seasons, Mark Carney has done a great job coaching this team and was more than deserving of the job.
The job is the first Head Coaching gig for Mark Carney, but if he continues on the path he's on, he'll be an attractive candidate around the Country. Carney has kept a group that could've fallen apart intact while helping get this group to be a competitive team that has a chance to make a bowl game.
The players clearly love Mark Carney which makes this the perfect move and the only one that makes sense as Pete Thamel's report on the team finding out about the move paints the perfect picture.
Per sources, the Kent State team was just informed of Carney being named permanent coach. The team "erupted" in celebration, per a source, and began chanting his name. https://t.co/QWZtbrw0iX
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) October 30, 2025
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