San Diego State offensive line coach Mike Schmidt has been hired as offensive line coach at Kansas State, marking the third straight week SDSU head coach Sean Lewis has had a member of his staff hired away by a Power Four program.

Lewis already has a replacement lined up for Schmidt. SDSU is hiring Northwestern’s Bill O’Boyle as offensive line coach, according to a source.

O’Boyle is the man that Schmidt replaced two years ago when he returned to SDSU. O’Boyle was originally hired in December 2023, when Lewis began filling out his first Aztecs staff. O’Boyle spent just five weeks on the staff before leaving for Northwestern.

O’Boyle worked for Lewis from 2018-22 at Kent State, then followed him to Colorado for the 2023 season when Lewis served as Buffaloes’ offensive coordinator under coach Deion Sanders.

O’Boyle, 61, spent the past two seasons with Northwestern. He has been an offensive line coach for most of his 40-year career, with stints at Colorado State, South Dakota and Southern Illinois also on his resume.

Schmidt is a San Diego native with deep ties to the SDSU program. The Madison High School graduate arrived on campus in 2006 as a walk-on defensive lineman, switched to offensive line a year later and was a team captain by the time he graduated.

Schmidt served as a student assistant and graduate assistant for the Aztecs before being hired as offensive line coach before the 2012 season. He gained a reputation as a solid recruiter and strong developer of talent over the next decade before leaving for coaching opportunities at Syracuse and Mississippi State.

Schmidt returned for a second stint with the Aztecs in 2024 after Mississippi State head coach Zach Arnett and his staff were dismissed.

Schmidt follows SDSU defensive coordinator Rob Aurich and edges coach Roy Manning, both of whom left the Aztecs in recent weeks for jobs at Nebraska.

Schmidt’s departure this time comes at a crucial moment, with the NCAA transfer portal set to open on Friday. That’s why getting his replacement named so quickly was essential.

The Aztecs are losing three starting offensive linemen to graduation, and they will be active in the portal searching for replacements. SDSU’s returning starters, guards Kalen Ellis and Bayo Kannike, were transfers Schmidt picked up from the portal last year.