coach, Graham was introduced as Tulsa's 27th head football coach on January 12, 2007. With an annual salary of $1.1 million Graham was the second highest-paid coach in Conference USA, behind SMU's June Jones in 2010. For his offensive coordinators, Graham turned to his good friend Gus Malzahn, then offensive coordinator at Arkansas, as well as then WVU tight ends coach Herb Hand. He also hired former Tulsa quarterback and Tulsa Union HS coach Bill Blankenship as wide receivers coach. In his final season at Tulsa, the team reached a 10–3 record that included a 28–27 upset at Notre Dame and 62–35 win over No. 24-ranked Hawaii in the 2010 Hawaii Bowl. Graham left Tulsa after four seasons to accept the head football coach position at Pittsburgh. Bill Blankenship era (2011–2014) After a brief search, former Golden Hurricane quarterback Bill Blankenship was named Tulsa's new head coach on January 14, 2011, receiving a promotion from special teams coordinator, wide receivers and running backs coach. Blankenship's first two seasons as head coach were marked by success, including a conference championship and Liberty Bowl victory in 2012. But over the next two seasons, Tulsa won a total of only five games, and Tulsa fired Blankenship on December 1, 2014. On April 2, 2013, Tulsa announced that in July 2014 it would leave C-USA for the league then known as the Big East Conference. The following day, the conference announced its new name of the American Athletic Conference, which took effect once the non-FBS schools broke from the league and formed a new Big East Conference. Philip Montgomery era (2015–2022) Baylor offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery accepted an offer from Tulsa to become their head coach on December 11, 2014. Montgomery brought with him an exciting, up-tempo, pass-oriented spread offense he helped install as offensive coordinator at Houston and Baylor under head coach Art Briles. In Montgomery's first season at the helm, the Golden Hurricane improved to 6–7, with a loss in the Independence Bowl to cap the year. In Montgomery's second season, Tulsa finished 10–3, but fell to 2–10 in 2017. Montgomery was fired following the 2022 season. Kevin Wilson (2023–present) Following the dismissal of Montgomery, Tulsa announced that they had hired Ohio State offensive coordinator and former Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson as the program's next head coach. Conference affiliations Tulsa has been a member of the following conferences. Independent (1895–1913) Oklahoma