COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Holmon Wiggins has been promoted to offensive coordinator for the Texas A&M Aggies.
Wiggins, who was the co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach, will take over for Collin Klein, who was recently hired as Kansas State’s coach following the retirement of Chris Klieman.
Klein will remain with the Aggies throughout the College Football Playoff and coach Mike Elko said Monday that he will continue to call plays despite the promotion of Wiggins.
Seventh-seeded Texas A&M will make its playoff debut Saturday when the Aggies host No. 10 seed Miami.
Elko said they interviewed multiple people for the job before landing on Wiggins.
“Really felt like the right person for the job was Holmon Wiggins,” Elko said. “We’ve elevated him to the offensive coordinator position, and he’s the only person we offered the job to. … We felt that was the best thing for Texas A&M football moving forward.”
Before joining Elko at Texas A&M last season, Wiggins spent five seasons at Alabama as the wide receivers coach and also served as the assistant head coach of offense for his final three seasons there.
The move comes after Elko promoted Lyle Hemphill from associate head coach for defense to defensive coordinator Friday after Jay Bateman was hired for the same role at Kentucky. Bateman will also remain with the Aggies through the playoffs.
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FILE - Alabama wide receivers coach Holmon Wiggins watches his players at Alabama's first fall camp football practice, Aug. 6, 2021, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt, File)
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — At least 23 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in suspected suicide bombings Monday night that targeted Maiduguri city in northeastern Nigeria, police said Tuesday. It was one of the deadliest attacks in the conflict-battered city in recent history.
Residents and emergency services earlier told The Associated Press that three explosions were reported in crowded places in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, including in a major market and at the entrance of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
“Regrettably, a total of 23 persons lost their lives, while 108 others sustained varying degrees of injuries,” Borno police spokesperson Nahum Kenneth Daso said in a statement that blamed the attacks on suspected suicide bombers.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but suspicion quickly fell on the Boko Haram jihadi group, which in 2009 launched an insurgency in northeastern Nigeria to enforce their radical interpretation of Shariah.
Boko Haram has since become stronger, with thousands of fighters and different factions, including the Islamic State West Africa Province, which is backed by the Islamic State group.
Maiduguri city has been at the heart of the deadly violence but has in recent years experienced relative peace even as the countryside is often battered by extremists.
The attack took place less than 24 hours after the Nigerian military repelled attacks by militants on the outskirts of Maiduguri, in what some residents say could have been planned as a distraction.
By Tuesday morning, there was heavy security deployment in the affected locations and along major roads in the city, but many public places remained closed amid heightened fear.
“Investigations are ongoing to further ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incidents and to bring perpetrators to justice,” the Borno police command said.
The first explosion was recorded at about 7:30 p.m. at the entrance of the teaching hospital, while the second and third followed few minutes later at the popular Monday Market and nearby Post Office business hub, both located about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the hospital.
Witnesses recounted the chaos that followed at the scenes and at hospitals as security forces and the emergency services quickly intervened.
“This attack has been one of the deadliest in Maiduguri in years,” said Mohammed Hassan, a member of a volunteer group assisting security forces in fighting extremists. “We’re in dire need of blood,” he said of the situation hours after the attack.
The extremists have intensified their attacks against Nigerian military bases in recent weeks, killing several senior officers and soldiers, and stripping the bases of stocks of weaponry and ammunition.
The multiple attacks could be seen as a major victory for the jihadis in a city seen as impregnable despite the jihadis often targeting troops and villages on the outskirts of the city.
Past attacks in the city have been limited to one-off incidents that occur once in a long while, including a suicide attack that killed five at a mosque on Christmas Eve last year.
“Maiduguri being attacked is like an insult for the security forces ... and for the (jihadi) groups, it is symbolic because it shows nowhere is out of their reach,” said Malik Samuel, a Nigerian security researcher with Good Governance Africa.
A security person patrols at the scene of Monday's bomb blast at a market in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jossy Ola )
A soldier inspects the aftermath of Monday's bomb blast at a market in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jossy Ola )
Police officers are seen at the scene of a bomb blast at a market in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jossy Ola )
An ambulance is seen at the hospital following a bomb blast in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo )
