Football | 11/13/2016 4:15:00 PM

ABILENE, Texas – Abilene Christian University director of athletics Lee De León announced Sunday afternoon that he has relieved head football coachof his duties, effective immediately.Collums was released from his contract one day after the Wildcats finished a 2-9 campaign with a 31-19 loss against Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond, La."This is by far the hardest decision that I've made in my career becauseis a wonderful man of God who has worked tirelessly to lead our football program through a difficult time of transition," De León said. "I'm truly thankful for his service to ACU and the way he has always represented our football program. He has coached some of the greatest players in our program's history, and he has led our football student-athletes on a path to become great husbands and fathers."De León informed Collums of his decision during a Sunday afternoon meeting. Linebackers coach/special teams coordinatorwill serve as the interim head coach.A national search will begin immediately and De León hopes to have a new head coach in place as soon as possible."This is a critical time for recruiting at the junior college and high school levels," De León said. "We've got to be quick, but we can't hurry this process. It's a crucial hire at this point in the life of our football program, and we'll be talking to a lot of people across the country to find the right leader for it."Collums, the architect of ACU's record-setting offenses as offensive coordinator from 2005-11, was named the 19head coach in ACU football history on Dec. 23, 2011, after former head coach Chris Thomsen left for an assistant coaching position at Arizona State. Collums directed ACU to a 7-4 record in 2012 in its final season in the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and a 6-5 in 2013 in its first year as an NCAA Division I FCS independent. The Wildcats followed that with a 6-6 overall record and 4-4 Southland Conference mark in a promising 2014 season, but were 3-8 and 3-6 in 2015 and 2-9 and 2-7 in 2016.