Plough began his coaching career at his alma mater, UC Davis, as a student assistant in 2008 before being elevated to quarterbacks coach in 2009. He added the title of passing game coordinator in 2010, and was given offensive play-calling duties at the age of 25. Plough spent three seasons with the Aggies before departing for
Northern Arizona in 2013 to be the Lumberjacks' wide receivers coach. He was promoted to offensive coordinator and reassigned to quarterbacks coach in 2015, where the Lumberjacks led the nation in quarterback efficiency as their starter
Case Cookus won the
STATS FCS Freshman Player of the Year award. Plough left Northern Arizona to return to UC Davis in 2017 as their offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, where the Aggies had a top 10 passing offense in all three of the seasons in which Plough was offensive coordinator. Plough was named the offensive coordinator at
Boise State in 2021. Plough was fired from his position on September 24, 2022 by Boise State head coach
Andy Avalos.
Dirk Koetter replaced him. Plough was hired as a tight end coach at
California on December 12, 2022. On December 1, 2023, Plough was hired by his alma mater, UC Davis, to become their head football coach. In his first season, the Aggies finished 11–3 (including playoffs) with a No. 5 ranking in both FCS polls, their highest finish ever in Division I. In his second season, the Aggies again reached the final 8 of the FCS playoff and finished with a top 10 ranking in both polls, this time No. 8 in both. ==Head coaching record==