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Anonymous coach survey: Who are the SEC’s top rising star assistant coaches?
Posted on 7/8/20 at 8:25 am
Posted on 7/8/20 at 8:25 am
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These are the names that came up most consistently during those conversations (listed alphabetically):
Joe Cox, South Carolina wide receivers coach
A former starting quarterback at Georgia, Cox is now back in the SEC as a coach. After getting his start in coaching as a high school assistant in his home state of North Carolina, Cox joined Mike Bobo’s staff at Colorado State as a graduate assistant in 2015. One year later, Cox was promoted to tight ends coach. Now, the 33-year old is back working with Bobo at South Carolina.
Joe Jon Finley, Ole Miss tight ends coach
The expectation in the coaching world is that Finley will be an offensive coordinator in the near future. The 35-year old has already been contacted about multiple coordinator opportunities over these last two offseasons. The son of a longtime Texas high school coach, Finley was a two-time All-Big 12 honorable mention tight end at Oklahoma, spent some time in the NFL and has now been working his way up the coaching ranks in the SEC. Before joining the staff at Ole Miss in January, Finley spent 2019 as the tight ends coach at Texas A&M after three years as the tight ends coach at Missouri.
Blake Gideon, Ole Miss special teams coordinator
Like Finley, the 31-year old Gideon is the son of a longtime Texas high school coach, was a productive player in the Big 12 and is now on the rise as a coach. A four-year starter and two-time team captain during his time as a safety at Texas, Gideon got into coaching in 2014 as a quality control assistant at Florida under his original defensive coordinator at Texas — Will Muschamp. Gideon then worked as a graduate assistant under Muschamp at Auburn in 2015 and was briefly a graduate assistant for Muschamp at South Carolina in 2016 before landing his first on-field coaching job at Western Carolina that spring. Gideon was the nickel backs coach and special teams coordinator at Houston last year was selected as the 2019 Football Scoop special teams coordinator of the year.
Cortez Hankton, Georgia wide receivers coach
The son of two New Orleans police officers, the 39-year old Hankton is an ex-NFL wide receiver who joined the Georgia staff in 2018 after three seasons as the wide receivers coach at Vanderbilt (2015-17) and three as the wide receivers coach at Dartmouth (2012-14). A high-ranking NFL staff member was extremely complimentary of Hankton and said he wouldn’t be surprised to see Hankton land an offensive coordinator job in the near future.
Charles Huff, Alabama running backs coach
Huff has already interviewed for multiple head coaching jobs — including Akron and Northern Illinois during the 2018-19 offseason — and he’s likely to receive interest for other head coaching positions moving forward. A former starting center and team captain at Hampton, Huff began coaching running backs in 2012 while with the Buffalo Bills and has since mentored some of the top running backs in college football. The 37-year old Huff recruited and coached Saquon Barkley and Miles Sanders at Penn State, worked with Kylin Hill at Mississippi State and helped Najee Harris have a breakout season during his first year at Alabama. Huff is currently ranked as the No. 1 recruiter in the nation within the 247Sports recruiter rankings for the 2021 recruiting cycle. A member of the James Franklin coaching tree, Huff worked with Franklin at Maryland, Vanderbilt and Penn State.
Brian Johnson, Florida quarterbacks coach
The former Utah starting quarterback has continued to build a reputation as one of the top young offensive coaches and quarterback developers in the country. The 33-year old Johnson, who has been an offensive coordinator at Utah and Houston, coached Dak Prescott at Mississippi State and deserves credit for some of his latest work with current Florida starter Kyle Trask. After being limited to backup duty his final three high school seasons and to strictly reserve action during his first three years with the Gators, Trask stepped in as Florida’s starting QB early last year and ended up throwing for 2,775 yards and 25 touchdown over the Gators’ final 10 games while leading Florida to an 8-2 record during that stretch.
These are the names that came up most consistently during those conversations (listed alphabetically):
Joe Cox, South Carolina wide receivers coach
A former starting quarterback at Georgia, Cox is now back in the SEC as a coach. After getting his start in coaching as a high school assistant in his home state of North Carolina, Cox joined Mike Bobo’s staff at Colorado State as a graduate assistant in 2015. One year later, Cox was promoted to tight ends coach. Now, the 33-year old is back working with Bobo at South Carolina.
Joe Jon Finley, Ole Miss tight ends coach
The expectation in the coaching world is that Finley will be an offensive coordinator in the near future. The 35-year old has already been contacted about multiple coordinator opportunities over these last two offseasons. The son of a longtime Texas high school coach, Finley was a two-time All-Big 12 honorable mention tight end at Oklahoma, spent some time in the NFL and has now been working his way up the coaching ranks in the SEC. Before joining the staff at Ole Miss in January, Finley spent 2019 as the tight ends coach at Texas A&M after three years as the tight ends coach at Missouri.
Blake Gideon, Ole Miss special teams coordinator
Like Finley, the 31-year old Gideon is the son of a longtime Texas high school coach, was a productive player in the Big 12 and is now on the rise as a coach. A four-year starter and two-time team captain during his time as a safety at Texas, Gideon got into coaching in 2014 as a quality control assistant at Florida under his original defensive coordinator at Texas — Will Muschamp. Gideon then worked as a graduate assistant under Muschamp at Auburn in 2015 and was briefly a graduate assistant for Muschamp at South Carolina in 2016 before landing his first on-field coaching job at Western Carolina that spring. Gideon was the nickel backs coach and special teams coordinator at Houston last year was selected as the 2019 Football Scoop special teams coordinator of the year.
Cortez Hankton, Georgia wide receivers coach
The son of two New Orleans police officers, the 39-year old Hankton is an ex-NFL wide receiver who joined the Georgia staff in 2018 after three seasons as the wide receivers coach at Vanderbilt (2015-17) and three as the wide receivers coach at Dartmouth (2012-14). A high-ranking NFL staff member was extremely complimentary of Hankton and said he wouldn’t be surprised to see Hankton land an offensive coordinator job in the near future.
Charles Huff, Alabama running backs coach
Huff has already interviewed for multiple head coaching jobs — including Akron and Northern Illinois during the 2018-19 offseason — and he’s likely to receive interest for other head coaching positions moving forward. A former starting center and team captain at Hampton, Huff began coaching running backs in 2012 while with the Buffalo Bills and has since mentored some of the top running backs in college football. The 37-year old Huff recruited and coached Saquon Barkley and Miles Sanders at Penn State, worked with Kylin Hill at Mississippi State and helped Najee Harris have a breakout season during his first year at Alabama. Huff is currently ranked as the No. 1 recruiter in the nation within the 247Sports recruiter rankings for the 2021 recruiting cycle. A member of the James Franklin coaching tree, Huff worked with Franklin at Maryland, Vanderbilt and Penn State.
Brian Johnson, Florida quarterbacks coach
The former Utah starting quarterback has continued to build a reputation as one of the top young offensive coaches and quarterback developers in the country. The 33-year old Johnson, who has been an offensive coordinator at Utah and Houston, coached Dak Prescott at Mississippi State and deserves credit for some of his latest work with current Florida starter Kyle Trask. After being limited to backup duty his final three high school seasons and to strictly reserve action during his first three years with the Gators, Trask stepped in as Florida’s starting QB early last year and ended up throwing for 2,775 yards and 25 touchdown over the Gators’ final 10 games while leading Florida to an 8-2 record during that stretch.
Posted on 7/8/20 at 8:25 am to AHM21
Brian Niedermeyer, Tennessee inside linebackers coach
Niedermeyer has been with Jeremy Pruitt dating back to Pruitt’s time as the defensive coordinator at Georgia in 2015. The Alaska native followed Pruitt to Alabama in 2016 and is now a valuable part of Pruitt’s staff in Knoxville. Niedermeyer was the 247Sports national recruiter of the year for 2019 and is the lead recruiter on Tennessee’s top-ranked commit for its highly-ranked 2021 class — five-star linebacker Terrence Lewis. Niedermeyer had been coaching tight ends for the Vols but is now entering his first season as the team’s inside linebackers coach. The 31-year old had previously worked with linebackers as a graduate assistant at both Georgia and Alabama and also as a volunteer assistant for former NFL linebacker Michael Barrow at Miami in 2013.
Freddie Roach, Alabama defensive line coach
Nick Saban thinks highly of Roach. So do others around the football world, as was clear this past offseason after Roach’s second season as the defensive line coach at Ole Miss. The New York Giants pursued him. Ole Miss then offered him a promotion to try and keep him. However, the 37-year old ultimately ended up back at his alma mater. Roach, a two-time All-SEC linebacker for the Tide, will make in the range of $700,000 per year at Alabama, according to the school’s financial database. That makes him the second-highest paid assistant on the Tide staff aside from the two coordinators. Before leaving for Ole Miss, Roach served in a director of player development role for Alabama from 2015-17. That came after stops as the defensive ends and outside linebackers coach at South Alabama (2013-14) and as the defensive line coach at Murray State (2012).
Christian Robinson, Florida linebackers coach
Robinson came up a lot throughout the course of gathering feedback for this project. A former starting linebacker for Georgia, the 30-year-old Robinson played for Todd Grantham with the Bulldogs, served as a graduate assistant with Grantham at Mississippi State in 2017 and was then hired as the linebackers coach at Florida in 2018 after Grantham became the Gators’ defensive coordinator. Aided by Robinson, Florida had two All-SEC linebackers last season — first-team selection Jonathan Greenard and second-team selection David Reese. In addition, Robinson is currently ranked 22nd nationally in the 247 recruiter rankings for the 2021 recruiting class.
Elijah Robinson, Texas A&M defensive line coach
A former Penn State defensive tackle, the 35-year old Robinson is in his third season at Texas A&M after serving as Matt Rhule’s defensive line coach at Temple from 2014-16 and at Baylor in 2017. Robinson had seven players who earned all-conference recognition during his time at Temple and Baylor and has now helped three players develop into NFL draft picks during his time at A&M, including 2020 third-round draft pick Justin Madubuike. In addition, Robinson finished ninth nationally in the 247Sports 2020 recruiter rankings.
Tyler Santucci, Texas A&M linebackers coach
The 32-year old Santucci is back at A&M after previously serving as an analyst for the Aggies in 2018. A former FCS All-American linebacker at Stony Brook, Santucci got a job as a graduate assistant under Mike Elko at Wake Forest in 2014 and was then an analyst for Elko at Notre Dame in 2017 and Texas A&M in 2018 before reuniting with Elko this offseason after a year as the linebackers coach at Wake Forest. Justin Strnad, a member of Santucci’s linebacker group at Wake Forest, was an honorable mention All-ACC selection last year and was picked in the fifth round of this year’s NFL draft.
Karl Scott, Alabama cornerbacks coach
The belief in the football world is that Scott will be a target for Power Five defensive coordinator jobs possibly as soon as next offseason. The 35-year old had a second-round draft pick this year in Trevon Diggs, has a potential early first-round pick for next year in Patrick Surtain and finished the 2020 recruiting cycle as the top-ranked recruiter in the SEC within the 247 Composite rankings. Baylor tried to hire Scott as its co-defensive coordinator earlier this year but he decided to remain at Alabama. Scott has already held defensive coordinator positions at Southeastern Louisiana and Louisiana-Lafayette. As the defensive coordinator at Southeastern Louisiana in 2014, Scott led a group that ranked seventh in the FCS in total defense.
Jon Sumrall, Kentucky inside linebackers coach
Sumrall is viewed as a future head coach. A former Kentucky linebacker, the 38-year old Sumrall was an important part of Neal Brown’s staff at Troy from 2015 to 2017 and is now entering his second season as the inside linebackers coach at his alma mater after a year as Ole Miss’ Iinebackers coach in 2018. Sumrall, who was a defensive coordinator at San Diego in 2010 and 2011, was contacted about multiple Power Five defensive coordinator jobs this past offseason but opted to remain at Kentucky. That came after Sumrall finished as the runner-up to Chip Lindsey for the Troy head coaching job in early 2019.
Other names that were mentioned: Mississippi State outside linebackers coach Matt Brock, Arkansas tight ends coach Jon Cooper, Georgia tight ends coach Todd Hartley, Texas A&M defensive backs coach TJ Rushing, Ole Miss running backs coach Kevin Smith and Arkansas wide receivers coach Justin Stepp.
Niedermeyer has been with Jeremy Pruitt dating back to Pruitt’s time as the defensive coordinator at Georgia in 2015. The Alaska native followed Pruitt to Alabama in 2016 and is now a valuable part of Pruitt’s staff in Knoxville. Niedermeyer was the 247Sports national recruiter of the year for 2019 and is the lead recruiter on Tennessee’s top-ranked commit for its highly-ranked 2021 class — five-star linebacker Terrence Lewis. Niedermeyer had been coaching tight ends for the Vols but is now entering his first season as the team’s inside linebackers coach. The 31-year old had previously worked with linebackers as a graduate assistant at both Georgia and Alabama and also as a volunteer assistant for former NFL linebacker Michael Barrow at Miami in 2013.
Freddie Roach, Alabama defensive line coach
Nick Saban thinks highly of Roach. So do others around the football world, as was clear this past offseason after Roach’s second season as the defensive line coach at Ole Miss. The New York Giants pursued him. Ole Miss then offered him a promotion to try and keep him. However, the 37-year old ultimately ended up back at his alma mater. Roach, a two-time All-SEC linebacker for the Tide, will make in the range of $700,000 per year at Alabama, according to the school’s financial database. That makes him the second-highest paid assistant on the Tide staff aside from the two coordinators. Before leaving for Ole Miss, Roach served in a director of player development role for Alabama from 2015-17. That came after stops as the defensive ends and outside linebackers coach at South Alabama (2013-14) and as the defensive line coach at Murray State (2012).
Christian Robinson, Florida linebackers coach
Robinson came up a lot throughout the course of gathering feedback for this project. A former starting linebacker for Georgia, the 30-year-old Robinson played for Todd Grantham with the Bulldogs, served as a graduate assistant with Grantham at Mississippi State in 2017 and was then hired as the linebackers coach at Florida in 2018 after Grantham became the Gators’ defensive coordinator. Aided by Robinson, Florida had two All-SEC linebackers last season — first-team selection Jonathan Greenard and second-team selection David Reese. In addition, Robinson is currently ranked 22nd nationally in the 247 recruiter rankings for the 2021 recruiting class.
Elijah Robinson, Texas A&M defensive line coach
A former Penn State defensive tackle, the 35-year old Robinson is in his third season at Texas A&M after serving as Matt Rhule’s defensive line coach at Temple from 2014-16 and at Baylor in 2017. Robinson had seven players who earned all-conference recognition during his time at Temple and Baylor and has now helped three players develop into NFL draft picks during his time at A&M, including 2020 third-round draft pick Justin Madubuike. In addition, Robinson finished ninth nationally in the 247Sports 2020 recruiter rankings.
Tyler Santucci, Texas A&M linebackers coach
The 32-year old Santucci is back at A&M after previously serving as an analyst for the Aggies in 2018. A former FCS All-American linebacker at Stony Brook, Santucci got a job as a graduate assistant under Mike Elko at Wake Forest in 2014 and was then an analyst for Elko at Notre Dame in 2017 and Texas A&M in 2018 before reuniting with Elko this offseason after a year as the linebackers coach at Wake Forest. Justin Strnad, a member of Santucci’s linebacker group at Wake Forest, was an honorable mention All-ACC selection last year and was picked in the fifth round of this year’s NFL draft.
Karl Scott, Alabama cornerbacks coach
The belief in the football world is that Scott will be a target for Power Five defensive coordinator jobs possibly as soon as next offseason. The 35-year old had a second-round draft pick this year in Trevon Diggs, has a potential early first-round pick for next year in Patrick Surtain and finished the 2020 recruiting cycle as the top-ranked recruiter in the SEC within the 247 Composite rankings. Baylor tried to hire Scott as its co-defensive coordinator earlier this year but he decided to remain at Alabama. Scott has already held defensive coordinator positions at Southeastern Louisiana and Louisiana-Lafayette. As the defensive coordinator at Southeastern Louisiana in 2014, Scott led a group that ranked seventh in the FCS in total defense.
Jon Sumrall, Kentucky inside linebackers coach
Sumrall is viewed as a future head coach. A former Kentucky linebacker, the 38-year old Sumrall was an important part of Neal Brown’s staff at Troy from 2015 to 2017 and is now entering his second season as the inside linebackers coach at his alma mater after a year as Ole Miss’ Iinebackers coach in 2018. Sumrall, who was a defensive coordinator at San Diego in 2010 and 2011, was contacted about multiple Power Five defensive coordinator jobs this past offseason but opted to remain at Kentucky. That came after Sumrall finished as the runner-up to Chip Lindsey for the Troy head coaching job in early 2019.
Other names that were mentioned: Mississippi State outside linebackers coach Matt Brock, Arkansas tight ends coach Jon Cooper, Georgia tight ends coach Todd Hartley, Texas A&M defensive backs coach TJ Rushing, Ole Miss running backs coach Kevin Smith and Arkansas wide receivers coach Justin Stepp.
This post was edited on 7/8/20 at 8:25 am
Posted on 7/8/20 at 8:28 am to AHM21
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Charles Huff, Alabama running backs coach
Shhh.
Posted on 7/8/20 at 8:29 am to AHM21
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Joe Cox, South Carolina wide receivers coach
This is his 1st year at USC. I'm curious how most SEC coaches would know much about him at this point.
Posted on 7/8/20 at 8:33 am to AHM21
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Jon Sumrall, Kentucky inside linebackers coach
Got to meet him when he was at Ole Miss and was recruiting a kid I worked with. Nice guy and fairly charismatic. He’s best friends with former UK player/coach Neal Brown. Played at UK and served as a GA under Brooks.
And I think he’s staying at UK for a shot at DC whenever White leaves.
Posted on 7/8/20 at 8:40 am to AHM21
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Blake Gideon
Does he teach how to drop easy interceptions or something?
Posted on 7/8/20 at 8:44 am to AHM21
Id just like to say frick Blake Gideon. Forever.
Posted on 7/8/20 at 9:08 am to AHM21
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Joe Jon Finley,
With a name like Joe Jon, perfect SEC fit. Love it.
Posted on 7/8/20 at 9:19 am to AHM21
Really liked Joe Jon. Was sad to see him leave Missouri. Halfway surprised Ryan Walters didn’t make the list but I bet there’s doubt on how much of the defense was him and how much was Odom which is fair.
Posted on 7/8/20 at 9:22 am to AHM21
Kind of surprised Zach Arnett isn't on the list. I heard LSU was eyeing him during the offseason, but the timing fell just right to have him join our staff. I think he'll be a journeyman around the conference if he shows flashes of the Rocky Long success he's had at previous stops.
This post was edited on 7/8/20 at 9:24 am
Posted on 7/8/20 at 9:39 am to Hook Em Horns
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Id just like to say frick Blake Gideon. Forever.
Remember hearing his name alot on those good Texas teams. Was he that bad?
Posted on 7/8/20 at 9:47 am to AHM21
Legit surprised not a single LSU assistant made the list. Too new to have a rep?
Posted on 7/8/20 at 9:50 am to Porter Osborne Jr
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This is his 1st year at USC. I'm curious how most SEC coaches would know much about him at this point.
Is that the former UGA QB?
NM. Just saw it in the OP.
This post was edited on 7/8/20 at 9:51 am
Posted on 7/8/20 at 9:53 am to skrayper
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Legit surprised not a single LSU assistant made the list. Too new to have a rep?
Not really surprising, think we have the oldest staff by average age
Posted on 7/8/20 at 9:59 am to craigbiggio
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Not really surprising, think we have the oldest staff by average age
Fair, I missed the "rising" part in the title, and I know you have some much older assistants. Especially after Joe left at the end of the season.
Posted on 7/8/20 at 10:00 am to skrayper
I think Kevin Faulk is our youngest position coach.
Posted on 7/8/20 at 10:02 am to Glorious
Gideon was bad at costing Texas a trip to the National championship game in 08' IIRC. Wasn't he the one who dropped the easy INT vs Tx Tech maybe? IMO Texas should have made it to the title game vs Florida anyways because they beat OU head to head. Of course, they would make it the next year, only for McCoy to be knocked out early.
Posted on 7/8/20 at 10:06 am to AHM21
How is Georgia's WR coach a rising star? That dude had the most underachieving unit possibly in the country. Star rating to production ratio was stunningly bad.
Posted on 7/8/20 at 10:11 am to AHM21
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Arkansas wide receivers coach Justin Stepp.
This guy is really catching eyes. If he left after Chad, we would've lost a gem according to our 247 and recruiting guys.
Posted on 7/8/20 at 10:13 am to Cannon
Gideon was pretty mediocre in general honestly
But yes the dropped INT vs Tech is why most UT fans hate him. But not like the rest of his play made up for it
But yes the dropped INT vs Tech is why most UT fans hate him. But not like the rest of his play made up for it
This post was edited on 7/8/20 at 10:14 am
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