Lou Holtz. He's got a few sane years left, right?
igeaux.mobi
Lou Holtz. He's got a few sane years left, right?
igeaux.mobi
One down year, but look at his past accomplishmentsImpressive if you ask me.
"Tyrone Nix is one of the up-and-coming, bright defensive coordinators in America," said Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt when he selected Nix to serve that position on his first Rebel staff on Dec. 11, 2007. While also coaching the linebackers, Nix was promoted to Assistant Head Coach in January 2010.
Under the direction of Nix, the Ole Miss defense has led the Southeastern Conference in tackles for loss in each of his two seasons and tied for the nation's lead in 2008. The unit also led the league in sacks in 2008 and finished second in 2009. In a 2008 shutout of Mississippi State, the Rebel defense posted a school-record 11.0 sacks and 15.0 tackles for loss.
Nix has helped the Rebels show an improvement in pass efficiency defense from No. 12 in the SEC the season before he arrived to No. 3 in the conference and No. 11 in the nation in 2009. The Rebels have also improved in pass defense from 52nd in the NCAA in 2007 to 15th in 2009.
Ole Miss has continued to rise in scoring defense under Nix, moving from 11th in the SEC prior to his arrival to fifth in 2008 and fourth in 2009, when the squad also ranked 15th in the nation. After ranking last in the SEC in total defense in 2007, the Rebels have improved to fifth in each of Nix's two seasons as defensive coordinator.
Nix's first season with the Rebels saw the rush defense improve from 11th in the SEC to second, and fourth in the nation.
Under Nix's leadership, two Rebels earned All-America honors in 2008, as defensive tackle Peria Jerry was named a first team All-American and defensive end Greg Hardy was a third-team pick. Jerry and Hardy also earned first and second team All-SEC accolades, respectively. In 2009, junior defensive tackle Jerrell Powe earned second team All-SEC honors, and linebacker D.T. Shackelford was named to the SEC All-Freshman team.
Nix's first Ole Miss defense produced a pair of NFL draft picks. Jerry was a first-round selection of the Atlanta Falcons, while safety Jamarca Sanford was chosen in the seventh round by the Minnesota Vikings.
Nix, 37, has been one of the youngest defensive coordinators in Division I college football for the past nine years, directing defenses for his alma mater, Southern Miss, South Carolina and now Ole Miss.
In 2007, he coached inside linebackers in addition to managing a Gamecock unit that topped the SEC and ranked fifth nationally in pass defense, allowing just 168.8 yards through the air.
The USC defense in 2006 was sixth in the SEC and 29th in the country in scoring defense, surrendering 18.7 points per game, 4.5 fewer than in 2005 despite returning just one starter. Junior college transfer Jasper Brinkley led the team in tackles and earned first team All-SEC accolades at middle linebacker.
In his first year in Columbia, Nix served as co-defensive coordinator and tutored the defensive line. Under his watch, a pair of Gamecocks, cornerback Johnathan Joseph and safety Ko Simpson, were selected in the NFL Draft. In addition, Simpson earned All-America accolades.
During his 10 years on the Southern Miss staff, Nix coached every position on defense and served as defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach the last four seasons, when the Golden Eagles' defense was among college football's toughest. From 2001-03, USM was top 15 in the nation in both scoring defense and pass efficiency defense each season.
In 2003, Southern Miss ranked No. 5 in the nation in pass defense, No. 13 in pass efficiency defense, No. 14 in scoring defense and No. 23 in total defense. Nix's coaching efforts were recognized as he was a finalist for the Broyles Award, given to the nation's outstanding assistant coach.
In 2002, Southern Miss ranked No. 4 nationally in pass efficiency defense, No. 10 in pass defense and No. 15 in scoring defense.
Nix entered the 2001 campaign with the distinction of being the youngest coordinator in the country at 29 years of age. Despite losing seven defensive starters from the previous year, Nix's 2001 USM defense finished among the NCAA leaders in scoring defense (8th), total defense (11th), pass efficiency defense (12th), rushing defense (13th) and turnover margin (21st).
In his 10-year period at Southern Miss, he mentored 12 All-Conference USA selections, four C-USA Defensive Players of the Year and six All-America selections. USM also enjoyed team success, winning four C-USA championships and earning seven postseason bowl berths.
As a player, Nix was a standout linebacker for the Golden Eagles from 1990-93. He finished his USM career with 295 tackles - still among the top 15 in school history - and was one of only three true freshmen to play on the 1990 All-American Bowl team.
Named Golden Eagle team captain in 1993, Nix was one of the original members of the Southern Miss "Black Attack" defense, which ranked 39th-best in the nation in total defense in 1992. He also was named to the All-South team and the National Independent squad in both 1992 and 1993. He was inducted into the Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame at the Spring 2003 banquet.
A native of Attalla, Ala., Nix received his bachelor's degree in management from Southern Miss in 1995. He is married to the former Toya Phelps of Vicksburg, Miss., who holds both bachelor's and master's degrees from Southern Miss. The couple has one son, Tyvari, and one daughter, Tiah.
my coaching prospect short list-
1) Terry Bowden- HC at UNA. has plenty of HC experience at Div 1-A and Div. II levels of football.
2) Trooper Taylor- Co-OC at Auburn
3) Gary Campbell- RB coach at Oregon
4) Bryan Harsin- OC at Boise St.
5) Terry Richardson- RB coach at U Conn. has been with U Conn since before they moved up into the FBS level of competition. have had some great success running the ball with multiple 1000 rushers. could be a great teacher for our multiple young RBs
6) Carl Pelini- DC/ D-line coach at Nebraska
If we could get someone to get that Oregon offense over here, I'd poo myself
Please don't tar and feather me for saying this, but no matter who the next HC is, Louie Cook needs to be on his staff. Absoultely no one mentioned on this thread could recruit the local talent better than him!! He has contacts at every school in south LA and then some! Just my opinion though.
GEAUX CAJUNS!!!!
OSU gets most of their talent from Texas and he is their #1 recruiter. He is also the Associate Head Coach. So, he must be doing something right. He is a UL alum and former player and just might be interested in this job. I'm not saying he is our #1 candidate, just saying he should not be discounted.
Everyone repeat after me -
No position coaches - Jerry Baldwin
No coordinators over 47 years old - Rickey Bustle
No Asst HC - this is a title to someone to justify higher pay, but no extra duties
Major Applewhite was a good choice, but he was in over his head at Bama, and has since backed up to take the RB coach job at UT.
We need a head coach - Jeff Bower, Jim Leavitt, Mark Mangino, Mike Leach, or Terry Bowden, someone that has had difficulties recruiting, but has still done a great job
Bower had Ole Miss and MSU, Jim Leavitt had UF, FSU and Miami (and the rest of the nation), Mangino had the whole Big XII, Same as Leach, and TB had Alabama and Georgia
If we get a young coach (ideal for price consideration) let's look to a young HC at a very successful 1AA school, before we start looking to OC/DC and allow them a larger asst salary purse the same as one of the proven one above.
I'd also call and ask Nick Saban and Bob Stoops to come to town for a week, review our facilities and ask them where we could improve for the best buck and what points we should emphasize in our recruiting methods.
These guys are not our competition yet, and most coaches are willing to help each other out, unless they hate each other. I would do this right after we name our AD, so that we know what we are getting ourselves into, and these guys might have a few people in their "trees" that might want a HC job.
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