FootballScoop is proud to announce that Rodney Garner (Tennessee) is the 2024 FootballScoop Defensive Line Coach of the Year presented by AstroTurf as selected by prior winners.
Tennessee reached its first College Football Playoff in 2024, thanks in large part to a defensive line that consistently controlled the line of scrimmage.
The Vols allowed 103.9 rushing yards per game and 2.97 per carry, numbers that both ranked in the top 10 nationally. None of Tennessee's 13 opponents reached the 180-yard mark on the ground, and six failed to crack triple digits. In fact, each of Tennessee's first four foes failed to reach 75 yards in the game, and only one averaged two yards per carry.
Oklahoma (36 yards) rushed for a season-low against the Vols, while Chattanooga (74), NC State (39), Kent State (54), Alabama (75) and UTEP (81) were also near season-lows.
Tennessee also excelled at making plays on the opponent's line of scrimmage. The Vols were one of 10 FBS teams to record 100 or more tackles for loss, and ranked eighth with 7.69 TFLs per game.
James Pearce, Jr. led Tennessee's efforts, collecting 7.5 sacks and 13 TFLs. Seven Vols recorded at least four TFLs on the year, with junior Joshua Josephs and senior Bryson Eason trailing Pearce at nine and seven, respectively. Senior Omar Norman-Lott was second on the club with four sacks, with eight Vol defensive linemen posting at least 1.5 sacks on the season.
As a unit, Tennessee finished the year seventh in yards per play (4.56) and eighth in scoring (16.1 points per game). The 2024 campaign marked the first time since 2008 that Tennessee held opponents to less than 20 points per game. Tennessee was also in the top 10 nationally on third down (30.3 percent) and red zone touchdown percentage allowed (46 percent).
Pearce was recognized as a First Team All-SEC performer by the league's coaches.
An All-American and a team captain on an SEC champion Auburn squad, Garner has been an SEC fixture for four decades. He has been in coaching since 1990 with stops at Auburn, Georgia and Tennessee; he coached tight ends and offensive tackles for the Vols from 1996-97 and return as defensive line coach in 2021. In all, Garner has coached 34 players and counting to NFL careers and played or coached for six SEC champions.
The FootballScoop Coaches of the Year awards presented by AstroTurf are the only set of awards that recognize the most outstanding position coaches in college football. The finalists (Kenny Baker and Pete Kwiatkowski [Texas], Deion Barnes [Penn State], Lou Esposito [Michigan], Randall Joyner [Ole Miss], Calvin Thibodeaux [SMU] and Garner) were selected based off of nominations by coaches, athletic directors, and athletic department personnel. The prior winners selected this year's winner.
Previous winners of the Defensive Line Coach of the Year award are Dick Bumpas (TCU, 2008), Jim Panagos (Central Florida, 2009), Bill Kirelawich (West Virginia, 2010), Brick Haley (LSU, 2011), Randy Hart (Stanford, 2012), Ron Burton (Michigan State, 2013), Craig Kuligowski (Missouri, 2014), Greg Mattison (Michigan, 2016), Larry Johnson (Ohio State, 2017), Ron Burton and Chuck Bullough (Michigan State, 2018), David Turner (Florida, 2019), Charlie Partridge (Pittsburgh, 2020, 2022), Shaun Nua (Michigan, 2021), and Bo Davis (Alabama, 2015; Texas, 2023).
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