Ole Miss hires 13-year coaching veteran Coleman Hutzler

Not long after Ole Miss lost special teams coordinator Blake Gideon to his alma mater, Lane Kiffin and the Rebels found his replacement in Austin, Tex.

The Longhorns’ former co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, Coleman Hutzler, is Ole Miss’ newest member of the staff, joining as special teams coordinator.

Hutzler is an experienced Power 5 assistant who has been all over the place. Hutzler began his career at the University of San Diego under then-head coach Jim Harbaugh, working as a defensive assistant in 2006. After that, he moved to Northern California to become a recruiting assistant at Stanford in 2007 and served as an assistant on the defensive side of the ball for the Cardinal in 2008 and 2009.

He left Palo Alto for Gainesville, Fla. where Hutzler was a defensive assistant for DJ Durkin. Next, the Las Vegas, Nev. native made his way to Albuquerque where he was New Mexico’s outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator. While working with the Lobos, he coached All-Mountain West punter Ben Skaer and returner Carlos Wiggins won MWC Special Teams Player of the Year and was a second-team All-American in 2013.

Wiggins returned three kickoffs for touchdowns that year and the Lobos were first in the conference and 15th in the country in kickoff returns. The Lobos also improved from 112th nationally to 25th in net punting and their punt-return defense improved to 19th from 106th.

Hutzler then returned to Gainesville for the 2014 season where he coached Dante Fowler, Jr during his first-team All-SEC campaign. Fowler went on to be the third overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. The Gators had the second-best punt return average in the SEC and the 17th-best in the nation. Punter Kyle Christy was second-team All-SEC and had the nation’s 14th-best average.

After just one year back in the SEC, he then left for Boston College where he helped Steve Addazio field one of the nastiest defenses in 2015. As their outside linebackers coach, Hutzler was part of a defensive staff that helped the Eagles allow just 254.3 yards per game, 24.1 percent third down conversions, and they finished second nationally in rushing defense (82.8 yards per game).

After back-to-back years where he only spent one year at a program, he left for South Carolina where he rejoined Will Muschamp for five seasons. There, he was a key cog in All-SEC seasons for Joseph Charlton, Skai Moore, and Deebo Samuel. Two of his placekickers, Elliott Fry and Parker White, set school records, leading to his nomination for the Broyles Award for the nation’s top assistant coach in 2017.

Finally, as co-defensive coordinator for Herman this past year, the Longhorns’ defense finished 34th per SP+.

Oh, and did I mention he can recruit?

• 5-star DT Zacch Pickens
• 4-star ILB Mohamed Kaba
• 4-star WDE Derrick Harris, Jr
• 4-star OLB Terrence Cooks
• 4-star OLB Morice Blackwell
• 4-star WDE Brad Johnson
• 4-star ILB Rosendo Louis

Hutzler has spent 10 seasons working with linebackers and seven years in the Southeastern Conference. This is a tremendous addition to Kiffin’s staff. I expect the 36-year old to bring a ton of energy, quality experience, and a tenacious attitude on the recruiting trail.