MISSISSIPPI Nutt adds assistant coach OXFORD, Miss. — Derrick Nix will join his brother, Tyrone, on Coach Houston Nutt’s coaching staff at Mississippi. Derrick Nix, the younger brother of Nutt’s new defensive coordinator, comes to Oxford from the Atlanta Falcons, where he served as offensive assistant and quality control coach for former coach Bobby Petrino. Like Tyrone Nix, Derrick Nix is a former player and assistant coach at Southern Mississippi. Nutt told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal that Louis Campbell left his staff for Mississippi State, clearing the way for Derrick Nix. The hire completes Nutt’s staff of nine coaches.
TENNESSEE Fulmer: Assistants to leave TAMPA, Fla. — Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer said he expects two more coaches to leave his staff. Fulmer said he believes running backs coach Kurt Roper and tight ends coach Matt Luke will join alreadydeparted offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe’s staff at Duke. “Those guys have a decision to make,” Fulmer said. “If they’re not going, they’ve got jobs at Tennessee, but they better let me know soon.” Cutcliffe was hired by Duke on Dec. 14 but remained with the 16 th-ranked Vols (10-4 ) through their 21-17 victory over No. 18 Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl on Tuesday. Fulmer said he believes Roper will serve as Cutcliffe’s offensive coordinator and Luke will coach the offensive line. Both worked with Cutcliffe when he coached at Mississippi and were hired by Tennessee when Cutcliffe returned there in 2006.
Vols wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor announced in December that he was leaving Tennessee. Taylor will be a co-offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State.
Fulmer has said he wants to find a new offensive chief by the next time the team meets Jan. 8 and wants to fill that position before hiring other coaches. Fulmer credited his coaching staff for sticking together through some tough times this season and choosing to remain on staff even after accepting new positions. He also said he was glad to see his assistants find bigger opportunities elsewhere. “If we play against them, we’re going to try to beat their brains out,” he said. “But other than that, we’re going to be pulling for them every day.” DUKE Defensive coordinator hired DURHAM, N. C. — Duke Coach David Cutcliffe made his first hire, making New York Jets assistant coach Mike MacIntyre his defensive coordinator.
MacIntyre, 42, coached defensive backs for the Jets and was an assistant to Cutcliffe at Mississippi from 1999-2002, spending two seasons coaching receivers and two years coaching the secondary.
Before working with the Jets, MacIntyre coached the secondary under Bill Parcells with the Dallas Cowboys from 2003-2006.
MacIntyre had coaching stints at Georgia, Davidson, Tennessee-Martin and Temple before joining Cutcliffe at Mississippi. He graduated from Georgia Tech in 1989 after playing two seasons under Bobby Ross. He also played two seasons at Vanderbilt.
TEXAS RB heading to draft AUSTIN, Texas — Texas junior running back Jamaal Charles, who rushed for 1, 619 yards this season, announced Wednesday he will leave the Longhorns to enter the NFL Draft. Charles joined Ricky Williams, Earl Campbell and Cedric Benson as the only Longhorns to rush for more than 1, 500 yards in a season. Charles’ 3, 328 yards rushing rank fourth in school history, trailing Williams, Benson and Campbell. GEORGIA TECH Coach announces staff ATLANTA — Paul Johnson officially took over as coach of Georgia Tech on Wednesday and announced his entire coaching staff, including three assistants from Navy. Johnson, who was Navy’s head coach for six seasons before being named last month to replace the fired Chan Gailey, named Dave Wommack defensive coordinator. Wommack, the outside linebackers coach at Southern Mississippi last season, has been coordinator at Arkansas, Southern Mississippi, UNLV and Missouri State. Members of Gailey’s staff make up the rest of the defensive assistants: line coach Giff Smith, linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary and Charles Kelly, who will coach the cornerbacks after being special teams coordinator the past two seasons. Three assistants who helped Johnson run his highly successful triple-option offense at Navy will join him at Tech. Brian Bohannon will be quarterbacks / running backs coach, Todd Spencer the co-offensive line coach and Jeff Monken the slot backs / special teams coach. All have been with Johnson the past six seasons. Mike Sewak, who was Georgia Southern’s head coach for four seasons after Johnson left Statesboro for Navy, will serve as co-offensive line coach. Buzz Preston, who helped lead New Mexico to its first bowl victory since 1961, will coach the wide receivers.
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