Ole Miss to hire NC State's John Garrison as new offensive line coach. Get to know the new staffer

Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin are expected to fill their only vacancy with the hiring of NC State’s John Garrison, as reported by On3’s Matt Zenitz on Saturday.

Former offensive line coach Jake Thornton left Oxford, Miss., when he accepted the same position at Auburn under new head coach Hugh Freeze.

Garrison, a former Nebraska center, has been in the coaching industry for 18 years and counting. His latest stop in Raleigh has been a good one. Garrison coached Ikem Ekwonu to a consensus first-team All-American selection in 2021. He was also a finalist for the Outland Trophy and won the ACC’s Jacobs Blocking Award. He was also a first-team All-ACC selection and was selected 6th overall by the Carolina Panthers in the 2022 NFL Draft.

In 2021, the Wolfpack were fourth in the ACC, giving up just 25 sacks, despite losing starter midway through the season. They averaged over 400 yards of offense per game and finished 9-3.

Before he got to NC State, Garrison was on staff at FAU with Lane Kiffin.
There, his unit helped Kiffin and the Owls finish 14th in the FBS in sacks allowed (1.17 per game). They led Conference USA and ranked 14th nationally in rushing yards with 241.8 yards per contest. Devin Singletary ran for 1,348 yards and 22 touchdowns and was later drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

In 2017, Garrison’s offensive line helped UNLV finish 36th overall in the country in yards per game, 15th in the country in rushing and set the school record for fewest quarterback sacks allowed.

A four-year letterman for Frank Solich at Nebraska from 1999-2002, Garrison earned honorable-mention All-Big 12 selections as a junior and senior. Garrison helped the Huskers to a 12-1 record, Big 12 title and a win over Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl. In 2001 as the starting center, he helped Nebraska to an appearance in the BCS National Championship Game and anchored a line which helped Eric Crouch win the Heisman Trophy.

As a staffer in Lincoln, six of his former players made it to the NFL.
Alex Lewis (Ravens), Brent Qvale (Jets), Spencer Long (Jets), Jerimiah Sirles (Bills), Matt Slausen (Colts) and Zach Sterup (Dolphins) all built off what they learned from Garrison to earn a living as a professional.

- Nebraska ranked eighth nationally with 253.4 rushing yards per game in 2012
- The Cornhuskers allowed an average of 1.3 sacks per game, a total which ranked 23rd nationally and boasted three all-conference performers in 2013
- They were also 19th nationally in rushing yards (215.7) per game in 2013 and Ameer Abdullah rushed for 1,690 yards, the highest by a Husker since 1997
- In 2014, his line paved the way for Abdullah to earn second team All-America honors after running for 1,523 yards and 18 scores

Garrison joins the Ole Miss staff and will look to build upon the success the run game had in 2022. Freshman Quinshon Judkins won the SEC rushing title and was selected to various All-American and All-SEC teams. As a team, Ole Miss finished 3rd nationally in rushing yards per game (261.6), finishing behind Air Force and Army. Zach Evans chipped in 899 yards and eight touchdowns and quarterback Jaxson Dart also ran for 666 yards.

Dart threw for 2,613 yards and 18 touchdowns in his first season as the starter at Ole Miss. The Rebels were 11th in the country in 3rd down conversions, 19th in first downs and 23rd in sacks allowed.

Garrison will look to build off that next season with an offensive line that returns four starters.


SOURCE: Berry, Zach. "Ole Miss to hire NC State's John Garrison as new offensive line coach. Get to know the new staffer." On3.com - OMSpirit, 10 December 2022, https://www.on3.com/teams/ole-miss-rebels/news/ole-miss-football-2023-john-garrison-offensive-line-coach-nc-state-nebraska-fau-unlv-ikem-ekwonu-quinshon-judkins-jaxson-dart/