Tyrone Nix (born September 30, 1972) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach who currently serves as defensive coordinator for the

Tarleton State Texans The Tarleton State Texans (formerly the Tarleton State Texans and TexAnns), also known as the Tarleton Texans, are the athletic teams that represent Tarleton State University of Stephenville, Texas in NCAA Division I intercollegiate sports. Hist ...

. Nix is the former defensive coordinator for

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital an ...

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, and

Southern Miss The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bac ...

. He is the brother of Derrick Nix, a former Southern Miss star and the current offensive coordinator at Auburn.

Playing career

Nix was a former starting

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

. Following high school at Etowah High School in

Attalla, Alabama Attalla is a city in Etowah County, Alabama, Etowah County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the population was 6,048. History The town developed on the area of a former Muscogee people, Muscogee (Cre ...

, he went to the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bac ...

and played linebacker from 1990 through 1993. He was named Golden Eagle team captain in 1993. As a freshman, Nix was one of three freshmen to play in the 1990 All-American Bowl. He was also named to the All-South team and National Independent team as both a junior and a senior. In the year 1991, Nix became a member of

Phi Beta Sigma Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1914. The fraternity's founders, A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse, and Charles I. Brown, wanted to ...

fraternity through the Theta Eta chapter at the

Coaching career

Southern Miss

In 2001, Nix became the defensive coordinator at Southern Miss at the age of 29, making him the youngest coordinator in Division I-A. By 2003 he was a finalist for the Broyles Award, which recognizes the nation’s top assistant coaches. His impact as a defensive coordinator was immediately felt as he led the 2001 Golden Eagle defense, which had lost 7 starters from the previous season, to rankings of 8th in the nation in scoring defense and 11th in the nation in total defense. In his first three years as defensive coordinator at USM, Coach Nix’s defenses stayed in the top 15 nationally in scoring defense.

South Carolina

Coach Nix began his tenure at South Carolina in 2005 as co-defensive coordinator, sharing the responsibility with his long-time colleague John Thompson. Near the end of that season, impressed by Coach Nix’s coaching prowess, Head Coach

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former football player and coach. He played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL) before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often referred to by his nicknam ...

promoted him to sole defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. Prior to his promotion, the Gamecocks were giving up over 27 points per game. After the promotion, and under Coach Nix’s sole guidance, the USC defense held opponents to just 17 points per game and had wins over the University of Florida and the University of Tennessee which hadn't happened in over 20 years.

Ole Miss

On December 11, 2007, Nix accepted the job as defensive coordinator at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), to serve under new Ole Miss head coach

Houston Nutt Houston Dale Nutt Jr. (born October 14, 1957) is an American former college football coach and player. He formerly worked for CBS Sports as a college football studio analyst. Previously, he served as the head football coach at Murray State Univer ...

. During the 2008 season, Nix had Ole Miss defense ranked among the national leaders in points per game (17.8, 14th in FBS,) yards per game (204.8, 16th in FBS,) and ranked 5th nationally in total rushing yards (1020.) The 2008 defense included firth team All-American DT Peria Jerry and third team DE Greg Hardy. The season was capped off with a 47-34 win over Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl and an 8-4 record. Following the 2009 season, Houston Nutt promoted Nix to the role of assistant head coach after being nominated for the Frank Broyles Award. Upon the hiring of

Hugh Freeze Danny Hugh Freeze Jr. (born September 27, 1969) is an American college football coach. Since 2023, he has served as the head coach for Auburn University. A successful high school football coach at Briarcrest Christian School in Memphis, Tenne ...

as head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels on December 6, 2011, after Nutt was fired, Nix was dismissed as well.

Middle Tennessee

After interviewing with the Oklahoma Sooners, Nix was named co-defensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee State on February 22, 2012 under

Rick Stockstill Richard Wilson Stockstill (born December 23, 1957) is an American college football coach. He is an offensive analyst for Florida State University, his alma mater, a position he has held since 2024. He was the head coach at Middle Tennessee from 2 ...

. Nix was fired December 28, 2016.

Texas A&M

Nix served as the senior defensive analyst for the Aggies in the 2017 season.

UTSA

On Feb. 3, 2020, Nix was named defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the

UTSA Roadrunners The UTSA Roadrunners is a collegiate athletic program that represents the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). The UTSA Roadrunners are also commonly referred to as "UTSA", "Roadrunners", or "Runners", and are represented by the mascot Ro ...

. UTSA placed him on leave on November 14 pending the results of an unspecified internal investigation. On February 7, 2021 it was reported Nix would not be retained following an investigation into violating university policy on inappropriate sexual conduct, though the University reinstated Nix on a 12 month notice on condition that he take a misconduct course upon his return.

References

External links

UTSA profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nix, Tyrone 1972 births Living people American football linebackers Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football coaches Ole Miss Rebels football coaches South Carolina Gamecocks football coaches Southern Miss Golden Eagles football coaches Southern Miss Golden Eagles football players Texas A&M Aggies football coaches UTSA Roadrunners football coaches Virginia Tech Hokies football coaches People from Etowah County, Alabama Players of American football from Alabama African-American coaches of American football 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen