The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Football
- Title:
- Defensive Backs
Clay Jennings, a Texas native who has extensive collegiate experience in the state as both a player and a coach, enters his first season as defensive backs coach at Texas.
Jennings comes to Texas after spending two years at Arkansas as defensive backs coach. In a defense that ranked 12th in the nation against the run in 2015, seven of Jennings’ defensive backs ranked among the top 10 on the team in tackles. That group combined for nine tackles for loss, while producing nine interceptions and 30 pass breakups. For the second straight year, Jared Collins led the unit in breakups with nine after tying for the SEC lead with 13 in 2014.
Following the 2016 NFL Draft, Jennings' former safety at Arkansas, Maurice Gaines, signed an UDFA deal with the Los Angeles Rams.
That year, Jennings helped the Razorbacks finish 10th in the nation in both scoring and total defense, as the team allowed just 19.2 points and 323.4 yards per game. Arkansas finished in the top 40 in passing yards allowed for the first time since 2011, surrendering just 208.8 passing yards per game to rank 37th. The Razorback secondary helped hold Heisman Trophy finalist Amari Cooper of Alabama to just two receptions for 22 yards, his lowest output of the season.
Jennings also made an impact in his first season on Tevin Mitchel. The senior made the switch to nickel back and thrived, finishing second on the team with 10 passes defended and going on to be selected in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins. Alan Turner, who was fourth on the team in tackles, signed a free agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Prior to Arkansas, Jennings spent six seasons (2008-13) at TCU as cornerbacks coach and was part of some of the most successful teams in school history. In his first three years from 2008-10, the Horned Frogs became just the third program in NCAA history to lead the nation in total defense in three consecutive seasons.
While there, Jennings coached two-time All-American and first-round NFL Draft pick Jason Verrett, who was taken 25th overall by the San Diego Chargers in 2014. Verrett picked up first-team All-American honors from the Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) in 2013, in addition to being the Co-Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year with Texas DE Jackson Jeffcoat by the conference coaches. He ranked sixth in the nation in passes defended with 16, including 14 pass breakups to earn unanimous first-team All-Big 12 honors.
Also under Jennings tutelage, Kevin White accounted for 11 passes defended with three interceptions and was ninth in the nation with three forced fumbles. White was an honorable mention All-Big 12 selection and went on to sign as a free agent with the Atlanta Falcons. The Horned Frogs defense ranked 11th nationally in pass efficiency defense that season.
In 2012, SI.com named Verrett first-team All-America, and the WCFF selected him second-team, while the San Antonio Express-News chose him Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. He was also tabbed the nation’s top cornerback by CollegeFootballNews.com. He led the Big 12 in interceptions (six) and passes defensed (22), the only player to rank in the top 10 nationally in both categories.
Verrett and Greg McCoy, a 2012 seventh-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears, earned All-Mountain West honors in 2011 when TCU posted an 11-2 record and ranked 28th in the nation in scoring defense. McCoy was also the MWC Special Teams Player of the Year as a return specialist.
Jennings was part of a TCU staff in 2010 that led the Horned Frogs to a 13-0 record with a victory over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. He helped craft the nation’s top-ranked passing defense (128.8 ypg) and pass efficiency defense (94.9) that were part of the top-rated scoring defense (12.0 ppg) and total defense (228.5 ypg). Jason Teague, who led the team with nine passes defended, was a 2010 All-MWC second-team selection. Malcolm Williams moved to cornerback as a senior under Jennings and developed into a seventh-round pick by the New England Patriots.
Both Rafael Priest and Nick Sanders were first-team All-MWC picks in 2009 when the Horned Frogs suffered their only defeat of the season against Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl to finish 12-1. That season, Jennings helped the pass efficiency defense to fourth in the nation (92.3) and the passing defense to sixth (159.5 ypg) with the scoring defense also sixth (12.8 ppg) and the total defense number one (239.7 ypg). Priest later signed a free agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons.
A year earlier, the same duo received all-conference accolades as the pass efficiency defense was fourth nationally (97.9) and the passing defense was 11th (170.7 ypg). The scoring defense was ranked second (11.3 ppg) with the total defense first (217.8 ypg) en route to an 11-2 season.
Jennings came to the Horned Frogs after serving as cornerbacks coach at Baylor in 2007. Prior to that, he worked two seasons (2005-06) as the safeties coach at the University of Houston. He helped the Cougars to back-to-back bowl appearances and the 2006 Conference USA Championship. In 2006, Cougars’ free safety Will Gulley earned Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year honors, while Brandon Brinkley was named to the league’s all-freshman squad.
In his first season at Houston, Jennings helped Rocky Schwartz earn Conference USA third-team honors, and Kenneth Fontenette to be named an honorable-mention Freshman All-American by Sporting News.
Prior to his two-year stint at Houston, Jennings spent two seasons (2003-04) as the defensive backs coach at Louisiana-Lafayette, where he helped the Ragin’ Cajuns to a No. 11 national ranking in pass defense. There he tutored C.C. Brown and Michael Adams, who each had seven-year NFL careers. Jennings also mentored Antwain Spann, who played three seasons for the New England Patriots.
Jennings worked two years (2001-02) as secondary coach and recruiting coordinator at Sam Houston State. He helped the Bearkats to a share of the 2001 Southland Conference championship and the quarterfinal round of the FCS playoffs. He coached All-American and Buck Buchanan Award finalist Keith Davis, who played five seasons for the Dallas Cowboys.
Before SHSU, Jennings coached the secondary at Southern Arkansas (2000), Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa (1999) and Morehouse College in Atlanta (1998). At SAU, Jennings mentored Jordan Babineaux, a nine-year NFL veteran who played for the Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans. At Morningside, Jennings coached first-team All-American Matt Walker.
A four-year letterwinner (1992-95) as a defensive lineman and special teams standout at North Texas, Jennings was a member of the Mean Green’s 1994 Southland Conference championship team and the school’s first NCAA FBS squad in 1995. He began his coaching career as a student assistant (1996) and then graduate assistant (1997) at North Texas before moving on to Morehouse.
A native of Waco, Texas, Jennings is a 1997 North Texas graduate with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. He and his wife, Belinda, have a son, Kirby, and daughter, Kenzie.
