Lantz, Terry Mattes, Ron
Courtney Coard
Courtney Coard spent four seasons (2011-14) as North Carolina A&T’s defensive line coach. He departed N.C. A&T for one season in 2015 to become a defensive graduate assistant at the University of Georgia. He returned to Aggieland in 2016 to resume his duties as the Aggies defensive line coach.
In 2018, he was named co-defensive coordinator, sharing the duties with head coach Sam Washington. In his role as co-defensive coordinator, the Aggies have continued their dominance on the defensive end. The Aggies defense has ranked in the top-10 nationally over the last two seasons (2018, 19) the Aggies have played.
A&T has had the No. 1 MEAC defense over that same span, with Coard as co-defensive coordinator. The Aggies run defense was also the best league-wide in 2018 and 19 and ranked in the top-5 nationally over those same two seasons.
Coard has helped the Aggies construct one of the best run defenses in the Football Championship Subdivision. The run defense has finished outside the top-10 nationally once, and in 2013 the Aggies led the nation in run defense. In addition, N.C. A&T has had the No. 1 MEAC run defense five times since Coard joined the staff.
Thanks to A&T’s defensive line play, the Aggies total defense has finished outside the top-20 only once in six seasons. The pass rush has been sufficient too. The Aggies ranked 23rd in sacks in 2013, 9th in 2014 and 10th in 2016, ninth in 2017 and seventh in 2019.
Under Coard’s leadership, Devin Harrell and Jermaine McDaniel had career seasons at the Aggies two defensive end positions in 2019. Both men finished among the top-5 in sacks in the MEAC. A year earlier, defensive end Darryl Johnson, Jr., earned MEAC defensive player of the year award as the Buffalo Bills drafted him in the seventh round of the NFL Draft.
Defensive tackle Marquis Ragland and defensive end Angelo Keyes became All-MEAC performers. Walk-on defensive end Daniel Pinnix developed into one of the best pass rushers in the MEAC in 2013. Tyree Hearn steadily improved in three seasons as a starter for Coard. Hearn collected 20 tackles for loss and 7 ½ sacks in his last three seasons, earning a third-team All-MEAC selection 2013.
Former defensive end Tony Mashburn also benefited from Coard’s teachings in 2011 and ‘12. In two years with Coard, Mashburn collected an impressive 22 ½ tackles for loss, 82 tackles and 11 sacks. Defensive tackle Chris Neal also had a career year during his senior season in 2012 with career highs in tackles (33), tackles for loss (9) and sacks (3).
Before coming to A&T, Coard coached defensive ends and assisted in coaching defensive tackles at Grambling under then-head coach Rod Broadway. Coard assisted defensive coordinator/defensive line coach Cliff Yoshida in 2009 and ‘10. Coard helped the defensive line produce 7.8 tackles for loss per game. It allowed the Tigers to rank 15th nationally in tackles for loss. Defensive lineman Christian Anthony ranked 31st in the nation in sacks per game and finished 19thin tackles for loss. The following season, defensive lineman Antonio Leonard registered 1.2 tackles for loss per game.
Before he arrived at Grambling, Coard served as the defensive line coach at his high school alma mater Charlotte Independence. As a player at Independence, Coard helped the Patriots win four straight state championships. Coard was a four-year starter at defensive tackle for N.C. Central from 2004-07 under then-head coach Rod Broadway. His presence helped the Eagles win consecutive CIAA titles in 2005 and ‘06. In 2004, he was named to the CIAA’s All-Rookie Team. Academically, Coard earned a B.A. degree in business management in 2008. Two years later, he received an M.S. degree in sports administration from Grambling.