Rodriguez Announces Green as Defensive Line Coach

Football
January 03, 2025 03:06 PM

Mike Montoro

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University football coach Rich Rodriguez has announced that William Green has been hired as the defensive line coach on the Mountaineer coaching staff.

Green rejoins Rodriguez and defensive coordinator Zac Alley after spending time on their staffs at Jacksonville State and Louisiana Monroe.

“William has coached with us at Jacksonville State and Louisiana Monroe and has done an outstanding job developing players and defensive lines,” Rodriguez said. “I am confident that he will continue to be a successful coach and leader here at WVU.”

In 2024, he helped lead Jax State to a 9-5 record, the Conference USA championship and a spot in a second straight bowl game. The defense finished No. 5 nationally in fumbles recovered, No. 10 in red zone defense, No. 15 in turnovers gained and No. 22 in turnover margin. The Gamecocks were No. 2 in Conference USA in tackles for loss, No. 3 in sacks and No. 4 in rushing defense. Defensive end J-Rock Swain was named All-Conference USA second-team.

Three defensive linemen made the All-Conference USA lists in 2023 as the Gamecocks led the league in sacks with 39 during a 9-4 season, which saw the program win its first FBS Bowl Game in its initial year of FBS play.

The Gamecocks posted a 9-2 record in 2022 that included a 5-0 record in ASUN play and a conference championship. His defensive line played a huge role in the nation’s No. 12 red-zone defense, as well as a unit that led the nation with 15 fumble recoveries.

Green helped Alley guide the ULM defense in 2020, when his defensive line set the tone for a rushing defense that improved 56 spots in the FBS national rankings the year before.

Prior to going to ULM, Green turned in his first stint at Jax State and coached the Gamecocks’ defensive line and was also the run game coordinator. In four seasons, JSU went 28-13 (.683), including an 18-6 record (.750) in Ohio Valley Conference games, won back-to-back league titles in 2017-18 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision those same two seasons.

Prior to being hired as JSU’s defensive line coach in 2017, Green was a graduate assistant for his alma mater, Florida, in 2016 after serving as a graduate assistant with the Gamecocks in 2014 and 2015.

Green played for the Gators from 2008-11, seeing action in 53 games. He recorded 53 tackles, 11 for loss, 2.5 sacks and a career-best 21 tackles in his senior season. He was a member of Florida’s national championship team as a freshman in 2008.

Green prepped at Spain Park High School in Hoover, where he was an All-American linebacker and defensive end for John Grass and the Jaguars in 2007.

Green was also an all-state first-team selection and named to the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Super 12 Team in a senior season that saw him register 114 tackles, four sacks and a fumble recovery in SPHS’s AHSAA Class 6A runner-up season before signing with Florida.

Following his playing days at Florida, Green went to training camp with the Cleveland Browns and then played in the Arena Football League.