Grant Garner returns for a ninth season as the offensive line coach for the Bobcats.
Jones has boasted one of the MACCC's top rushing offenses year after year thanks to his work in the trenches.
The Bobcats had the league's second-best rushing attack in 2021 and 2022 and also ranked in the Top 10 in the NJCAAÂ in both years as well.
With his unit blocking for running back Robert Henry in 2022, the Texas-San Antonio signee and nation's leading rusher was named the NJCAA Offensive Player of the Year and awarded the inaugural Walter Jones Trophy as the top Division I Player in the country.Â
South Alabama signee La'Damian Webb led the NJCAA in rushing yards/game (155.6) during the 2021 season and closed his career with a school-record 2,340 yards and 24 touchdowns.Â
Garner has tutored 28 linemen that have moved on to the four-year level, 25 of those to Division I programs. Ten have signed to DI programs over the past three seasons alone.
Jones has boasted four 1,000-yard rushers since 2017, including Houston Texans running back Scottie Phillips, Kalyn Grandberry, Webb and Henry.
Garner came to Jones in 2016Â after a year at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where he was an offensive line graduate assistant. During his time with the Mustangs, he helped the offense to break a number of school records.
In January of 2013, Garner joined the Southern Miss coaching staff as an offensive graduate assistant, serving as the assistant offensive line coach. During part of the 2013 season, he stepped up as the interim offensive line coach for the Golden Eagles. After graduating in the spring of 2015, Garner moved on to SMU.
A Dave Rimington Award finalist as an offensive lineman at Oklahoma State, given to the nation's top center, Garner spent time in the National Football League with the Washington Redskins before joining the coaching ranks.
In his senior season with OSU in 2011, Garner was a third-team AP All-American center and was named the Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year. He also earned first-team All-American honors from SI.com and first-team All-Big 12 honors from the coaches and AP polls. He finished his collegiate career with 24 starts and allowed just a half of a sack in his senior year.
As a junior, Garner started every game at center and was named the OSU Offensive Lineman of the Week twice in his first season as a starter. That season, OSU allowed just 10 sacks in 13 games while ranking third nationally in total offense and scoring.
Garner holds a business management degree from OSU and a sports coaching education masters degree from Southern Miss.
He is married to the former Bailey Slough and the couple have two sons, Gideon and Micah, and a daughter, Esther.
