Maurice Linguist (born April 1, 1984) is an American football coach. He is the co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach for the University of Alabama, positions he has held since 2024.[1] He was the head coach for the University at Buffalo from 2021 until his departure in 2024 to join the Alabama coaching staff.[2]
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Co-defensive coordinator & defensive backs coach |
| Team | Alabama |
| Conference | SEC |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | April 1, 1984 Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 2003–2006 | Baylor |
| Position(s) | Safety |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 2007 | Baylor (GA) |
| 2008 | Valdosta State (DB/ST) |
| 2009–2011 | James Madison (S) |
| 2012–2013 | Buffalo (DB) |
| 2014–2015 | Iowa State (DB) |
| 2016 | Mississippi State (S) |
| 2017 | Minnesota (DB) |
| 2018–2019 | Texas A&M (CB) |
| 2020 | Dallas Cowboys (DB) |
| 2021–2023 | Buffalo |
| 2024–present | Alabama (co-DC/CB) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 14–23 |
| Bowls | 1–0 |
Playing career
editA native of Mesquite, Texas, Linguist played at Mesquite High School for the 2001 state champs and college football as a defensive back for Baylor. As a senior, he was an honorable mention on the All-Big 12 Team. He received a bachelor's degree in communication and a master's degree in sports management at Baylor.[3]
Coaching career
editAssistant coaching jobs
editAfter playing at Baylor, Linguist spent a season as a graduate assistant with the Bears. The following year, he coached defensive backs and special teams at Valdosta State. From 2009 until 2011, he coached safeties at James Madison.[3]
In 2012, he joined the coaching staff at Buffalo for the first time as a defensive backs coach.[3] In 2013, he was the team's co-defensive coordinator as well as its recruiting coordinator.[4]
In 2014, he was hired to coach the secondary at Iowa State.[4] In 2016, he was hired as the safeties coach at Mississippi State.[5] Linguist spent the 2017 season coaching defensive backs at Minnesota. Following the season, he was named an assistant head coach to P. J. Fleck. However, less than a month later, in January 2018, he left the Golden Gophers to join the coaching staff at Texas A&M.[6]
After serving for two years as the cornerbacks coach at Texas A&M, Mike McCarthy hired him as the secondary coach of the Dallas Cowboys, his first job in the National Football League.[7]
Buffalo
editFollowing the 2020 NFL season, Linguist was hired as the co-defensive coordinator at the University of Michigan.[8][9] However, on May 7, 2021, he was hired as the head coach at the University at Buffalo.[10][11] Despite Buffalo's poor performance in 2021, Linguist's recruiting class for 2022 was described by Sports Illustrated as the second-best in the Mid-American Conference.[12] In July 2022, he signed a one-year contract extension.[13] In his second season as head coach, Linguist led the Bulls to a 6–6 record in the regular season, earning an invite to the 2022 Camellia Bowl.[14] UB defeated Georgia Southern 23–21, earning their first bowl win under Linguist.[15]
Alabama
editOn January 16, 2024, it was reported that Linguist had resigned as the head coach of the University at Buffalo Bulls in order to join the Alabama Crimson Tide coaching staff as Co-Defensive Coordinator and Defensive Back coach [1], which was confirmed by the University at Buffalo later the same day.[2]
Head coaching record
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Bulls (Mid-American Conference) (2021–2023) | |||||||||
| 2021 | Buffalo | 4–8 | 2–6 | T–4th (East) | |||||
| 2022 | Buffalo | 7–6 | 5–3 | T–2nd (East) | W Camellia | ||||
| 2023 | Buffalo | 3–9 | 3–5 | 4th (East) | |||||
| Buffalo: | 14–23 | 10–14 | |||||||
| Total: | 14–23 | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ "Sources: Bama adds Buffalo's Linguist as a co-DC". ESPN.com. January 16, 2024. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
- ^ "TideIllustrated - Alabama expected to hire Buffalo HC Maurice Linguist as defensive assistant". alabama.rivals.com. January 16, 2024. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
- ^ a b c "2013 UB Football Info Guide". Issuu. University at Buffalo. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
- ^ a b "Iowa State hires former Buffalo assistant Maurice Linguist as secondary coach". Fox News. Associated Press. March 24, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
- ^ Bonner, Michael (February 11, 2016). "MSU names Maurice Linguist as new safeties coach". The Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
- ^ Cove, Drew (January 16, 2018). "Assistant head coach Maurice Linguist leaves Gophers football for Texas A&M". The Minnesota Daily. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
- ^ Brady, Kevin (January 12, 2020). "Report: Texas A&M CB Coach Maurice Linguist Joins Cowboys Staff". insidethestar.com. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
- ^ Lenzi, Rachel (May 8, 2021). "UB names Maurice Linguist as new head football coach". The Buffalo News. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ Brown, Brandon (May 7, 2021). "Report: Michigan Assistant Coach May Be On The Move". Sports Illustrated Michigan Wolverines News, Analysis and More. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
- ^ Sabin, Rainer (May 8, 2021). "Michigan football co-DC Maurice Linguist hired as MAC school's head coach". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
- ^ Fortuna, Matt; Vannini, Chris (May 7, 2021). "Buffalo hires Michigan co-DC Maurice Linguist as head coach". The Athletic. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
- ^ Johnson, Richard (August 23, 2022). "The Black Coaches Who Should Be on Decision-Makers' Radars". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
- ^ Bove, Matt (July 21, 2022). "UB Bulls sign head coach Maurice Linguist to extension". WKBW. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
- ^ Lenzi, Rachel (December 4, 2022). "UB football will face Kyle Vantrease, Georgia Southern in Camellia Bowl on Dec. 27". Buffalo News. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
- ^ Lenzi, Rachel (December 27, 2022). "UB football tops Georgia Southern, 23–21, to win Camellia Bowl". The Buffalo News. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2023.