Football Names Diron Reynolds as Defensive Line Coach

TEMPE — Sun Devil Football has named Diron Reynolds as the program’s defensive line coach, as announced by head coach Kenny Dillingham today.

Reynolds, who has more than 25 years of coaching experience both at the NFL and Power 5 levels, spent last season as the defensive line coach at Michigan State before he previously spent seven seasons (2016-22) in the same position at Stanford. He has coached on multiple championship teams, including winning a Super Bowl ring with the Colts, and has worked with numerous All-Americans, NFL Draft picks and All-Pro players.

 

SALUTE ?? to @RobertMathis98 The Relentless Pursuit of the QB and Pass Rush Perfection. #1 QB Hater. Congrats. ???? https://t.co/DLOazvR0KQ

— Diron Reynolds (@Coach_Diron) November 28, 2023

“Coach Reynolds’ resume speaks for itself and his track record for success at all levels of football will help us continue to develop our program in the direction we are striving for,” said Dillingham. “When you look at the coaching tree he comes from, the caliber of players he has coached and the fact that he has reached the pinnacle of the sport at both the professional and collegiate levels, there truly aren’t many defensive line coaches in the country that have anywhere near the same pedigree. This is an exciting moment for our program and we look forward to welcoming Diron and his family to Tempe.”

 

 

FORKS UP?? Let’s Go! https://t.co/MPqKANVeON

— Diron Reynolds (@Coach_Diron) December 4, 2023

 
 In his lone season at Michigan State, the Spartans were among the top-40 teams in college football with 2.42 sacks per game. Derrick Harmon was fifth among Big Ten interior linemen and ninth among all linemen in the league with 20 defensive stops on run defense this season and his 80.1 grade on run defense was 15^th among all FBS interior linemen this season (min. 200 rush defense snaps) while teammate Simeon Barrow Jr. was in the Top-50 in the category as well.

During his time at Stanford, Reynolds coached four NFL Draft picks on the defensive line, including Solomon Thomas, who was the highest defensive player drafted in school history at No. 3 overall in 2017 by the San Francisco 49ers. Thomas also won the Pac-12’s Morris Trophy, given to the league’s top lineman, and garnered All-America honors from the Football Writers Association of America (second team), USA TODAY (second team) and Associated Press (third team).

Reynolds instructed defensive tackle Harrison Phillips throughout his…