North Carolina A&T

North Carolina A&T head football coach Sam Washington announced Jason Makrinos as an assistant coach on his staff on June 14, 2022. Makrinos will coach A&T's defensive backs. 

Makrinos arrives in AggieLand after one season as the safeties coach with Division I Kent State. In that one season, the Golden Flashes led the Mid-American Conference (MAC) in interceptions and turnovers gained while ranking eighth and 10th in the nation, respectively.

That helped the Golden Flashes win the MAC and advance to the MAC championship game for only the second time in school history, which led to only their fifth bowl appearance (Famous Idaho Potato Bowl) in school history.

Safety Dean Clark developed into one of the best safeties in the nation, ranking 11th nationally in solo tackles per game.

He spent the previous five years before Kent State as the defensive coordinator and the defensive backs coach for the Findlay Oilers, a Division-II school in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.

In 2017, the Oilers made the Division-II playoffs for the first time in program history. Makrinos led the Oilers to their best defensive showing in the school's Division II history by allowing only 19.0 points per game and forcing 31 turnovers as the university's defensive coordinator. As a result, Findlay went from ranking 146th on the defensive end nationally in 2015 to a No. 24 ranking in 2017.

Makrinos coached 14 all-conference, three all-region and two All-Americans players at Findlay. He also coached two Players of the Year.

He also coached at Duquesne University (FCS) and Slippery Rock University (Division-II).   

Makrinos transformed both defenses into top-25 units in several defensive categories. His Slippery Rock defense led Division II in pass efficiency in 2013 and earned a Division II playoff berth for the first time in 14 years.

Makrinos earned his Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Westminster College, where he also played football. He earned his master's in sports management from Slippery Rock University. Jason and his wife Jessica have one son, Mason.