Tayrone Odums is in his third season as a North Carolina A&T assistant football coach. For the second straight year, he served as the Aggies defensive line coach and special teams coordinator. In 2010, he was promoted to defensive coordinator.
Odums special teams units thrived under his leadership. The Aggies returned four kicks for touchdowns, blocked four punts -- one for a touchdown -- and had two players ranked in the top 20 in kickoff return yardage per game. N.C. A&T special teams ranked in the top 50 in punt return defense (26th), kickoff return yardage per game (46th) and kickoff return defense (15th).
On Oct. 18, Odums took over as the Aggies defensive coordinator. He oversaw some outstanding performances. Brandon Jackson became the first Aggie in five seasons to record more than 100 tackles in a season with 106. D'Vonte Graham led the MEAC in interceptions with seven.
Two-thousand nine was no different for Odums. He coached one of the best defensive lines in the conference. Jarrell Herring was a first-team All-MEAC selection at the defensive end position. Defensive end Tyre Glasper was a preseason all-conference pick and had four sacks and 14 tackles for loss. Defensive tackle Adam Beal earned a tryout with the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints.
All together, the foursome of Herring, Glasper, Beal and Micah Stanfield combined for 155 tackles, 32 ½ tackles for loss and 10 ½ sacks. Odums took a step forward in his career when he was selected to participate in the 2010 NCAA Coaches Academy in Indianapolis. He was one of only 25 coaches selected from thousands of applications. The Academy is designed to train minorities for head coaching positions. He is also a member of the American Football Coaches Association.
The Aggies also had several special teams highlights under Odums leadership. Quay Long shattered a school record with a 96-yard punt return against Bethune-Cookman on Oct. 31, 2009. Punter Alex Grubb had five punts over 50 yards and placed 18 punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line.
In 2008, Odums was the Aggies defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Five Aggies - Tyre Glasper, Nick Clement, Brandon Long, Brandon Jackson and Jarrell Herring - had career years under Odums leadership. Long led the Aggies in tackles with 96 and ranked fourth in the MEAC.
Over Odums 12-year coaching career he has helped to engineer defenses that are ranked high nationally. Before coming to N.C. A&T, Odums was an assistant at Bethune-Cookman University. He spent three seasons coaching the Wildcats' defensive line.
Over Odums' three-year span there, the Wildcats run defense was among the stingiest. In 2007, the Wildcats defense ranked third in the conference in rush defense and third in total defense. Odums also worked with the Wildcats special teams units. He scouted opposing teams' special teams personnel.
Before arriving at Bethune-Cookman University, Odums spent four seasons at Division II Clark Atlanta. In 2002 and 2003, he served as the Panthers assistant head coach, the defensive coordinator and the recruiting coordinator. In 2004, he earned his first opportunity to head a collegiate program when he took over as Clark Atlanta's interim head football coach. A year later, the interim label was removed from his title as he became the Panthers head coach. Odums has also been an assistant at Georgia Southern and Gardner-Webb.
He spent two seasons at Georgia Southern where he coached linebackers his first year and defensive ends during his second year. In 2000, Odums played a role in GSU winning a Division I-AA national championship. The Eagles were led by a defense that ranked 23rd nationally in scoring defense and 18th in pass defense.
A year later, the Eagles won the Southern Conference with the No. 6 rated defense in the country. Odums was the defensive ends coach at GWU for one season. Odums received his coaching start Crest High School in Shelby, N.C. He coached linebackers there from 1997-98. Odums earned a Bachelor's of Science degree in physical education from N.C. Central in 1997.
