Tulsa Adds Bill Young As Defensive Coordinator

Tulsa football coach Philip Montgomery announced today the appointment of Bill Young as the Golden Hurricane defensive coordinator. He will also serve as Tulsa's defensive line coach. Young returns to Tulsa, where he served as an assistant coach for five seasons (1980-84) under John Cooper.

Young's career has spanned more than 45 years at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. He has served as the defensive coordinator at prominent college football programs like Ohio State (1988–1995), Oklahoma (1996–1997), Southern Cal (1998–2000), Miami (2008), and Oklahoma State (2009–2012). Young coached in 19 bowl games throughout his collegiate coaching career.

In 2014, Young was the head football coach at Yukon High School after spending the 2013 season as the defensive quality control coordinator at Wyoming.

“Bill brings a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience to our program,” said Montgomery. “He has a lot of passion about what he does, how he does it and the way he handles young men. Bill has put together top-20 defenses many years as a defensive coordinator. He brings a lot of credibility to what we'll be doing on that side of the football. Bill and I have gone against each other on several different occasions. He's always been very sound in what he does. Bill has coached in some leagues that will help prepare us for the type of offenses that we'll face in the American Athletic Conference – up tempo, spread you out and throw the football down the field, but still running it. The knowledge that he brings will allow us to always be prepared and be very sound defensively.”

“We're excited to have Bill as part of our staff and excited to keep him in the state of Oklahoma,” said Montgomery. “He'll do a great job recruiting the state of Oklahoma. We're excited to have him as part of our football family.”

“Bill has been at a number of the nation's top programs and also coached in the NFL. With him being able to provide that type of leadership and knowledge to our student-athletes and in helping them prepare themselves, not only for here at TU, but also as they take that next step to the NFL,” added Montgomery.

Young, who graduated from Oklahoma State in 1968, returned to OSU as defensive coordinator in 2009 for four seasons (2009-12). The Cowboys compiled a 20-5 record in Big 12 play from 2009-12, the best of all Big 12 teams during that span. OSU won a share of the Big 12 South title in 2010 and won the Big 12 outright in 2011. The Cowboys appeared in - and won - their first-ever BCS bowl game in 2011 with a victory over Stanford in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

With Young coordinating, the Oklahoma State defense was been the nation's most opportunistic from 2010-11, as the Cowboys forced an NCAA-best 78 turnovers over those two seasons. OSU led the nation with 44 turnovers forced in 2011 and was fifth with 34 in 2010. Oklahoma State also led the nation in turnover margin and fumbles recovered and ranked second in the nation in passes intercepted in 2011. OSU led the Big 12 in scoring defense in conference games and was 12th nationally in red zone defense.

Young served the 2008 season as defensive coordinator at Miami (Fla.). Prior to his year at Miami, Young was part of the major turnaround at Kansas, where he was the defensive coordinator from 2002 through 2007.

His 2007 Jayhawks finished the year No. 12 nationally in total defense and fourth in scoring defense as KU won the Orange Bowl. It was the highest national ranking for a KU defense in 39 years. His 2005 Kansas squad led the Big 12 in rushing defense.

Young spent three years coaching the defensive line at Arizona State (1985-87) before three straight stints as a defensive coordinator - Ohio State (1988-95), Oklahoma (1996-97) and USC (1998-2000). While at USC, Young's Trojan defenders led the Pac-10 in total defense and were second nationally in takeaways. Young also coached the defensive line for the Detroit Lions in 2001.

He spent six years in the Oklahoma high school ranks at Carl Albert and Putnam City West before returning to OSU as a graduate assistant coach. Young's collegiate coaching stops have included OSU, where he coached the offensive and defensive lines from 1976 through 1978. He also the 1979 season at Iowa State as defensive tackles coach.

In his first tenure at Tulsa, Young joined John Cooper's coaching staff, where he coached from 1980-84, coaching the defensive line all five seasons and serving as defensive coordinator from 1983-84. He then made the move with Cooper to Arizona State.

As a player, Young was an outside linebacker and defensive end at Oklahoma State. He was a three-year starter and an academic All-Big Eight honoree. He received OSU's outstanding football award in 1967, when he was also named honorable mention all-conference.

Born in Hereford, Texas, Young attended Grant High School in Oklahoma City. He earned a bachelor's degree in education at Oklahoma State in 1968 and a master's degree in education at Central Oklahoma in 1971.

His wife, Lawana, is also a native Oklahoman and a graduate of Northeastern State in Tahlequah.