The Razorbacks have filled their open tight ends coach position, according to Bruce Feldman. Sam Pittman will hire Cody Kennedy away from Southern Miss where he was hired as offensive line coach and run game coordinator just last month.
Kennedy will replace first-year tight ends coach Jon Cooper who Arkansas parted ways with on Friday. Kennedy was hired by Southern Miss from Tulane where he coached the offensive line for two seasons.
Here’s Kennedy’s bio from Southern Miss:
Cody Kennedy comes to Hattiesburg after two seasons at Tulane, where he helped the Green Wave offensive line improve drastically the last two seasons. Kennedy will mentor the offensive line, as well as be the Golden Eagles’ run game coordinator.
The Green Wave, which scored 30 or more points in seven-straight games at one point this season, currently holds a No. 18 national ranking in rushing offense (218.9) and No. 22 in scoring offense (27.2).
The Tulane offensive line improved dramatically from 2018 to 2019 in his first year. The Green Wave finished the 2019 season ranked 11th in the nation in rushing offense (243.2).The Tulane offense set the program record in rushing yards at 3,162 yards in 2019 behind the improved offensive line.
The offense ranked second in program history in rushing yards per game (243.2), rushing touchdowns (33) and rushing first downs (166).
He coached Corey Dublin, who earned Second-Team All-AAC honors from Phil Steele Magazine and Honorable Mention All-Conference from The American.
In his first signing class for the Green Wave, he signed six three-star offensive lineman. Prior to that signing, Tulane did not possess one offensive lineman rated three stars or higher on its then current roster.
Kennedy spent the 2018 season as a graduate assistant coach at Georgia where he helped the Bulldogs earn finalist honors for the Joe Moore Award that is given annually to the nation’s top offensive line. Before his time with Georgia, he was the offensive line coach at West Georgia for two seasons with current Southern Miss head coach Will Hall.
.In 2017, two of Kennedy’s West Georgia linemen earn All-America notice in center Harley Vaughan and tackle Austin Kastl. Quentin Stanford and Amanii Brown were also played on the All-Gulf South Conference Team.
His line helped the Wolves finish in the top 50 out of the 168 Division II schools in the country in rushing offense, completion percentage, first downs and passing efficiency as the team ended the year with a 9-4 record.
In 2015, Kennedy was the offensive line coach at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke. He was a graduate assistant in West Georgia in 2014, coming to the university with Hall. He was a graduate assistant at West Alabama for the two years prior to that.
Kennedy earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Southeastern Louisiana in 2012 and a master’s degree in physical education from West Alabama in 2014.
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