Note: click link to access video interview with coach Montgomery
NORMAN, Okla. -- University of Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops announced Tuesday that Jerry Montgomery has been added to the OU staff as defensive line coach. Montgomery joins the Sooners after spending the previous two seasons in the same capacity at the University of Michigan.
"Jerry Montgomery is a talented coach who further strengthens our staff at the University of Oklahoma," Stoops said. "I have closely followed Jerry's progress as he has ascended through the coaching ranks. I have been impressed by his ability to recruit some of the nation's top student-athletes and then develop their skills once they arrive on campus. We are excited to have Jerry and his family join the Sooners."
Montgomery spent the past two seasons working under head coach Brady Hoke at the University of Michigan. During that two-year span, the Wolverines registered a 19-7 record and limited opponents to 18.6 points per game. In 2012, Montgomery's defensive front was an integral part of a Michigan defense that permitted only three rushing touchdowns in the season's final nine games. The Wolverines also ranked 13th among FBS squads in total defense (320.0 ypg) en route to a berth in the Capital One Bowl.
In 2011, the Wolverines permitted 17.4 points per game to rank sixth in the FBS, while allowing 131.7 rushing yards per game, the third-best mark in the Big Ten as the club finished the season with an 11-2 record and a victory in the Sugar Bowl.
"It's truly a privilege to join the University of Oklahoma," said Montgomery. "Coach Stoops and his staff have an unbelievable reputation in the coaching community, and I'm excited to get to work with them. I'm very appreciative that I was able to work with Coach Hoke and our student-athletes at the University of Michigan. There were very few situations that could have convinced me to leave Ann Arbor, but the opportunity to join Coach Stoops and a storied program like the University of Oklahoma was one of them."
A four-year starter as a defensive tackle at the University of Iowa from 1998-2001, Montgomery coached the defensive line at Wyoming (2009-10) and Northern Iowa (2007-08) prior to his arrival at the University of Michigan. Montgomery has been a part of seven squads that have earned postseason berths as either a player or a coach. As a student assistant with Iowa in 2002, the Hawkeyes posted an 11-2 record and played in the 2003 Orange Bowl. The Hawkeyes won the 2001 Alamo Bowl his senior season. Wyoming claimed a berth in the 2009 New Mexico Bowl during his tenure with the Cowboys, while Northern Iowa advanced to the FCS playoffs in each of his seasons with the Panthers.
At Northern Iowa, Montgomery was part of the Panthers' 2008 Missouri Valley Football Conference championship team that went 12-3 overall. The 2008 UNI defense ranked 10th nationally among all FCS teams in scoring defense, allowing 17.7 points per game.
A native of Los Angeles, Montgomery was the 1997 Nevada State Player of the Year at Virgin Valley High School in Mesquite, Nev. He concluded his college career in the Hula Bowl All-Star Game and went on to participate in the 2002 New Orleans Saints' camp. Montgomery played in the Arena Football League with the Chicago Rush, Colorado Crush and Las Vegas Gladiators from 2003-05.
He graduated from Iowa with a bachelor's degree in African American Studies in 2002. He and his wife, Natalie, have three sons, Jayden, Tevyn and Jace, and one daughter, Talayla.
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