The longest-tenured assistant on the University of South Alabama football coaching staff, Brian Turner has coached Jaguar defensive linemen since the program’s inception in 2009. He is now entering his second season as co-defensive coordinator as well.
Under Turner’s direction, the defensive line is one of just two position groups for the Jags that have had at least one individual receive all-Sun Belt Conference recognition each of the school’s first five years as a league member, a streak that has been bolstered by his work with Randy Allen and DeMarrion Harper the last two years. After making just three stops his first season as a Jag, with Turner’s assistance Allen turned in arguably one of the best performances in program history after he recorded 19 tackles for loss including 12 sacks to rank among the top three in the league in both categories and earn first-team all-Sun Belt accolades. The previous fall, Harper came into the campaign with just five tackles to his credit in two seasons, but at the end of the year he was an honorable mention all-SBC choice after posting 49 stops — including seven for loss — two sacks and a pair of quarterback pressures.
Last season, Turner not only impacted Allen’s performance but he helped Tyree Turner record 50 stops, Zach Befort and Chason Milner total the same amount combined, and Finessé Middleton post 8½ tackles behind the line as the Jaguars were the fifth-most improved unit in the country in scoring defense. His group’s efforts helped USA rank in the top five in the Sun Belt in pass defense, tackles for loss and sacks as well.
Turner also helped Tre Alford and Dondre Chanet to increase their tackle totals in 2015 by more than 20 over the previous season after the duo recorded 37 and 21 stops, respectively, while Akeem Lewis contributed a career-best 32 tackles in his final year at the collegiate level.
Both Jerome McClain and Jesse Kelley were recognized on the all-Sun Belt teams in 2014. McClain posted a career-best 50 total tackles including three for loss to be named second-team all-league, and Kelley was an honorable mention selection after collecting 56 stops — a total that led the USA defensive line, as well as the second straight campaign he recorded a career-high total — with 6½ behind the line of scrimmage; the latter was among the top 15 in the SBC with five sacks as well. Turner’s work during the ’14 season also featured helping a pair of freshmen, Alford and Caleb Butler, become regular contributors to a defense that ranked fourth in the conference in yards and points allowed per outing while averaging more than two sacks per game.
In the fall of 2013, Turner helped the Jaguar defense rank among the leaders in the Sun Belt after allowing less than 385 total yards and just over 25 points per outing — USA was second in both categories — while topping the league with more than three sacks and seven tackles for loss per contest. His efforts helped Montavious Williams rank in the top 10 in the SBC in sacks after posting a career-high four among his total stops, while Kelley recorded then career-best figures with 34 stops and 6½ tackles behind the line of scrimmage. McClain also finished with 34 total tackles — including 4½ stops for loss and three sacks — in his first season as a Jag behind Turner’s efforts.
Prior to the spring of 2013, he worked with the entire defensive line, and in that role he helped Alex Page earn second-team all-Sun Belt honors following the 2012 campaign. Page was honored after posting career highs with 64 total tackles, 11½ stops for loss and six sacks — he ranked among the top 10 in the league in the latter two categories — while as a group Turner’s unit contributed 18 of the team’s 24 sacks. Pat Moore also finished among the top 15 in the league in tackles for loss (nine) and sacks (4½), while five linemen ended the season with at least 20 stops.
The group played a key role in helping the Jags rank second in the Sun Belt in total defense.
Jaguar defensive linemen combined to post 30 of the team’s 67 tackles for loss in 2010 as USA completed a second straight undefeated season, with Romelle Jones pacing the squad with six, Randon Carnathan and Anthony Taylor supplying five each, and Andy Dalgleish and Williams collecting four apiece; Jones and Taylor would lead the group overall with both posting 19 total stops. Turner’s unit also broke up eight passes, recovered four fumbles and blocked two kicks as USA allowed only 81.2 yards rushing, 254.6 total yards and 13 points per contest.
The previous fall, 11 of Turner’s players combined to account for 18 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, helping the Jaguar defense allow under 235 yards and seven points per game while going 7-0 in the school’s inaugural season. Three USA defensive linemen — Taylor, Williams and Jones — paced the group after posting double-figure tackle totals, with Taylor tying for fourth on the squad with four stops for loss.
In 2011, Jones led the Jags for the second consecutive season with seven stops for loss, while Williams added five and Dalgleish four in helping USA surrender less than 150 yards per outing on the ground while ranking 16th in the country at the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision level in total defense at 309.7 yards per contest.
As the program’s recruiting coordinator, Turner’s efforts assisted the Jags in putting together signing classes to help add to the talent level and depth in the program. That has included inking multiple players ranked among the best at their position by Scout, Inc., as well as numerous individuals who have helped their high schools to state championships and deep postseason runs.
Before coming to Mobile, Turner had worked the previous five years on the coaching staff at Sun Belt Conference rival Troy. In addition to serving as recruiting coordinator, he spent his last season as coach of the defensive ends after working with the safeties in 2006. A guard and center for the Trojans in the mid-1990s, Turner previously worked with the offense, focusing primarily on tight ends and wide receivers.
In five years with the program, Troy compiled a 33-27 (55%) mark overall while going 20-8 (71.4%) in Sun Belt action. The Trojans earned invitations to a pair of bowl games — they were an at-large participant in the 2004 Silicon Valley Bowl, and they defeated Rice 41-17 in the 2006 New Orleans Bowl after receiving the bid as SBC champion — while winning league titles in each of his last two years.
During Turner’s playing career, the Trojans posted a 31-6-1 (82.9%) record, including the school’s first perfect regular-season (11-0) in 1995. In 1993, Troy advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs with victories over Stephen F. Austin and McNeese State, while the 1994 and 1995 squads qualified for postseason play as well.
A native of Fort Meade, Fla., Turner began his coaching career as the tight ends coach at Dothan (Ala.) High in 1996. After three seasons on the Tiger staff, he served as a graduate assistant at Troy from 1999-01. The Trojans recorded a winning record all three seasons, posting a 28-8 (77.8%) mark in that span including a 13-1 (92.9%) record in Southland Football League action. Troy won the conference championship in both 1999 and ’00 before moving up to the NCAA Division I-A level his final year; the Trojans advanced to the quarterfinals of the playoffs his first season as a graduate assistant while participating in postseason play the following fall as well.
His first full-time appointment at the collegiate level came in 2002, when he spent a year as offensive line coach at North Alabama before returning to Troy.
Turner’s father, Blaine, played football at the University of Tampa and later coached at the high-school level for 30 years.
Turner completed his bachelor’s degree in social science in 2000. He is married to the former Kristi Jernigan, an All-American basketball player at West Florida who was inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame; the couple has one daughter, Bryce.
The Turner File
Born: Jan. 14, 1975, in Lakeland, Fla.
Education: Troy ’00, bachelor’s degree in social science
Collegiate Playing Experience: Three years, offensive line, Troy
Coaching Experience:
Dothan (Ala.) High — assistant coach, 1996-98
Troy — graduate assistant, 1999-01
North Alabama — assistant coach, 2002
Troy — assistant coach, 2003-07
South Alabama — assistant coach, 2008-
Family: Wife, Kristi; One daughter, Bryce (9)
