Georgia football hires WVU pass rush specialist as new OLB coach

The Georgia Bulldogs have finally found their new outside linebackers coach. They’ve decided to hire West Virginia defensive ends/pass rush specialist Larry Knight, according to Pete Nakos of On3. Knight will replace Chidera Uzu-Diribe, who was hired to be the Dallas Cowboys’ OLB coach.

Knight never actually got to coach at West Virginia. He was hired in Jan. 2026, but the Bulldogs picked him up to be their OLB coach before he could coach West Virginia’s defensive ends and pass rush.

The year prior, Knight was the Arkansas State Red Wolves’ defensive ends coach and run game coordinator. The Red Wolves finished 7-6 with a win in the Xbox Bowl against Missouri State, and they finished second in the Sun Belt Conference West division to the Troy Trojans.

Their edge rushers were a big reason why they did so well. Arkansas State had the fifth highest sack percentage in the nation (9.18%) and tied for sixth in sacks per game (3.0) with Texas and New Mexico.

Before his time with Arkansas State, he was the defensive line coach at Temple from 2023-24, their outside linebackers coach from 2017-19, Georgia Tech’s defensive line/defensive recruiting coordinator from 2019-22, and the defensive line quality control and assistant defensive director of player personnel for Georgia State (2015-17).

Knight coached with Andrew Thacker (Georgia’s nickels coach) at Georgia Tech from 2019-22. That connection helped him land the outside linebackers job at Georgia.

Knight will now have the task of revitalizing Georgia’s pass rush, a group that had major highs, such as the Nov. 2025 game against Texas in, and major lows, such as the Sugar Bowl vs. Ole Miss. Georgia earned a majority of their sacks from linebackers vs. prototypical edge rushers, so the hire makes perfect sense.

CJ Allen departed the linebacker core to declare for the 2026 NFL draft, but Georgia still has Raylen Wilson, Chris Cole, Justin Williams, Gabe Harris Jr., and Quintavius Johnson to work with in the linebacker room. They also earned a commitment from four-star Auburn transfer edge rusher Amaris Williams. Knight will play a big part in sculpting this Georgia pass rush into the revered unit it once was in the early 2020s.

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This article originally appeared on UGA Wire: Georgia football hires West Virginia coach as new OLB coach

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