Tennessee football has never played New Mexico State in football. However, you’re only a few degrees away from any program in this era of college football. Not only is Vols running back Star Thomas a former NSMU player, but former Josh Heupel assistant coach Jerry Mack just defeated the Aggies at his new school.
Mack, the former running backs coach at Tennessee, is in his first season as Kennesaw State’s head coach. He’s off to an extremely strong start, earning a 7-2 (5-0 CUSA) start to the season. This features a seven-game win streak after losing to a pair of Power Four teams to start his tenure.
The latest win was a 24-21 road victory over New Mexico State. Mack’s team took a 24-7 lead into the half and fourth quarter, but NMSU fired back with 14 points in the final frame. The Aggies kicked a 50-yard field goal in an attempt to tie the game with 32 seconds left, but the attempt was no good.
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Mack, born in Memphis, Tennessee, played his college football at Jackson State and Arkansas State as a wide receiver. Following his playing career, he served as a graduate assistant at Delta State. Then, he returned to Jackson State as a wide receiver and tight end coach.
From there, he went to Central Arkansas as a passing game coordinator and wide receiver coach. He would earn the offensive coordinator gig at Arkansas Pine-Bluff in 2010, before hopping to Memphis, then South Alabama as a wide receiver coach.
His first head coaching job was from 2014-17 at North Carolina Central. He won three MEAC championships and was named MEAC coach of the year. However, he would leave on his own accord to join Rice as an offensive coordinator in 2018.
In 2021, Josh Heupel hired him to join him in his first year at UT as a running backs coach. He stayed in the role through 2023, when he took the job coaching running backs for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. He spent one season there before taking the job at Kennesaw State.
The Vols replaced him with De’Rail Sims, who is in his second season as the running backs coach at Tennessee.
