Gene Chizik

Eugene C. Chizik Jr. (born December 28, 1961) is an American football coach who was most recently the defensive coordinator and Assistant Head Coach for Defense at North Carolina.

Chizik played college football at the University of Florida in 1981 for head coach Charley Pell.

Chizik was born in Florida.

Chizik earned a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Florida in 1986, and received a master's degree in guidance and counseling from Clemson University in 1991.

Chizik began his coaching career at Seminole High School, serving as their defensive coordinator and inside linebacker coach from 1986 to 1988.

He then became a graduate assistant at Clemson from 1988 to 1989, working with the outside linebackers.

During his time at Clemson he coached in the 1988 Citrus Bowl and the 1989 Gator Bowl, under secondary coach Bill Oliver.

His initial full-time coaching job was as the defensive ends coach at Middle Tennessee State from 1990 to 1991.

In 1990, the Blue Raiders won the Ohio Valley Conference championship.

His next assignment was at Stephen F. Austin State University, serving as their linebackers coach from 1992 to 1995.

SFA advanced to the Division I-AA semifinals in 1995.

He was then promoted to the defensive coordinator role, which he held from 1996 to 1997.

He then served as the defensive coordinator and secondary coach for the UCF Knights from 1998 to 2001.

While at UCF in Orlando, Chizik frequently visited practice sessions of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers studying the team's defensive scheme developed by then-Buccaneers head coach Tony Dungy, defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin and linebackers coach Lovie Smith.

Chizik later employed a very similar scheme at Auburn, where he served again as the defensive coordinator and secondary coach from 2002 to 2004.

During this time, he had some of the greatest successes of his career to date.

He coached in three bowl games, the 2003 Capital One Bowl, 2004 Music City Bowl, and 2005 Sugar Bowl.

His 2004 defensive unit led the country in scoring defense, giving up 11.3 points per game, and the total defense ranked 5th, which is the same ranking the 2003 team recorded.

He garnered the 2004 Broyles Award, which is given each year to the top assistant coach in the nation.

The 2004 Auburn Tigers football team finished 13–0 that year, won the SEC title, and defeated Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl.

It placed second in the final AP and Coaches polls.

In 2005, Chizik was hired by Texas to serve as their co-defensive coordinator, assistant head coach, and linebackers coach.

During his time at Texas, the team won the 2005 NCAA Division I-A national football championship by defeating USC in the 2006 Rose Bowl.

In November 2006, Chizik was hired to replace outgoing coach Dan McCarney as head football coach of Iowa State.

McCarney resigned after going 4–8 in his final season, despite five bowl appearances during his tenure, the most of any Iowa State coach.

Chizik's contract with ISU was a six-year deal worth a guaranteed $6.75 million.

With incentives, the total had the potential to be more than $10 million.

In Chizik's first season, Iowa State finished 3–9, including a 15–13 upset victory over Iowa, and back-to-back wins against Kansas State and Colorado.

The Cyclones also experienced a notable improvement on defense.

In 2008, Iowa State won their first two games against South Dakota State and Kent State before losing their final 10 games to finish the season 2–10.

Following the 2008 season, Chizik fired two assistant coaches and demoted both his offensive and defensive coordinators.

Chizik's name came up frequently as a coach who would be on the hot seat for the following season, though all acknowledged the difficulty of the job given the lack of resources and difficult schedule.

On December 13, 2008, Auburn University hired Chizik to succeed former head coach Tommy Tuberville, who resigned from the position after finishing 5–7 in the 2008 season.

Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs released a statement that said: "I know that we have found the right fit for Auburn. Gene's body of work during his 23 years in this profession is remarkable. He has a strong knowledge of this athletics program, this university and the community, and he knows how to be successful in the Southeastern Conference. He is a high-energy coach that is an outstanding motivator and demands a tough, physical style of football."

Chizik first retained James Willis to continue coaching linebackers.

However, less than one month later, Willis left Auburn to coach for the University of Alabama.

Chizik's 2010 Auburn Tigers football team completed a 14–0 season with a victory over Oregon in the BCS National Championship Game, and quarterback Cam Newton won the Heisman Trophy.

In the year prior to Chizik's arrival, Iowa State was ranked 102nd nationally in total defense and in Chizik's first year, they improved to 65th.

Among all 119 Division I FBS teams, the team ranked 111th in total defense, 115th in passing defense, and 95th in rushing defense.

A veteran of the coaching ranks, Chizik previously was UNC's defensive coordinator for the 2015 and 2016 seasons, and served as the head coach of the Auburn football team from 2009 until the end of the 2012 season.