JSU football: Jacksonville State hires Luke Olson as next defensive coordinator

Sports Writer 4 hrs ago JACKSONVILLE — Jacksonville State’s defense has found its next guy. JSU announced Friday night that Luke Olson will serve as the program’s next defensive coordinator, replacing now-Oklahoma DC Zac Alley. Olson, who was most recently a senior defensive analyst at TCU, took on the role as Tulsa’s defense coordinator in 2022 following 10 seasons on staff.

He served as defensive coordinator for the team when JSU played at Tulsa in 2022, with the Golden Hurricane beating the Gamecocks 54-17. During Olson's lone season as defensive coordinator, Tulsa finished second in the American Athletic Conference in both fumbles forced per game (1. 08) and fumbles recovered per game (0.

83). JSU finished first and second in CUSA in those categories, respectively. Olson's tenure at Tulsa came to an end when the program's former coach, Phillip Montgomery, was fired after eight seasons.

As a longtime member of Tulsa’s staff, Olson coached the nickel safeties for four seasons before his role as the team’s defensive coordinator in 2022. Olson will inherit a JSU defense that was one of the top-rated units in FBS: it finished tied for eighth in the nation with Clemson in stop rate (74. 2%) and allowed just 1.

49 points per drive. The Gamecocks also finished in the top 15 nationally in the following categories: —seventh in tackles for loss yards (414) —eighth in turnovers gained (25) —10th in sacks (39) —15th in tackles for loss (92) .