Muhammad cornerback attempts

CALIFORN GOLDEN BEARS FOOTBALL
ASSISTANT COACHES
“Coach Kaufman brings out everyone's best, which makes
him a good coordinator. He will make sure you reach your
full potential, and that has helped me out a lot.”
– Junior CB Darius Allensworth
“Coach Kaufman has done a fantastic job helping our defense
improve. He is always preaching for us to just do our
job. We are getting much better at doing that and working
together as a unit, and that will be the key to being successful
this season.”
– Junior DT James Looney
“Coach Kaufman is very hands on with each position on
the defense. He challenges his players to the get the best
of us and is a great motivator.”
– Senior DE DeVante Wilson
the most since Mike Mohamed also had 112 in 2009. He ranked third in the
Pac-12 in total tackles as well as fourth in the league and 48th nationally with
8.6 stops per game.
The improvements in Kaufman’s first season at Cal in 2014 were highlighted
by a jump of 48 spots and 44 yards per game in rush defense to No. 38 nationally
(144.6 ypg). The 2014 defense also shaved 6.1 points per game off the
total number of points allowed and finished 35 spots higher nationally in red
zone defense.
“Art had a tremendous influence on our football program right from the
beginning,” Dykes said. “His extensive experience as a defensive coordinator
made everybody comfortable. He is a great communicator who has a detailed
and organized plan on teaching and implementing a defense and a clear vision
of what he wants. I am excited to see our defense continue to get better and
better down the road, and I feel confident in Art’s abilities to lead our defense.”
Kaufman has developed some of the top defenses in the country over his first
34 seasons as a collegiate coach and 17 campaigns as a defensive coordinator
having previously served in the role at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level at
Cincinnati, North Carolina, Mississippi and Texas Tech. Kaufman was nominated
for the prestigious Broyles Award given annually to college football’s top assistant
coach both at North Carolina in 2011 and Texas Tech in 2012.
Kaufman was the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Cincinnati
in 2013 when the Bearcats finished 9-4 overall and played in the Belk Bowl.
Kaufman’s 2013 defense was one of the best in the country, ranking in the top
10 nationally in both rushing defense (6th, 104.5 ypg) and total defense (9th,
315.6 ypg). Cincinnati was also among the top 30 in 10 of the 11 primary defensive
categories tracked in the national stats, including 14th in scoring defense
(21.0 ppg), third-down conversion percentage defense (33.1%) and first downs
defense (230); 23rd in sacks (2.69 spg) and red-zone defense (76.5%); 25th in
team passing efficiency defense (116.75); 26th in tackles for loss (6.80 tflpg);
and 29th in passing yards allowed (211.2 ypg).
At Cincinnati he coached first-team All-American Athletic Conference defensive
lineman Jordan Stepp in the inaugural season of the league while three Bearcats
– defensive lineman Silverberry Mouhon, linebacker Greg Blair and cornerback
Deven Drane – were second-team selections on the defensive side of the ball.
Blair led the squad with 106 tackles, while Mouhon (9.5 spg) and Stepp (6.0
spg) were first and second on the club in sacks.
The performance of Kaufman’s defense during his single season in Cincinnati
came on the heels of a 2012 campaign in which he led a complete overhaul
of the Texas Tech defense. Inheriting a 2011 unit that ranked 114th nationally
in total defense (485.58 ypg), the Red Raiders improved to 38th (367.31 ypg)
while ranking second in the Big 12 Conference. Texas Tech was keyed by a pass
defense that led the league and ranked 15th in the country (192.00 ypg). The Red
Raiders finished 8-5 overall and were victorious at the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
Texas Tech defensive lineman Kerry Hyder along with defensive backs Cody
Davis and D.J. Johnson were named second-team All-Big 12 in 2012 while Davis
was also a first-team Capital One Academic All-America® selection and one of
15 finalists for the prestigious William B. Campbell Trophy also known as the
“Academic Heisman”. Davis led the team in tackles (101) and interceptions (3),
including one that he returned 88 yards for a touchdown, while adding seven
pass breakups and 3.5 tackles for loss. Johnson was second on the squad with
90 stops while Hyder finished third with 56 tackles, a team-leading 14.0 tackles
for loss and a team co-leading 6.0 sacks. He tallied 10.5 tackles for loss during
Big 12 play to rank third in the league.
Kaufman joined the Red Raiders from North Carolina, where he was the defensive
coordinator for the Tar Heels in 2011 and the linebackers coach for three
campaigns from 2009-11. Kaufman helped guide the 2011 Tar Heels to a No. 27
national ranking in rush defense (123.92 ypg), a No. 48 ranking in total defense
(365.23 ypg) and an appearance against Missouri in the Independence Bowl.
North Carolina developed several outstanding linebackers under Kaufman’s
guidance, including current NFL players Zach Brown (Buffalo), Bruce Carter (New
York Jets) and Kevin Reddick (Buffalo).
Brown posted strong numbers in his final season in 2011 to earn first-team All-
Atlantic Coast Conference honors when he paced the Tar Heels with 105 tackles
and co-led the squad with three interceptions and three pass breakups, while
adding 13.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. Defensive tackle Quinton Coples also
picked up first-team All-ACC honors for the second consecutive season and was
selected by the New York Jets in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft with the
16th selection overall. Coples is currently a member of the Los Angeles Rams.
Reddick (74) and Brown (72) were North Carolina’s top two tacklers in 2010,
with Brown adding three interceptions that he ran back for 113 yards. Despite
injuries to Carter and linebacker Quan Sturdivant, a sixth-round pick of the Arizona
Cardinals in the 2011 NFL Draft, the Tar Heels finished fourth in the ACC and
30th in the country in total defense (338.54 ypg) led by a rushing defense that
was fourth in the league and 22nd nationally (125.62 ypg).
North Carolina’s linebackers helped lead a unit that finished first in the ACC
and sixth in the nation in total defense (269.62 ypg) on the team’s way to an
8-5 record and a spot in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in 2009. The Tar Heels were
10th in the country against the run (95.62 ypg) and 13th in scoring defense
(17.08 ppg), ranking first and second in the conference. Carolina was the only
team in the country to finish among the top 15 in total defense, rushing defense,
third-down efficiency (3rd, 29.4%), tackles for loss (6th, 8.08 tflpg), pass defense
(14th, 174.0 ypg) and pass efficiency defense (14th, 105.32). Sturdivant earned
first-team All-ACC honors after leading the Tar Heels with 79 stops, while Carter
was a second-team all-conference pick.
Prior to his three-year run at North Carolina, Kaufman spent one season
coaching the defensive line and special teams at Southern Miss (2008), three
coaching linebackers at Middle Tennessee (2005-07), two as the defensive line
coach at East Carolina (2003-04), and two as the defensive coordinator and
linebackers coach at Arkansas Tech (2001-02).
Kaufman coached 10 of the previous 13 seasons over two stints at Mississippi,
starting in 1988 with a four-year run working with the defensive ends and
linebackers before returning to Ole Miss for six campaigns from 1995-2000 as
the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. In between his two stints at
Mississippi he spent three seasons at Louisiana Tech (1992-94). He also coached
five seasons at Northwestern State (1983-87). He broke into the coaching profession
as a graduate assistant at Delta State in 1982 after receiving his bachelor’s
degree from the University of Arkansas at Monticello in 1980, where he was a
four-year starting linebacker during his collegiate playing days with the Boll Weevils.
A native of Dermott, Ark., Kaufman has three daughters: Tara, Taylor and
Madison.
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2016 CALIFORNIA FOOTBALL INFORMATION GUIDE