Craig Cox begins his sixth season at Campbell as the Fighting Camels’ defensive coordinator, and third as assistant head coach.
Cox was named assistant head coach following the 2015 season that saw his defense ranked fifth in the nation, yielding just 279.3 yards per game. Among FCS programs, Campbell also stood third in team sacks per game (3.55) and ninth in scoring defense (17.7). The team shattered program records for all three categories, adding single season marks for tackles for loss (85.0) and total sacks (38.0).
Seven members of Cox's defense were named All-PFL in 2015, including linemen Greg Milhouse and Ugonna Awuruonye, who garnered First Team honors. Along with linebacker Jake Barr earning second team accolades, four more Camels picked up honorable mention nods, including Jack Ryan, who was also named the PFL Defensive Freshman of the Year.
Following the season, Milhouse, along with long snapper Danny Dillon, became the first Camels to sign with NFL franchises. Milhouse inked a contract with the New York Giants, while Dillon signed with the Arizona Cardinals.
In 2016, Campbell picked up its second straight top-20 defensive ranking, standing 17th in the country in total defense, allowing only 322.1 yards per game. CU ranked 27th in rush defense (129.0) and 35th in passing yards allowed (193.1).
The Fighting Camel defense further established itself in 2017, ranking among the nation’s leaders in takeaways, aided by a school record 19 interceptions. For the fifth time in four years, a member of the CU defensive line was named First Team All-PFL (Emmanuel Olenga). Defensive back Carlos Merritt was also named First Team All-PFL, tying CU’s single-season record for interceptions with six.
Cox, creator of the 3-Digit Defense, brings two decades of coaching experience to the CU program, including nine seasons as a defensive coordinator and two as a head coach.
In 2014, the Campbell defense set program records for interception return touchdowns, interception return yards, pass breakups and quarterback hurries, while improving the Camels' production in total interceptions and tackles.
Defensive end Ugonna Awuruonye was named First Team All-PFL, while Greg Milhouse (defensive line) and Andrew Yost (linebacker) were both named to the league's second team.
Four more Camels on the defensive side received honorable mention nods, including senior linebacker Luke Hill, senior cornerback Isaiah Howard, junior defensive back Brandon Mobley and redshirt senior defensive lineman Isaac Scott.
Awuruonye tied the CU single season sacks record at 7.5 and recorded double digit tackles for loss for the second year in a row, while Yost came just three tackles from the single season stops mark.
Yost was also named Second Team Academic All-PFL, while Lucas Smith earned first team honors, in addition to CoSIDA Academic All-District and FCS Athletic Directors Association Academic All-Star Team accolades.
In his first season as defensive coordinator at Campbell, Cox guided the Camel defense to improvements in total offense, points per game, rushing yards per game and passing yards per game. Those strides included improvements of 62.3 yards of total offense and 54.7 yards rushing fewer per game.
Two Camels on the defensive side, linebacker Matt Farris and defensive lineman Ugonna Awuruonye, were named honorable mention All-PFL.
Farris led Campbell in tackles and finished 21st in the PFL with 77. The redshirt junior added 4.5 tackles for loss, a sack, an interception and a forced fumble, tying a school record with 14 tackles against Charleston Southern. Farris added two tackles for loss with a sack against PFL co-champion Marist and intercepted a pass in Campbell's win over UVa.-Wise.
Awuruonye, meanwhile, tallied a school record for most yards from tackles for loss (83) and picked up the second most tackles for loss (14.0) and sacks (7.0) in a single season despite only playing in eight games. The redshirt sophomore led the PFL in tackle for loss and stops by a defensive lineman, while ranking eighth in sacks in conference games.
Prior to Campbell, he spent four seasons on staff at Johnson C. Smith University, where he served as the Golden Bulls’ defensive coordinator and associate head coach from 2011-12.
After taking over as coordinator, Cox helped Johnson C. Smith collect back to back winning season for the first time in forty years, while securing the school’s first postseason victory in the 2011 Pioneer Bowl.
Under Cox, the Golden Bulls improved an average of 63 spots in the NCAA Division II rankings, marking the second biggest improvement in all of Division II.
Prior to his role as defensive coordinator, Cox served as Johnson C. Smith’s defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator from 2009-10.
From December 2005 until 2008, Cox worked as the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Division II Virginia Union in Richmond, Va. for two seasons, piloting a defense that ranked in the nation’s top-five in total defense, passing defense and passing efficiency defense. The Panthers also ranked second in the country in red zone defense.
Cox also served as VUU’s recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach from 2005-07.
As recruiting coordinator, he increased the VUU Panthers' roster from 60 student-athletes to over 100 student-athletes without additional athletic scholarship funds. In 2005, Cox joined the Golden Bulls coaching staff as the defensive line coach and assistant recruiting coordinator. He was responsible for generating a defensive playbook, game plans, and scouting reports.
Cox served as the defensive line coach (2001-02) and running backs coach (2003-04), as well as recruiting coordinator at Livingstone College from 2001-05.
He was a head coach and defensive coordinator for the King George Kodiaks, a semi-professional football team in King George, Va., from 1998-2000. Cox took over an organization that had only won two games in two years and produced back-to-back 6-4 records and two playoff berths. During his time as defensive coordinator, the Kodiaks only allowed an average of 170 total yards per game over two years.
In 1990 and 1994, Cox was an assistant coach at Culpeper County High School in Culpeper, Va. Cox has attended training at the Washington Redskins and Carolina Panthers camps (Sports International). He has also been a member of the North Carolina Football Coaches Association.
Cox earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Livingstone College and has three children Jessica, Craig Jr. and Jada, with his wife, Sandy.
